Erek ‘Apayim: A Word Study on God’s Patience

From the very beginning, God had a plan to partner with humans in bringing the goodness of the Garden of Eden to the rest of the world. The Garden of Eden was a place where heaven overlapped with earth and where humanity could live at rest in God’s presence. But humans rejected God’s rest. The Torah tells the story of God offering His presence to humanity and humanity choosing something else instead.

Yet the Torah also tells another story. It tells the story of God’s patience with humanity. Over and over again, God pursues His people, rescues them, forgives them, and restores them. In fact, God even describes Himself as “slow to anger.” Yes, God does get angry. But His anger is often very different from our human anger. God’s anger is deeply connected to His desire for us to rest in His presence and dwell with Him forever. He wants the best for us.

This study explores:

• What God’s patience has to do with a long nose

• What it means that God is slow to anger

• What it looks like when God reveals His anger