Pray of Intercession

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My wife, Laurie, is from Manitoba and she still has family out there. This means all our children have become pretty good long distance travellers. It’s about 12-13 hours from here to Laurie’s parents house and we’ve made that drive many times. I will say, most times, it goes pretty smoothly. However, anyone who has kids knows how quickie a family roadtrip can get crazy.

You’ve got the constant complaining about siblings taking up too much space in the backseat and you’re telling everyone to just keep their hands to themselves. There is the constant complaining about the food choices we packed, as snacks, apparently all the food we brought is”disgusting.”

Added to this is the constant asking, “are we there yet? Or “how much longer?” When you try to give these children perspective by teaching them about Laura Ingalls spending months in a wagon on her way to the little house on the prairie, no one appreciates the history lesson.

Everytime I read about the Exodus - the Israelites leaving Egypt, led by Moses and Aaron, into the wilderness it reminds me of a family road trip that has gone completely sideways. The first biblical principle about leadership we learn from Moses is that leadership is hard and people are difficult.

You would imagine that Moses would be seen as a great hero - standing up to pharaoh, chosen by Yawheh to lead the people to the Promised land. However, what we really find is that the people are sceptical of Moses, quick to despair, and easily upset.

The people are quick to despair and quill to complain. When Pharaoh’s army begins to pursue them the people complain bitterly, saying, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Considering the ten plagues God unleashed on Egypt it’s striking to me how quick the people are to imagine God, and by extension, Moses have abandoned them to die.

The complaining just ever stops. After being rescued from pharaoh's army, the people then complain about the water, then the people are worried about food. My favorite complaint is when they get tired of the miraculous bread from heaven - manna and they want meat

The Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.

The Lord God responds, “The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it…”

I bring all this up to make the point that this group of people was difficult to lead; they were quick to lose hope, quick to lose trust, quick to complain. While Moses later on is a celebrated leader, the book of Exodus shows just how hard it was to lead the people. Which makes it all the more striking when Moses demonstrates a great love for these difficult people.

Everything comes to a breaking point when Moses is up on Mount Sinai, with the Lord, receiving instructions as to how the nation of Israel was to function as representatives of Yahweh on earth. Moses is gone for 40 days and nights when the people despair - assuming, agan, that Yahweh and Moses had abandoned them, they turn to Aaron and ask for gods that were more familiar to them. Idols they could see and touch. I also believe the people wanted gods that were more controllable and predictable and certainly gods that are fake, that you made, are predictable and controllable.

Remember, it's only been 40 days since the people had literally seen and heard Yahweh’s presence descend on mt. Sinai. They had seen God bring them out of Egypt, part the red sea, destroy pharaoh's army, provide water and food for them every day and yet again they turn away. 40 days previously they were told, “do not have any other gods and do not make idols.” So they make idols and worship them.

We pick up the story from this point - the people are worshiping the golden cow, Moses is with Yahweh on Mt.Sinai: “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

When we just read this over it seems like God’s mind is made up. He’s angry with these people who have, in a mere 40 days, broken the first two of ten commandments. However, this is actually God extending Moses an invitation to intercede on behalf of the people.

Intercession is when you use your influence or standing to plead someone else’s case. God invites Moses to intercede on behalf of Israel when He says, “Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation,” this is a challenge to Moses to get involved. This is a rhetorical demand — God could’ve simply wiped the people out if He wanted to. Instead He tells Moses this is what he will do if Moses does not intercede.

The important phrase is “leave me alone,” which makes it sound as if God is a sulky child. But this is misleading. What God is implying is if you leave me alone -I’ll destroy them, but if you come before me, I’ll listen to you because moses you are the shepherd of these people, speak on their behalf.

This is the key: God did not want to be left alone at all. He was pushing Moses to get involved, to intercede for his people. As Brevard Childs explains it, “God vows the severest punishment imaginable, but then suddenly he conditions it, as it were, on Moses’ agreement. ‘Let me alone that I may consume them.’ The effect is that God himself leaves the door open for intercession. He allows himself to be persuaded. That is what a mediator is for!”

This sets the template for how God will interact with His people when they stray from Him for centuries to come. God will send His people prophets and intercessors to plead with them to turn from sin and follow God wholeheartedly. He will warn them through His prophets, the prophets will intercede on behalf of the people. God is eager to relent, quick to forgive and slow to anger. There is a little bit of a test of Moses going on here. Essentially the question is, “Moses, do you love these people? Will you intervene on their behalf? Will you be their faithful shepherd when they go astray?”

