God is Merciful
In one sentence: God comes near to sinful and broken people with compassion, patience, covenant love, and saving grace.
After saying that God is holy, we might assume that He must stay far away from sinful people. If God is completely pure, utterly set apart, and unlike anyone or anything else, then surely unholy people have no hope of coming near Him. But Scripture shows us something astonishing. The Holy One comes near in mercy.
This is important because many people have learned to think of the Bible as though the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are functionally different. They imagine the Old Testament God as angry, distant, harsh, and eager to judge, while the New Testament God is loving, gracious, patient, and kind. But that is not how the Bible presents God. The Old Testament does not hide God’s mercy. The Old Testament teaches us the vocabulary of God’s mercy.
From the very beginning, God comes near to sinners. After Adam and Eve rebel, they hide, cover themselves, and blame one another. Yet the first sound sinners hear after rebellion is not God walking away. It is God coming near. “Where are you?” is not the question of an uninformed God. It is the pursuing question of a merciful God. Yes, judgment comes. Sin is not ignored. Adam and Eve are sent out of the garden. But mercy is already there. God promises that the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent’s head. God clothes Adam and Eve in their shame. The Holy God does not abandon His creation to the curse without hope.
We see mercy again with Noah. The flood is certainly judgment, but the ark is mercy. God preserves life through the waters of judgment. Noah “found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” The world was filled with corruption and violence, but God did not erase creation and walk away. He preserved a family, renewed His purposes, and continued His promise. Then we see mercy with Abraham. God calls a man from a family of idolaters and makes promises to him. Abraham does not climb up to God. God comes near to Abraham. God promises land, offspring, blessing, and through him, blessing for all the families of the earth. God’s mercy begins to take the form of covenant promise.
Mercy is not vague kindness floating in the air. God binds Himself to His people by promises. He gives His word. He makes covenants. He creates a people who belong to Him, not because they are impressive, but because He is gracious. This becomes especially clear in Exodus. Israel is enslaved, oppressed, and groaning under the weight of suffering. Exodus 2 says God heard their groaning, remembered His covenant, saw the people of Israel, and then God acts. He delivers His people from slavery, brings them through the waters, feeds them in the wilderness, and draws near to dwell among them. The exodus is not merely a display of power. It is mercy in action.
And one of the clearest statements of God’s mercy comes after one of Israel’s ugliest sins. While Moses is on the mountain, Israel makes a golden calf and worships it. They break covenant almost immediately. They deserve judgment. Yet Moses intercedes, and God reveals His name: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” (Exodus 34:6) This is God preaching God. When the Lord declares His own name and character, He starts by saying that He is merciful.
That confession echoes throughout the Old Testament. Israel returns to it again and again because this is who God has revealed Himself to be. He is not moody. He is not reluctant to show compassion. He is not waiting for sinners to become impressive before He draws near. But God’s mercy is not sentimental softness. Exodus 34 also says that God “will by no means clear the guilty.” Mercy does not mean God pretends evil is harmless. Mercy does not mean sin no longer matters. God’s mercy is holy mercy. He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, but He does not sweep evil under the rug.
That is why God’s mercy leads us to Christ. Jesus is not the opposite of the Old Testament God. Jesus is the mercy of the God of Israel in flesh. The God who clothed Adam and Eve now clothes sinners in Christ. The God who preserved Noah through judgment now saves His people through the waters of judgment in Christ. The God who promised Abraham blessing for the nations now brings that blessing through Christ. At the cross, God’s holy mercy is displayed most clearly. He does not ignore sin, he bears it. He does not abandon sinners, he comes near to save them. The Holy One shows mercy by giving Himself for the guilty.
Why This Matters
God’s mercy corrects our view of Him. The God of the Old Testament is not a different God from the God of the New Testament. From the beginning, the Holy God has come near to sinners with compassion, patience, promise, and grace.
God’s mercy gives hope to sinners. Mercy means God does not wait for clean people to approach Him. He comes near to the ashamed, guilty, weak, broken, and undeserving.
God’s mercy humbles us. Mercy cannot be earned. If we deserved it, it would not be mercy. We do not receive mercy because we are impressive, but because God is gracious and He binds Himself to His people in faithful love.
For Further Thought
These questions are not meant to create arguments, but to encourage careful, charitable, Bible-shaped conversation. I’d love to hear your thoughts/answers to any/all of these questions in the comments.
- Why do you think many people assume the Old Testament God is harsher or less merciful than the God revealed in the New Testament?
- Where else do you see God’s mercy in the early chapters of Genesis?
- How does Exodus 34:6–7 help us understand God’s character in His own words?
- Why is it important to say that God’s mercy is holy mercy, not sentimental softness?
- How does seeing mercy throughout the Old Testament change the way we understand Jesus?
- What comfort do you find in knowing that God comes near to sinful and broken people with compassion and saving grace?