Exodus 34:6, loyal love, it translates the Hebrew word “khesed,” which is hard to translate into any language, because it combines the ideas of love, generosity and enduring commitment, all into one. Khesed describes an act of promise-keeping loyalty, that is, motivated by deep personal care. The story of Ruth, Ruth is a foreigner, married to an Israelite man, but tragically her husband dies, along with his brother and his father. All Ruth has left is her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, who has nothing to give her. Naomi tells Ruth, she should go back to her people, but instead, Ruth promises to stay by Naomi’s side and take care of her. As other people watched Ruth keep this promise over time, they call it an act of khesed, Ruth 3:10. Ruth’s khesed is not conditional or based on Naomi’s worth, rather, it’s an expression of Ruth’s character. Ruth just is, a generous and loving person, who keeps her word, that’s khesed.
Now, Ruth’s loyal love is truly inspiring, but the one, who shows the most enduring khesed in the Bible, is God. The story about Jacob, who is a treacherous liar, even to his own family, but despite that, God chooses him. God repeats the promise he made to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, that he would have a huge family, through whom God would restore his blessing to the nations. 20 years later, when Jacob realizes how undeserving he is, he says to God, I’m not worthy of all the khesed you’ve shown me, Genesis 32:10. But God’s khesed was never about Jacob’s worth in the first place, it’s a display of God’s generous loyalty to his promise. God’s khesed continues into the story of Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites, when they’re enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt, God remembered his promise to Abraham and Jacob. God defeats Egypt and raises up Moses to liberate the people and lead them to the promised land.
This is called an act of khesed, because it was about God keeping his word. On their way to the promised land, the Israelites are scared of the nations around them, they doubt that God can protect them. The people threaten to kill Moses and appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt, God is understandably hurt and angry. But Moses steps in and says, forgive the sin of these people, because of your great khesed, Numbers 14:19. Moses asked God to forgive, not because the people deserve it, but because, it’s consistent with God’s own character. God agrees and he recommits himself to a people that don’t want to be committed to him. God is loyal and loving, for no other reason than, it’s just who God is. Of course God wants his people to respond with khesed in return, but even when they don’t, God’s khesed remains. The prophet Hosea, compared Israel’s khesed to a morning mist, that’s here one moment and gone the next, but God’s khesed is enduring. The celebration of Psalm 136, the opening, give thanks to the Lord for he is good and then 26 times repeats “His khesed is forever.”
After centuries of Israel betraying their commitment to God, and after humanity’s long history of violence and death, God still kept his promise in a dramatic and drastic way, by becoming human and binding himself to us, in the person of Jesus. The people who followed Jesus of Nazareth said, that in him, they encountered the God of Israel, who is full of loyal love and faithfulness. Jesus is the ultimate loyal and loving human and in his life, death and resurrection, God opened up a new future for all of us and for all of creation. God did this, because it’s just who God is, generous, loving and eternally loyal to his promises. When we experience the purity and power of God’s loyal love shown through Jesus, it compels us to reimagine why and how we can show khesed back to God and to the people around us. God is overflowing with loyal love.
Now, Ruth’s loyal love is truly inspiring, but the one, who shows the most enduring khesed in the Bible, is God. The story about Jacob, who is a treacherous liar, even to his own family, but despite that, God chooses him. God repeats the promise he made to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, that he would have a huge family, through whom God would restore his blessing to the nations. 20 years later, when Jacob realizes how undeserving he is, he says to God, I’m not worthy of all the khesed you’ve shown me, Genesis 32:10. But God’s khesed was never about Jacob’s worth in the first place, it’s a display of God’s generous loyalty to his promise. God’s khesed continues into the story of Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites, when they’re enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt, God remembered his promise to Abraham and Jacob. God defeats Egypt and raises up Moses to liberate the people and lead them to the promised land.
This is called an act of khesed, because it was about God keeping his word. On their way to the promised land, the Israelites are scared of the nations around them, they doubt that God can protect them. The people threaten to kill Moses and appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt, God is understandably hurt and angry. But Moses steps in and says, forgive the sin of these people, because of your great khesed, Numbers 14:19. Moses asked God to forgive, not because the people deserve it, but because, it’s consistent with God’s own character. God agrees and he recommits himself to a people that don’t want to be committed to him. God is loyal and loving, for no other reason than, it’s just who God is. Of course God wants his people to respond with khesed in return, but even when they don’t, God’s khesed remains. The prophet Hosea, compared Israel’s khesed to a morning mist, that’s here one moment and gone the next, but God’s khesed is enduring. The celebration of Psalm 136, the opening, give thanks to the Lord for he is good and then 26 times repeats “His khesed is forever.”
After centuries of Israel betraying their commitment to God, and after humanity’s long history of violence and death, God still kept his promise in a dramatic and drastic way, by becoming human and binding himself to us, in the person of Jesus. The people who followed Jesus of Nazareth said, that in him, they encountered the God of Israel, who is full of loyal love and faithfulness. Jesus is the ultimate loyal and loving human and in his life, death and resurrection, God opened up a new future for all of us and for all of creation. God did this, because it’s just who God is, generous, loving and eternally loyal to his promises. When we experience the purity and power of God’s loyal love shown through Jesus, it compels us to reimagine why and how we can show khesed back to God and to the people around us. God is overflowing with loyal love.