This is a passage where there has been speculation on whether Moses' prayer changed God’s mind. And although a surface level reading may lead you to conclude that Moses changed God’s mind I dont think this is a great text for understanding the mystery of prayer, our involvement and God’s sovereignty. Rather, it seems that we are intended to read this passage as God inviting Moses to be a part of what God is doing and to even to feel what God is feeling.

Remember, God could have simply done away with the people and said, “Ok Moses I need to start over with you.” Instead God alerts Moses to what the people are doing is inviting Moses to get involved.

The first point we should take away from this prayer of Moses is that intercessory prayer is an invitation to be part of the work God is doing in the word. And, like with Moses, when we intercede for people we are invited to also see God’s heart for these people. God has emotion - here there is anger, in other places in scripture God talks about his heart being torn within him and how he loves Israel like a husband loves His bride (hosea). Intercessory prayer is this great privilege of being invited to feel what God is feeling - entering into that and praying through it.

I think we should recognize that when we pray we’re never giving God ideas he hadn’t thought of already. God is not listening to me going, “wow, you know Brent I hadn’t really thought of that.” Rather prayer is me partnering with God to see God's plans and purposes enacted. There is, admittedly, mystery in this. However, what I am more struck by is the privilege of it. God invites us to be his co-laborers in his plans and purposes. In fact we can even ask him questions and express our concerns.

Sky Jethani puts it: “We are not merely passive set pieces in a prearranged cosmic drama, but we are active participants with God in the writing, directing, design, and action that unfolds. Prayer, therefore, is much more than asking God for this or that outcome. It is drawing into communion with him and there taking up our privileged role as his people. In prayer, we are invited to join him in directing the course of his world.”

This is not the only place where we see God inviting someone to intercede. The prophet Amos shares, “This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” So the Lord relented. “This will not happen,” the Lord said. Amos was shown what could happen but Amos was shown this precisely so he could intercede.

In Ezekiel the Lord says he looked for someone who would intercede for the people. The phrase used is that the Lord looked for someone who would stand in the gap (imagine a wall that is breached and someone standing in that gap with a shield to keep it solid). But here is what the Lord said to Ezekiel, “The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice. “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”

Moses, however, was willing to stand in the gap In psalm 106:23 the psalmist reateds the history of the Exodus from Egypt and says, “So he [the LORD] said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. We can conclude that God is looking for intercessors, those who will, in prayer, stand in the gap on behalf of people.

How do you know if you are being invited to intercede? I think the clearest sign of invitation to intercession is often some sense of emotional connection to the people you are interceding for. Whether you cannot stand to see their suffering or you have an inexplicably deep love for them - the thought of their suffering or hardship deeply moves you and moves you to prayer.

I remember a few years ago when there was a massive crisis in Syria with millions of people having their homes destroyed by bombings and warfare leading to them fleeing as refugees to other nations and there were two photos that came out at the same time. One was the image of a 2 year old boy dead on the beach after he drowned as his family attempted to flee across the sea to safety. The other image was this one - of a father having had to leave everything behind crying as he holds his young daughter.

My heart was overwhelmed and I spent about 4 months praying for the families fleeing violence and war in Syria. As much as it may feel strange - to be one individual praying for a multitude of people but this is what intercessors do. It does not have to be always interceding for a people group -you can, of course, intercede for people you know. I often intercede for people I know personally. but the important part of interceding is having the heart of an intercessor.

What is the heart of an intercessor? Let’s look at Moses first. God has said to Moses, Moses, let’s start the whole thing over with you. No longer is it Father Abraham, it will be Father Moses.” Not only does Moses reject that rhetorical offer but Moses goes further he lumps himself in with these people who are so unfaithful and ungrateful. In Verse 32 as Moses goes to intercede for the people part of his prayer is, But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” This is quite the statement for Moses to make. He is saying, if you won’t forgive them and you will destroy them - destroy me as well, number me among them.

At the beginning of the sermon I wanted to show how difficult these people were to lead because I think Moses shows something extraordinary here. These people who are quick to complain, who don’t really show Moses much respect, who have now proven themselves to be unfaithful and untrusting – Moses loves them. Loves them to the point of saying, “do to me, what you plan to do to them.” even though Moses did no wrong.

The heart of the intercessor is often motivated by love & compassion. Look at the Apostle Paul talking about his heart to see his people, the Jews, come to faith in Christ. He says, “With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.” Like Moses, Paul is saying, “lump me in with them, if that will save them.” And Paul was treated horribly by most of the jewish people he spoke to. At Lystra the jewish synagogue there threw stones at him and when they thought he was dead, they dragged him out of the city. Still Paul says, “I am desperate to see them saved. If it would help, if it were possible, I would trade my salvation for theirs.”

