And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation. Exodus 34:6-7
The title of this article may look rather odd, and perhaps to some, even a bit flippant. Let me assure everyone there is no slight towards the Lord here. Though it does not appear in our English translations, the phrase in the title is the literal rendering of the term for longsuffering/slow to anger/patient, etc. in Exodus 34:6. This is a Hebrew idiom describing the fact that God is not temperamental or prone to outbursts of anger as we are, though the same passage makes it plain He is not to be trifled with either.
The image used calls attention to a common tell that often occurs when human beings are losing their temper. When we lose our tempers, often our nostrils flare, making it clear to others that we are angry. The idiom is expressing the reality that God is slow to flare His nostrils, slow to become angry, slow to exact wrath upon humanity. The rest of the description in these two verses shows what being “long of nose” looks like in practice.
Notice the various descriptors in these passages. He is described as being merciful, gracious, abounding in goodness and truth, one who keeps mercy (redundancy further highlights this characteristic), and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. All these characteristics work together in harmony, giving fallen humanity every opportunity to draw near to Him and avoid His wrath when judgment finally comes. We ought to give thanks for serving such a God as this. However, we must digest the full depth of these verses to avoid a popular snare of the devil which has plagued would-be followers of God for centuries.
People tend to stop halfway through verse 7 and treat God as a doting grandfather who will never mete out judgment on his rebellious grandchildren. As appealing as this may be to the masses, it is a grave error that will undoubtedly banish hordes of people to eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord because they fail to obey the gospel of Christ (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). In the remainder of Exodus 34:7, we find that the merciful, gracious, “slow to flare His nostrils,” good, truthful, forgiving God we serve will by no means clear the guilty.
This phrase means literally “to leave unpunished, hold innocent, acquit.” In view of the statement immediately preceding this concerning His forgiveness of iniquity, transgression, and sin, it is evident that “the guilty” here must mean those who refuse to turn from those things, those who choose to remain in their iniquity, transgression, and sin. Despite the human tendency to use grace, mercy, etc. as a license to sin, this passage joins the chorus of other passages refuting such a concept (Romans 2:4; 6:1-7; 1 John 1:5-2:2; Jude 4-7).
So, as we daily seek to know our God better, so that we may serve Him better, may we take the fact of the Lord’s “long nose” for the comfort and catalyst it is intended to be. As Paul told the Romans, the goodness of God should lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4), much the way John stated that the perpetual cleansing Jesus’ blood provides those who walk in the light is revealed “…so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1). The language of the underlying Greek text is much stronger than the English phrase “may not sin” indicates. It is more literally “in order that you would by no means sin.” Yet, the “long nose” of God is repeated in 1 John 2:2 with the assurance of our having an “…Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” In this, we can operate with full confidence that His mercy rests upon us, as long as we continue walking in the light. Thank the Lord for being “long of nose.”