{"id":3516,"date":"2023-08-04T16:25:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T16:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/?p=3516"},"modified":"2023-08-04T16:25:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T16:25:58","slug":"the-patience-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/2023\/08\/04\/the-patience-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Patience of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Glory of God in Exodus 34:6\u20137<\/em><\/p>\n

We recently had the privilege of listening to Pastor Wil preach a sermon from portions of Exodus 33 and 34. In those two chapters of Exodus, we see something remarkable. Moses requests to see God\u2019s glory. <\/em>What an bold request! God goes on to tell Moses that if he were to see the fullness of his glory, it would kill him (Exodus 33:20). And if this request wasn\u2019t remarkable enough for you, God\u2019s response is even more staggering. God actually shows Moses his glory<\/em>. He does so by putting Moses in the cleft of a rock to guard him, covering Moses with his hand, and passing by him so that Moses can see his back (Exodus 33:21\u201323; 34:5\u20137). And when God passes by Moses, he doesn\u2019t pass by him in silence. God proclaims his name, \u201cThe LORD<\/span>\u201d or \u201cYHWH\u201d, and makes known who he is. Exodus 34:6\u20137 describes the scene<\/p>\n

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, \u201cThe LORD<\/span>, the LORD<\/span>, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children\u2019s children, to the third and the fourth generation.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In his sermon, Pastor Wil noted that you could write a book on each of these attributes that God proclaims about himself. Indeed, there have been books written on the attributes of God. Here, I aim to write a little about one particular attribute\u2014God\u2019s patience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Patience of God<\/em><\/p>\n

In Exodus 34:6, God proclaims, \u201cThe LORD<\/span>, the LORD<\/span>, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger<\/em>\u2026\u201d. God is slow to anger.<\/em> The literal translation of the Hebrew here is long of nose<\/em>. This is quite the word picture isn\u2019t it? It conveys the idea that God\u2019s divine wrath takes a long time to ever manifest in his divine judgment.[1]<\/a> In other words, God\u2019s patience, his forbearance, his long-suffering is inexhaustible<\/em>. The very just judgment that God promises to bring about a few words later in Exodus 34:7 is stayed for a time because of his slowness to anger, because of his patience.<\/p>\n

We benefit from God\u2019s divine patience in at least two ways. First, we benefited from God\u2019s patience before we were in Christ\u2014<\/em>while we were actively rebelling against him. Second, we benefit from God\u2019s patience while we are in Christ<\/em>\u2014while we continue to struggle with our sinful flesh. In short, God\u2019s patience means our initial salvation and our ongoing sanctification. How can a just God afford to be so patient with rebellious, treasonous sinners? Jesus won this inexhaustible patience of God for each of us, who are in him, through the cross.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Before We Were in Christ<\/em><\/p>\n

God has been unbelievably patient to humanity as a whole. God could have wiped out humanity because of our sinful rebellion against him, and he would have been just in doing so. But God has patiently endured humanity\u2019s sinful rebellion in order to save his people. Second Peter 3:7\u20139 speaks of this reality:<\/p>\n

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God has set aside a day of judgment for the ungodly (2 Peter 3:7). And God is not just dragging his feet with regard to that judgment\u2014\u201cThe Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness\u201d (2 Peter 3:9). Rather, God is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance<\/em> (2 Peter 3:9). God\u2019s patience toward humanity comes to a laser focus. God isn\u2019t just patient to humanity in general. God has been patient with you<\/em> personally. If you are in Christ, you are in Christ because God was patient with your<\/em> rebellion and your <\/em>unbelief. And then by his effectual grace, he awakened faith in your heart. Recording artist and author Shai Linne<\/a> captures this reality wonderfully in his song \u201cLord of Patience<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n

Lord, we worship You, we know that everything we owe You
\nAnd when we reflect on the time before we came to know You
\nHow we were unbelievers committing tons of treason
\nWe had a hundred reasons why we wouldn’t come to Jesus\u2026<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We were active in our rebellion against the God of the universe. But he remained patient in order to save. Linne goes on:<\/p>\n