The heart of the intercessor is not only motivated by love but this love will overlook a multitude of sins. Do the people of Israel in Moses day or Pauls day do anything to deserve this love and compassion and fervent prayer? No, they are hard-hearted. But Paul is willing to lose salvation for them -Moses is willing to be destroyed with them. Moses and Paul lump themselves in with the ones they intercede for. This moves past sympathy and gets us closer to empathy.

The heart of the intercessor is often moved to deeply love the people they intercede for. And often the people they intercede for are not deserving of that depth of love, compassion or empathy. The people we intercede for can be downright undeserving and ungrateful - hence the need for an intercessor to pray on their behalf.

How does an intercessor pray? We learn from Moses how an intercessor approaches their partnership with God in prayer. Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

What Moses does is He appeals directly to God’s character. Notice that Moses does not minimize the sin of the people, doesn’t say “give them a second chance, or, it's not that big of a deal” No, Moses says, “because of who you are God, because of your glory, spare these people.”

The specific characteristics Moses appeals to are as follows. First, Moses appeals to God’s love for His people. He reminds God: these are your people, your chosen ones, the ones you brought out of Egypt. I know you love them.

Next Noses appeals to God’s faithfulness - Moses says, God you made a covenant with Abraham and with Isaac and Israel I know that you will not break your covenant for you are faithful.

He appeals to God’s glory - Moses says, “what will the egyptians think of you? That you rescued your people only to kill them? This would not show the Egyptian who you truly are; it would detract from your glory.

Finally Moses appeals to God’s mercy - He begins the prayer, “why should your anger burn against your people?” later he says, “turn from your fierce anger and do not bring disaster.” The only reason God would relent is because of His mercy. Moses does not say the people don’t deserve it. Moses does not say it’s wrong for God to be angry - he simply knows God's mercy is great and he appeals to God’s mercy to triumph over judgement.

When Moses finished interceding for Israel, “the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” What else could he do? Moses was appealing to him on the basis of his love, his glory, his mercy, and his faithfulness. And since this appeal was based on God’s own character, Moses was not trying to talk God into doing something he didn’t want to do. On the contrary, he was telling God exactly what he wanted to hear. And in the end, God did what he had intended to do from the beginning. He answered the prayer of Moses the mediator, the intercessor, whom he had appointed.

As a summary of intercession and intercessory prayer we need to end by looking at Jesus -the ultimate mediator and intercessor. As Kent Hughes puts it:

The prayer of Moses and the sin of Israel is really the story of our own salvation. God is up on his holy mountain; we are down on earth. And like the Israelites, we are floundering in the folly of our rebellion against God. Our idolatry leads to immorality. What we need is someone like Moses. We need someone to come down and intercede for us—someone who can turn away God’s wrath.

The message of the gospel is that God has given us a mediator. When he saw our sin, he wanted to save us; so he sent his Son to intercede for our salvation. As the Scripture says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

It is as if God said, “Go down, Jesus, go down. Go down because your people—the ones I gave you from all eternity—have become corrupt. They are living in sin. They have turned away from my law to worship other gods. And unless you intercede for them, they will surely be destroyed by my wrath.”

And Jesus did come down. He said, “Save them, Father. Save my people [cf. John 17:2], because they are not just my people—they are also your people [cf. John 17:9], the ones you love with a Father’s heart. Save them because I died on the cross for their sins, and we should not waste my precious divine blood. Save them because it will bring glory to your name [cf. John 17:1]. Save them because you delight to show mercy. Save them because you promised to save them in the covenant we made before the world began.” This is the way that Jesus prays for us.

The Bible says, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34). Jesus does not plead for us on the basis of our righteousness, but on the merits of his own saving work. For the Bible also says that if we sin, “we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 2:1b, 2a).

Because of our union with Jesus we are invited to come before God in prayer - we are called, in scripture, a royal priesthood. One of the jobs of a priest is to intercede on behalf of the people. We can come before Jesus, our High priest, to intercede for people. As the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

We are invited to be intercessors for rulers and authorities, for people around us, our neighbors for the world - we are urged to pray intercession, thanksgiving and petitions for all these epeople.

So as we close I’ll put on the screen and it is also on sermon resources how to begin intercessory prayer:

1 Ask the Holy Spirit who He may be leading you to pray for

2. Ask the holy Spirit for a loving and compassion heart for those you find it difficult to pray for

3. Pray according to Gods character - his mercy, his love, his glory, his faithfulness.