Tag: Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God

Day by Day Bible Exploration of the Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God—Day 3

God is Compassionate and Gracious

In the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, according to https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7349.htm the Hebrew word rachum appears 13 times. It is translated into English as the word compassionate. Out of those 13 times it appears, 11 of those times it is used alongside of the word gracious. In fact, in the other two original Hebrew scriptures in which the word rachum, or compassionate is used, (Deuteronomy 4:31 and Psalm 78:38) instead of using gracious alongside of compassionate, the writers of the scriptures were led by God to use phrases such as “He will not abandon you nor destroy you” in Deuteronomy 4:31 and “But He, being compassionate, forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger” in Psalm 78:38. These phrases alongside of compassionate have the meaning of “forgiveness and a restraining of anger”, and God “not destroying the people”, essentially those phrases too means the demonstration of forgiveness, or God ceasing from wrath. The meaning of the phrases are in line with “God showing mercy”, or in other words they are very close to the definition of grace. There is a tremendous amount of overlap between the definitions of grace and mercy and God restraining Himself from wrath.

Let’s observe how the Bible clearly puts God’s compassion and graciousness together, or God’s compassion and God restraining Himself from wrath together side by side in each and every one of the 13 verses below. In 11 of the 13 verses these words compassion and graciousness are so close together in each sentence that the closest adjective in each verse to the word compassion, is the adjective “gracious”. In the remaining 2 of the 13 verses (Deuteronomy 4:31 and Psalm 78:38) there are phrases which have the meaning of graciousness, such as “God is restraining himself from wrath” or declaring God’s choice to “not destroy them” or a declaration of his “forgiveness”, and these phrases are adjacent to the word compassionate:

Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Deuteronomy 4:31 For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not abandon you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

2 Chronicles 30:9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion in the presence of those who led them captive, and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

Nehemiah 9:17 They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy; and You did not abandon them.

Nehemiah 9:31 Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Psalm 78:38 But He, being compassionate, forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not stir up all His wrath.

Psalm 86:15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.

Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

Psalm 111:4 He has caused His wonders to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

Psalm 112:4 Light shines in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate; Slow to anger and great in mercy.

Joel 2:13 And tear your heart and not merely your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in mercy and relenting of catastrophe.

Jonah 4:2 Then he prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was this not what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster.

It is quite fitting to say that God’s graciousness is highlighted by His compassion and vice versa, and his graciousness and compassion complement each other like a strong hand would fit into a snug stretchable glove in a beautiful divine harmony. LG

Day by Day Bible Exploration of the Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God—Day 2

God is Benevolent

According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benevolent, gives 3 main descriptions for a benevolent person. First, it describes benevolence as “marked by or disposed to doing good”, such as “a benevolent donor”. 2 “organized for the purpose of doing good” such as a “benevolent society”. And 3, “marked by or suggestive of goodwill”, such as benevolent smiles.

Merriam-Webster.com goes on to say about the history of the word, it is as follows—”Benevolent has a good history. One who is benevolent genuinely wishes other people well, a meaning reflected clearly in the word’s Latin roots: benevolent comes from bene, meaning “good,” and velle, meaning “to wish.”” A benevolent person is one who wishes a person well. It is reminiscent of the greeting of John to Gaius in 3rd John 1:2 which reads, “Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.”

It also reflects the goodwill of God toward mankind in Luke 2:14 which is what the angels were announcing at Jesus Birth, which is “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” God’s good will was proclaimed at the very start of God’s plan of redemption. It shows nothing less than God’s own good will. Right at the very start of Jesus’s life on earth, God announced His benevolence to be heard about and to be sung about by angels and proclaimed all across the earth toward people.

Additional scriptures that support the idea of God’s benevolence or support the truth that God takes pleasure in showing His goodwill toward people are Ephesians 1:5, which reads, “He predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will.” Also, as God is all wise, we see wisdom speaking in Proverbs 8:31, telling how it had been “Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of mankind.” And Philippians 2:13 speaks of God’s good pleasure again which reads, “For God is the One working in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure.” LG