October 6, 2024 • 29 mins
The Life of Moses- Episode #27 🙏🏽 Unlock the profound power of intercession as we journey through the lives of Moses and George Mueller, two remarkable figures whose prayers changed the course of history. Ever wondered what it means to truly stand in the gap for others? This episode of Whispers of Grace promises to enlighten and inspire you with the stories of these faith giants. Moses's encounter with God on Mount Sinai, amid the chaos of the Golden Calf incident, is a testament to the strength found in humility and the transformative power of fervent prayer. Witness how his devotion to God’s glory over personal gain reshaped the destiny of a nation and set a benchmark for genuine servant leadership.
We also reflect on the unwavering faith of George Mueller, whose relentless prayers for the conversion of five friends spanned decades, proving the miraculous partnership between steadfast faith and divine intervention. Through the earnest stories of intercession, we explore the roles of Jesus and the Holy Spirit as our ultimate Intercessors, bridging the divide between humanity and the divine with indescribable love. This episode encourages us to embrace the call to intercede, highlighting the courage and humility required to be a bridge for others while reinforcing the importance of perseverance and faith in the unseen outcomes of prayer. Join us as we uncover the lessons from these spiritual pioneers and discover how their legacies continue to inspire and challenge us today.
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Episode Transcript
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Julie (00:19):
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sholy word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to Whispers of Grace.
(00:40):
This is episode three in ourthree-part series of the Golden
Calf Account.
It has taken us three episodesbecause this is such a rich,
amazing text and there's so manythings that I saw in here that
I wanted to pull out.
So this episode we are going tofocus on another aspect of the
Golden Calf Account in Exodus,chapter 32.
(01:01):
We're going to look at Moses'srole and interaction with God
and the relationship that thisman had with God and the
beautiful mystery ofintercession, because that's a
lot of what we see in thischapter is Moses interceding for
the people?
So to get us started, I'm goingto read a testimony from the
(01:23):
life of a man named GeorgeMueller.
If you're not familiar with him, he was a German man that was
born in 1805.
He was a Christian evangelistand a preacher, but he was
mostly known for his work withorphans in Bristol, england.
In his lifetime he cared forover 10,000 orphans.
That's a lot of what he's knownand remembered for.
(01:45):
But he was one of the greatestmen of prayer known to history.
He had this amazingunderstanding of prayer and he
has some of his prayers recorded.
They are just radical and faithdrenched.
He was a man that felt excitedby challenges and deficiencies
because he understood that whenthere was lack, god was going to
(02:07):
show up.
So he actually was excited whenthings fell apart because he
expected God to move, and he did, over and over again in this
man's life.
If you haven't read anythingabout him, I encourage you to
pick up a biography, read someof his quotations, to read about
his life.
Because it is so encouraging tohear about this man's life.
(02:28):
I'm going to read to you alittle testimony from his life.
In November 1844, I began topray for the conversion of five
individuals.
I prayed every day, without asingle intermission, whether
sick or in health, on the land,on the sea and whatever the
pressures of my engagementsmight be.
(02:49):
Eighteen months elapsed beforethe first of the five was
converted.
I thanked God and prayed on forthe others.
Five years elapsed and then thesecond was converted.
I thanked God for the secondand prayed on for the other
three, day by day.
I then the second was converted.
I thanked God for the secondand prayed on for the other
three, day by day.
I continued to pray for themand six years passed before the
(03:12):
third was converted.
I thanked God for the three andwent on praying for the other
two.
These two remained unconverted.
Thirty-six years later, hewrote that the other two, who
were sons of Mueller's friends,were still not converted.
He wrote but I hope in God, Ipray on and I look for the
(03:33):
answer.
They are not converted yet, butthey will be.
In 1897, 52 years after hebegan to pray daily without
interruption for these two men,they were finally converted, but
not until after Mueller died.
Mueller understood what Lukemeant when he introduced a
(03:54):
parable that Jesus told aboutprayer, saying then Jesus told
his disciples a parable to showthem that they should always
pray and not give up.
That's from Luke 18.
And this is the way it was withGeorge Mueller, over and over
and over again.
