Rachem

(Compassionate)

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and  truth…”   Exodus 34:6  NASB

רַחַם racham,  rakh'-am; from H7355; compassion (in the plural); by extension, the womb (as cherishing the fetus); by implication, a maiden:—bowels, compassion, damsel, tender love, (great, tender) mercy, pity, womb.

This is how the Holy One described Himself! Did you notice that every word He used in Exodus 34 is relational? Is there special significance in the very first word He uses, rachem?

The root is rāḥam (“to love deeply”).  A derivative of this mean “the womb.” Isaiah (49:15) uses it of a mother’s love toward her nursing baby. 

Listen to the words of Bible scholar Skip Moen: “Have you ever wondered why God opens His description with raḥum?  If God wanted to impress Moses with His power or His wisdom, with His glory or His sovereignty, this would have been the time.  But, instead, the first thing He says about Himself is that He loves deeply, so much so that He is unwilling to ever break fellowship with His chosen.  The most powerful thing about God is His care.  Apparently that’s what Moses needed to know the most.  Maybe we do too.”