Jonah: Big Fish, Bigger GodIsampula

God’s character

Do you know the most quoted verse in the entire Old Testament, the one that appears over twenty times throughout the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms? Jonah did. In fact, he memorized it.

In the midst of his tantrum over God’s love for the world, Jonah said, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Jonah 4:2). Those four descriptions of God come from a famous interaction between God and Moses in Exodus 34, where the Lord reveals what he’s really like. Gracious—not punishing those who repent. Compassionate—blessing those who deserve to be cursed. Slow to anger—God takes a deep breath before his justice comes. Abounding in love—more acts of love than hairs on your head. God reveals the beautiful balance between his grace for his people and his justice upon those who do not repent.

My mom used to repeat before I went out with friends, “No drinking, no smoking, no sex, no drugs.” My dad still repeats, “You don’t know how good you got it.” I repeat to my daughters, “You know God loves you, right?” And Jews would repeat, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in love” (Exodus 34:6).

Got a few minutes today? Read—better yet, memorize—Exodus 34:6,7 and get to know the character of our God.