This incredible faith and thisrelationship with God, where he
(04:16):
could intercede on behalf ofother people and God moved in
amazing ways.
Thinking about thisrelationship that Mueller had
with God, it just causes me tocontemplate the beauty and
perfection and glory of God.
He's so huge and unfathomable,and yet he allows us to come
(04:37):
close to him, to have fellowshipand to have access to his heart
and to interact with his plans.
Now, that is just.
It's wild to think that the Godwho created the world is
willing to partner with us, toallow us to intercede for his
will to be done.
It is a mystery for sure tothink that God allows us and
(05:00):
invites us to intercede.
If you're not familiar withthis word, intercession it just
means to stand in the gap forsomeone else, to give of your
own personal time and energy toplead the cause of another
person, to pour yourself out onbehalf of someone else, to pray
for them.
(05:20):
An intercession is the veryheart of God.
It is exactly what Christ didwhen he stood in our place and
ransomed us from sin and death.
He interceded for every sinner.
Hebrews 7.25 tells us that Jesus, as our high priest, lives to
(05:42):
make intercession for us.
Now, this is something thatI've mentioned before on the
podcast, because it blows mymind to think that Jesus is your
intercessor.
It says that he is continuallypraying for you and he is the
bridge between God and man.
Isaiah 53, 12 tells us thatJesus poured his soul out onto
(06:06):
death and was numbered with thetransgressors and bore the sins
of many so that he could makeintercession for sinners.
This was the heart of Jesus'smission was to take our place,
to intercede for us.
Now, romans 8 26 shows us thatthe Holy Spirit also makes
(06:30):
intercession for the saints,according to the will of God.
It says that when we don't knowhow or what to pray, the Holy
Spirit actually steps in andfills the gap and prays for us.
So the Bible tells us thatJesus and the Holy Spirit are
intercessors and they aremotivated by love, and God, the
(06:51):
Father, is the one that sent theSon to intercede.
So this topic that we'retalking about is something that
is so dear to the heart of God.
So now I want to focus on ourman, moses, and study his
interaction with God at MountSinai and his method and heart
(07:11):
for interceding for thisstubborn and sinful nation of
Israel.
So just a real quick recap.
We're at Mount Sinai.
Moses went up to the top of themountain to receive the Ten
Commandments.
The Israelites down in thevalley get weary of waiting and
they create a golden calf.
They bow down and worship thecalf and say that this is the
(07:32):
God that freed us from Egypt andjust like that, they become
idolaters and turn away.
So then we pick up the story inExodus, chapter 32, verse 7.
It says Exodus, chapter 32,verse 7.
It says and the Lord said toMoses Go, get down, for your
people, whom you brought out ofthe land of Egypt, have
(07:54):
corrupted themselves.
They have turned aside quicklyout of the way which I commanded
them.
They have made themselves amolded calf and worshipped it
and sacrificed to it and saidthis is your God, o Israel, that
brought you out of the land ofEgypt.
And the Lord said to Moses Ihave seen this people and indeed
it is a stiff-necked people.
Now, therefore, let me alonethat my wrath may burn hot
(08:17):
against them and I may consumethem and I will make of you a
great nation.
And then Moses pleaded with theLord God and said Lord, why
does your wrath burn hot againstyour people, whom you've
brought out of the land of Egyptwith great power and with a
mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians speakand say he brought them out to
(08:39):
harm them and to kill them inthe mountains and to consume
them from the face of the earth?
Turn from your fierce wrath andrelent from this harm to your
people.
Remember Abraham, isaac andIsrael, your servants, to whom
you swore by your own self andsaid to them I will multiply
your descendants as the stars ofthe heavens and all this land
(09:02):
that I have spoken of I give toyour descendants and they shall
inherit it forever.
So the Lord relented from theharm which he said that he would
do to his people.
Now we've looked at manydifferent aspects of this
account.
The past two episodes wefocused on the sinfulness of
idolatry in part one and in parttwo we looked at the posture
(09:25):
and identity of God as jealousand how beautiful and biblical
that is.
But now I want to focus onMoses as intercessor.
