Rakhum: A Word Study on God’s Compassion

While Moses worshiped God on top of the mountain, his brother, Aaron, led the Israelites in worshiping a pretend god at the bottom of the mountain. It’s at this point in the Bible that God describes Himself for the first time. He describes Himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness.

This lesson focuses on the word “compassionate.” When we hear someone use the word compassion or compassionate, it usually has to do with taking some sort of action to help someone else feel better. For example, if a baby is crying because he is hungry, then the compassionate thing to do is to give the baby something to eat. In the Bible, compassion means something similar, but it also paints a bigger picture, especially when it comes to God being compassionate. 

This study explores:

• The Hebrew word that means compassionate

• Three examples of God’s compassion

• How we can imitate Jesus in living a life of compassion