In the 40 years Journey, there were lot of significant things of mistake made, disobedience, ten commandments, laws, tabernacle, offerings, plagues, feasts, covenant... still keep going with lot of things.
Learning from Moses and Learning from Israelist.
This blog, I intend to elaborate more on the Moses intercede, how powerful it is, will intercede fully stop God's plan? We are also in the spiritual journey and what can we learn from Israelist.
Let go with bottom-up approach. Actually Moses intercession prayer was not in his plan, and he did not call for it to do fasting prayer. How and why Moses start intercede?
Let see the brief sequences of the event before getting into Moses intercede(s).
Sequence 1: God asked Moses to come up to the mountain to do fasting
Exodus 24:12 - Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”
Sequence 2: Moses received the detailed information of Tabernacle
Exodus 25 to 31, Chapter 28 and 29, God explains the priesthood instruction.
Sequence 3: Ten Commandments
Moses received two tablets Exodus 31:18
Sequence 4: Golden Calf
In the meantime, the people of Israel created the Golden calf in the camp. Exodus 32:1–6
Sequence 5: God's Anger
"By creating the molded calf, and worshipped it, sacrificed to it and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" Exodus 32:8
Sequence 6: Moses' 1st Intercession
Now Moses started interceding for the people.
Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them, in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” Exodus 32:11–13
If we meditate on the opening verse 11 - "Moses pleaded with the Lord his God" - the phrase "Lord his God" is the first occurrence here in the Bible (NKJV). This is not the Moses-said phase, more like LORD didn't give up on Moses, showing His closeness with Moses. Later LORD uses this same phrase for David: "But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God."
Moses didn't know what's going on in the camp, whilst LORD said Moses to go down and mentioned the things going on. Here we can see that Moses is asking LORD a couple of questions in the opening itself:
- Why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
- Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them, in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?
The one lived 40 years in palace, and 40 years shepherd life. Compelled to lead, faced Pharaoh, and brought Israelites out of Egypt. He took the leadership job very seriously and faithfully.
Sequence 7: LORD Relented
Right after the intercession, we can read that LORD relented from the harm. Observe that LORD relented, didn’t say forgiven.
Sequence 8: Moses' Anger
Moses went down, cast the tablets out of his hand and broke them. He took the calf, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and drank it.
Sequence 9: Consecrate Yourselves
This is very important: remove all the evil things which displease God. Still, the flesh which is eager to do evil was being destroyed.
Sequence 10: Atonement for Sin
Moses recognized and felt sorrow for wrongdoing, making atonement for sin.
Sequence 11: Moses' 2nd Intercession
Exodus 32:32 - "Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”
Exodus 32:33 - "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.'"
Sequence 12: Pillar of Cloud Removed
After the event of the golden calf, the pillar of cloud was removed from leading the Israelites and began to stand at the entrance of the Tabernacle. This was a significant loss.
Sequence 13: Moses' 3rd Intercession
3rd Intercession is detailed. The 1st and 2nd intercessions happened at Mount Sinai; 3rd intercession happened at the door of the Tabernacle (in the camp).
Exodus 33:14 - "And He said, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'"
Exodus 33:15 - "Then he said to Him, 'If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.'"
Sequence 14: Moses Saw God Yahweh Glory & 4th Intercession
Exodus 34:9 - "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance."
Intercession prayer is powerful and mandatory. Only after removing all things that displease God can the covenant be established.