A Kingdom of Priests (8)

 

Intercession (3)

 

In some respects, the record of Moses and Israel in the Wilderness is a record of Moses’s intercession for the People of God. Moses is an image of our Great Intercessor, our Lord Jesus Christ, who not only laid His Life down for us, but who also lives, constantly making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). It is this Image, the Image of the Firstborn Son, that we are called to be transformed into – and this includes living an intercessory life and a life of intercessory prayer.

 

In Exodus Chapter 32, in response to Israel’s making an idol in the image of a calf, we read:

 

“Yahweh said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation…

 

“Then Moses entreated Yahweh his God, and said, O Yahweh, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?...

 

“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever…

 

“So Yahweh changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.” (See Exodus 32:9 – 14).

 

What can we learn about intercession in this passage? What do you see? Are there some foundational intercessory principles in Exodus Chapter 32?

 

Consider verse 10 when Yahweh says to Moses, “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

 

How did Moses respond? Was Moses excited about the idea that God would make of Moses a great nation? That Moses and his descendants, his seed, would supersede the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? What an opportunity to rid himself of these people who didn’t appreciate him and the call that God had placed on his life. What an opportunity to be exalted by God. What an opportunity to do things “the right way.”

 

Don’t we get tired of others getting in the way of God? Of our purpose and destiny? Of our agendas?

 

How might we have responded? How would we have been tempted? How did Moses respond?

 

“Then Moses entreated Yahweh his God, and said, O Yahweh, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a might hand?”

 

What kind of question is this for Moses to ask God? “Why are you angry?” O come on Moses, just look around you, just think back to all the trouble Israel has given you (and there is more to come!). These people, whom God has delivered from Egypt, and whom God desires to bring into the Promised Land, have made a golden idol and are worshipping it even as you and God speak, and you are asking Yahweh why He is angry? Are you crazy? Do you not “get it”?

 

But Moses is not thinking about his own honor or glory, he is thinking about God and God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – Moses is thinking about God’s Covenant and God’s glory. Moses has not forgotten that when Yahweh first appeared to him at the burning bush that He appeared to him proclaiming, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6).

 

And so in Exodus 32:11 – 12 Moses appeals to God’s glory and testimony and implores God, “Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.”

 

Then in Exodus 32:13 Moses appeals to God’s Covenant, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel [Jacob]…” Moses is saying, “Remember the burning bush, remember how You revealed Yourself to me. Don’t consider me or my descendants, don’t think about making a great nation of my people – these are my people – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are my people, these worshippers of a golden idol are my people. You have given me to them as Your servant and their servant and I will not abandon You, Your glory, or Your Covenant…and I will not abandon them.”

 

There is yet more to come regarding intercession in Exodus 32, and we’ll pick this chapter back up in our next post. For now, consider that Moses was seeking the glory and honor and testimony of God, and the welfare of God’s People, before Moses’s own glory and honor. Moses put the interests of God and God’s People before his own, or we could say that Moses’s interests were at one with God’s interests and the welfare of God’s People.

 

Moses was attentive to Yahweh’s revelation of Himself at the burning bush as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and as Jesus points out, this meant that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. Moses saw himself in communion with God and the People of God – the transcendent People of God – how else could Moses “see” the things he saw, and be obedient to the heavenly vision and commission?

 

As the call of Jesus Christ makes clear (Mark 8:34 – 38), those who follow Jesus Christ give up their lives for Him and others – there is no middle ground. The cult of “me first” leadership that prevails in much of the professing church is pagan and represents apostasy – it represents false shepherds and prophets and priests and elders making merchandise of the People of God. Intercessory leadership is not expecting to be served, but to serve and to give our lives as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:25 – 28).

 

Let us not to be so foolish as to speak of leadership or leadership principles unless our conversation is rooted in the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ.

 

As Moses demonstrates, intercessory living is seeking the glory of God and the welfare of His People as our Way of Life in Jesus Christ…for indeed, this is the Way of Jesus (1 John 3:16).