The first thing that I noticeas I read through this prayer
and Moses's posture is that heknew who he was.
He knew that he was called tobe a humble servant leader.
(09:48):
He's often recorded as fallingon his face before the crowds.
They would come and they wouldbring all of their accusations
against him and often threatenedto kill him, and Moses would
fall on his face in humility.
He was known as the most humbleman in all of the earth.
God spent 40 years helping Mosesto understand how small he was.
(10:12):
In the grand scheme of things,god did so much in his heart and
when he rose him up as a leader, this man knew what he could do
and what he couldn't do.
The other thing is that Mosesknew his God because God had
appeared to him not only in theburning bush but here on the
mountain.
They've just spent 40 daystogether in fellowship.
(10:33):
He's getting to know him andGod is correcting Moses and
Moses is having fellowship withhim.
So Moses is very tuned in tothe heart of God, to his methods
, to his plans, because he hasshared this intimate fellowship.
So this is deep understandingthat Moses had of himself and
(10:55):
his role and his God's heart.
This perfectly aligns him tointercede powerfully for the
nation of Israel.
Because when he comes to God,moses isn't coming for himself,
to make himself look grand orfabulous, but he's coming for
Israel because he wants Israelto glorify God.
(11:15):
Moses understood that all ofthis was not about him, how he
looked as a leader, but it wasabout the glory of God.
Verse 11, it shows us thisposture of Moses's heart.
It says that he pleaded withthe Lord.
He didn't come before God anddemand.
I've heard people pray theseprayers where it's almost like
(11:36):
they're in charge of God andthey feel that they can move the
hand of God and they demandthings of him.
That is not the posture ofMoses' heart here at all.
It says that he pleaded withthe Lord because, again, he knew
his place as a creation talkingto his creator.
And when he pleads before theLord, he is focused on God's
(11:59):
reputation among the foreignnations.
That's what he says, right?
We just read it.
And then after that he speaksGod's great deeds and his heart
for Israel back to him.
He calls on the great andmatchless grace of God to show
itself once again in the midstof Israel's foolishness.
(12:23):
When we come to God to intercedefor others, is it in a humble
fashion?
Do we remember who we aretalking to?
Do we fall on our face inworship and acknowledge his
supreme power and wisdom, or dowe get focused on our own issues
and forget who we're reallytalking to?
We get distracted.
(12:45):
We get so easily focused onjust what we're thinking and
what's in front of us that it'seasy to forget who we're talking
to.
Now we have access to thethrone of grace.
This is a gift, and scripturedoes tell us to come boldly to
the throne of grace.
But we must come humbly, likeMoses did as well.
(13:05):
He understood his relationshipFor you, it's a daughter to a
father.
It's as a creation to ourcreator.
It's as a bride to a husband.
It's as a bondservant to amaster.
There's so many layers of ourrelationship with God, but if we
(13:27):
can remember who he is and whathe's done, it will help us to
come as humble intercessors.
And when we come humbly, do wecome to glorify and magnify God
or ourselves?
Because the Pharisees love topray these lengthy prayers, loud
(13:47):
and on the street corner foreveryone to hear, so people
would think that they were soholy.
Is our prayer to make ourselveslook pious or to fulfill some
check mark in our heart?
Because here Moses was seekingGod's honor and his glory before
the nations.
His highest priority in thisrecorded prayer is that God
(14:11):
would be glorified among theheathen.
His heart was right and in thisprayer that Moses makes, he
also speaks the goodness and thepromises of God back to him,
which is something that Godloves.
As you read through the Psalms,it's one of my favorite places
(14:31):
when you hear the authors of thePsalms recite back to God their
history and his promises andplead based on those promises.
And Moses here.
He calls on God to keep hisword and he asks for yet more
astounding grace to cover yetanother wicked trespass.
(14:52):
Why?
To prove yet again that God wasmassive in grace and would keep
his covenant.
Because of who he is?
Not based on Israel'sfaithfulness, but based on the
faithfulness of God.
But based on the faithfulnessof God, moses pleads his case
(15:15):
based on the character and theidentity of God that is revealed
through redemption.
