#70 “Great Intercessor of the Bible”

(Moses - Drawn Out of the Water)

 

“Moses tried to calm his God down. He said,

“Why, God, would you lose your temper with your people?

Why? After You brought them out of Egypt in a tremendous

demonstration of power and strength."

(Exodus 32:11-13)

The Message (MSG)

As we’ve learned in previous lessons God is always looking for intercessors, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV) Then just as it is now there is a great need for selfless, committed intercessors in the land. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8 (NIV) as you may recall from or lessons God can’t just intervene into the affairs of the earth, He requires permission or authorization for man, that’s where we come in, and through our intercession we give God legal rights to have His will here on earth.  The trouble is will He find someone faithful enough to stand in the gap for the fate of this world and mankind? 

We discussed in yesterday’s lesson how Abraham, in spite their wickedness interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, before the Lord. Why did Abraham press God so hard about what it would take to spare these two wicked cities? There were a couple reasons one was that His nephew Lot lived there, the other I believe was because he know the heart of God and that if He truly wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah He would not have to come all the way to earth in order to do it.  Even in this gesture we see God’s compassion and mercy, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:1-9 (NJKV) 

This morning we will take a look at another great Bible intercessor, that is, ‘Moses’ who delivered his people Israel from the land of Egypt and the slavery of the Pharaoh. It wasn’t easy but God finally convinced Pharaoh to let His people go but it came at a high price, because many Egyptians, livestock, and land were destroyed before Pharaoh would release them. In fact it wasn’t until Pharaoh’s very own son had died that he agreed to let them leave Egypt.

Just as the Lord had said when they left Egypt they would not leave empty handed.  “Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters—thus you will plunder Egypt!” Exodus 3:22 (NIV) They left richer than when they arrived four hundred years earlier. I believe that they were richer than even they themselves knew; because they had seen with their very own eyes the awesome power of their God at work on their behalf.

Now they were free and head to a land they did not know, even with all that God had done to gain their freedom they still did not trust Him to be able to protect, keep and provide for them. It was because of this very fact that Moses has found a place among our great bible intercessors today. “Moses tried to calm his God down. He said, “Why, God, would you lose your temper with your people? Why, you brought them out of Egypt in a tremendous demonstration of power and strength. Why let the Egyptians say, ‘He had it in for them—he brought them out so he could kill them in the mountains, wipe them right off the face of the Earth.’ Stop your anger. Think twice about bringing evil against your people! Think of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you gave your word, telling them ‘I will give you many children, as many as the stars in the sky, and I’ll give this land to your children as their land forever.” Exodus 32:11-13 (NIV)

Now here stands Moses just as Abraham did standing between God and the people interceding for their lives.  Notice how Moses reasons with God and on what grounds does he take his defense position before God.  “God why would you do such a thing as this, after you have brought these Your people out of Egypt by such a strong and mighty hand with such tremendous demonstration of Your great power and strength? Now will you through it all away and allow these Egyptian to say, “Their God brought them out only so that He could kill them off in the mountains destroying the very memory of them off the face of the earth.” “And what about Your promise to Abraham, Isaac and Israel, Your servants, You gave them Your word!” Abraham was able to get God to relent and not destroy the people by simply putting Him in remembrance of His Word (Promise) to His servants. 

There is something here I would like to take a closer look at; God was so angry at the people that He was planning to destroy them all every last one of them and Make a great nation out of Moses instead.  “^9-10 God said to Moses, “I look at this people—oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I’ll make a great nation out of you.” (Exodus 32:9-10) Do you understand what this would have meant for Moses?

©       No more murmuring and complaining

©       No more stubborn and rebellious people to contend with

©       No more being in charge of this great massive group of people he could go home and live 

        his life in peace with His wife and sons.

©       No more having to pray for water when they are thirsty,

©       No more having to pray for food when they want something different to eat. 

Yet Moses chooses to stand in their defense before the Almighty God, in an effort to get God to change His mind. This is the mark of a true intercessor, giving no thought to personal gain or sacrifice, only thinking of the souls, which would be lost.  The amazing thing about all of this is that after all of his interceding not only did that generation of Israelites miss out on the promise land, but because of them Moses himself missed out as well. But he didn’t miss out on getting a chance to see the promise, and then God brought him home to live with Him. 

In conclusion, let us remember that as intercessor our first and foremost concern must be for the souls we intercede for.  After all isn’t this exactly what Jesus or Lord and Savior did when He came down to earth to die for the sins of the world? 

My Prayer: Heavenly Father, as we study the life of Moses You servant we see you word being manifested right before our eyes. “Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted.” Help us to do as You have said in Isaiah 43:26 “Put Me in Remembrance…” we will know your word and your promises and hold them up before you knowing that you will fulfill your word. Just as you kept your promises to Abraham, Isaac and Israel You will keep your promises to us. Thank you Father we pray in Jesus’ name Amen!!!

Have A Bless Day…Go in God’s Peace!  

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