\u2026So after waiting with patience as we would run from You
\nYou activated our faith so that we would come to You
\nYour law exposed our sin so that we would know the danger
\nAnd take refuge in the Holy Savior who’s slow to anger
\nAnd as our teary eyes beheld the cross of our King
\nWe understood the true meaning of long-suffering
\nWho can record Your graces? Adored through scores of ages
\nYour reward is the nations, for You are the Lord of patience<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God\u2019s patience means your<\/em> salvation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While We Are in Christ<\/em><\/p>\n

But God has not only been patient with us before we were in Christ. God continues to be patient with us while we are in Christ. We as Christians still battle the flesh:<\/p>\n

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do (Galatians 5:17).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And occasionally sinful flesh and unbelief get the upper-hand (Romans 7:19\u201320).[2]<\/a> Yet, even in the midst of our stumbling as Christians, even in the midst of our sinfulness that breaks through more often than we would like, God continues to display his marvelous patience toward us. And his divine patience toward those not in Christ and those in Christ is meant to lead us to the same thing: repentance. Indeed, his patience and kindness is what should move us to repentance:<\/p>\n

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God\u2019s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So even in Christ, God continues to show his marvelous patience toward us. Again, Shai Linne:<\/p>\n

And now that we’re in Christ, the thing that is amazing to us
\nIs that You still continue to display Your patience to us
\nThrough all our stumbles and falls and our idolatry
\nThrough all our grumbling and all of our hypocrisy\u2026<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Though we are imperfect now, through Jesus by the power for the Holy Spirit, God patiently sanctifies and perfects us. And so we actively lean into that promise. Shai Linne continues:<\/p>\n

\u2026Oh Father, help us please! We truly need Your Holy Spirit!
\nHe is the only Person who can shape this fruit within us
\nWe praise the risen Savior who is able to present us
\nWithout an ounce of blame, with zero doubt or shame
\nLord Jesus, down You came from heaven to announce Your reign
\nIn the hearts of Your people, and now we have the truth
\nAnd gladly choose to praise You for all of Your attributes
\nWho can record Your graces? Adored through scores of ages
\nYour reward is the nations, for You are the Lord of patience<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God’s patience means your sanctification.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Lord of Patience<\/em><\/p>\n

How can God afford to be so patient toward us and still be the God of justice? God is inexhaustibly patient toward us because Jesus secured God\u2019s patience for us by absorbing all of God\u2019s righteous wrath on our behalf. The cross of Jesus makes God\u2019s patience with us possible, and it should move us to avail ourselves of his patience and strive toward greater Christlikeness. We do not look at God\u2019s patient kindness and think, \u201cThis means I have a license to sin.\u201d This is the sure mark of impending judgment (Hebrews 10:26\u201329).\u00a0 Rather, when behold God\u2019s patience, we see nothing less than the cross of Christ. When we behold God’s patience in the cross of Christ, we are moved to come to him in repentance. And there in that place, in the face of our crucified, risen savior, we behold the glory of the LORD<\/span> even more clearly than Moses. In the person of Jesus we see the Lord of patience.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> See Jason DeRouchie,\u00a0Lecture 4<\/em> Exodus<\/em> (Jason S. DeRouchie: 2022), https:\/\/jasonderouchie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Lect-04-Exodus.pdf<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> There is disagreement whether Romans 7:14\u201325 describes the pre-Christians life or the Christians life. I am persuaded that it describes the experience of Christian wrestling with sinful flesh at times. This doesn\u2019t mean it describes the \u201ctotality of the Christian experience.\u201d For a helpful discussion see Piper on this point at https:\/\/www.desiringgod.org\/interviews\/does-romans-7-describe-a-christian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Glory of God in Exodus 34:6\u20137 We recently had the privilege of listening to Pastor Wil preach a sermon from portions of Exodus 33 and 34. In those two…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11,15],"tags":[2811,2810,1815,2813,2010,2815,2809,2817,1032,1131,2814,2812,2816,1555,2677],"class_list":["post-3516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attributes-of-god","category-blog","category-devotions","tag-2-peter-37-9","tag-exodus-346-7","tag-forbearance","tag-galatians-517","tag-gods-glory","tag-hebrews-1026-29","tag-long-suffering","tag-lord-of-patience","tag-moses","tag-patience","tag-romans-24","tag-romans-719-20","tag-shai-linne","tag-the-cross","tag-the-gospel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3517,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions\/3517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}