Have you ever thought aboutwhat the core of God is?
It is grace and mercy.
This is what pours out of God.
Think of it.
When Jesus was on this earth, hemoved towards the defiled.
He moved towards thecompromised, towards the weak
(15:37):
and the degraded and thedestitute.
He was always moving towardssinners who were in their sin.
That was where Jesus was mostcomfortable.
That was where his heart pulledhim, because he wanted to offer
grace and mercy to these sheepwithout a shepherd.
He saw the sin as an effect ofthe fact that they were lost.
(15:59):
They didn't know God and hisheart broke for them.
In John, chapter 6, verse 37,jesus says the one who comes to
me I will by no means cast out.
That is the heart of Jesus.
He wants us to come to him, andwhen we come humbly to God, he
(16:21):
promises to not cast us aside,because the very heart of God is
redemption through grace.
And this is what Moses istapping into here.
Even through all the dark daysof the prophets and Israel's
captivities and all of theirhistory up and down, god is
always looking for humblerepentance and true belief, and
(16:45):
when he punishes them, it's torepair their broken relationship
.
So God wanted Moses to interactand to intercede for his
beloved people, because it wasin line with his will and
(17:05):
expressed in his very nature.
This is God's heart for Israeland this is God's heart for you,
cole.
A Bible commentator said itthis way we are not to think of
Moses as altering God's purpose,but as carrying it out.
Moses was never more like Godthan in such moments, for he
shared God's mind and lovingpurpose.
(17:26):
That was the key to thesuccessful intercession.
Moses was never more like Godthan in such moments, for he
shared God's mind and his lovingpurpose, and I love this
conclusion that Cole brings outbecause it's fleshed out all
through the scriptures.
The Bible describes God'syearning to offer grace and
(17:50):
forgiveness.
It reminded me of Jesus inMatthew 23, verse 37, when he
says O Jerusalem, jerusalem, theone who kills the prophets and
stones those that are sent toher.
How often I wanted to gatheryour children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under herwings, but you were not willing.
(18:10):
This is God's heart for us.
God wants to gather those thatare lost.
He wants to bring redemptionand forgiveness and grace.
Do you believe that this isGod's heart for you, or do you
feel like he's just some angryGod in the sky that has a big
stick waiting to smack you whenyou mess up?
(18:30):
Because that is not a properunderstanding of God's heart.
So keep this in mind as we justenter back into our text here
in Exodus 32.
So after Moses pours his heartout, speaks God's word back to
him and taps in to God'sgreatest desire, which is to
(18:51):
offer forgiveness and grace.
It says in verse 11,.
So the Lord relented from theharm which he said that he would
do to his people.
So that word relented in Hebrewactually means to sigh or to
breathe strongly.
So the implication in that wordrelented is to pity or to be
(19:13):
comforted, to sigh or to breathestrongly, to kind of be turned
aside from what he was lookingto do, because God set aside his
initial judgment and he wascomforted by the reflection of
his heart that Moses presented.
So Israel would still bepunished for their sin, but now
(19:35):
they wouldn't be completelywiped out because God chose to
allow Moses to enter in to thisprocess.
And it's interesting becauseGod could have actually wiped
Israel out completely andrestarted this whole thing with
Moses and he would have stillfulfilled the promises to
Abraham, isaac and Jacob.
(19:56):
But when God said to Moses letme alone that my wrath may burn
hot against them, moses didn'twalk away.
Think of that.
God tells Moses let me alonethat my wrath may burn hot
against them.
And Moses doesn't walk away.
(20:16):
In that moment he could havebeen free of these faithless
complaining people, but he choseto stand in the gap for them.
That just shows how much he'sreflecting God's heart.
In the section, moses could havebeen respected and revered as
the new patriarch of God'schosen people.
But Moses stands his ground andhe chooses to intercede.
(20:39):
He doesn't step aside and say,oh, god will do what God will do
.
I have no role here, I can'tchange your mind, so go ahead.
God unleash your wrath.
He steps in.
He steps in between God and hispeople and puts himself
straight in the way of the wrathof God.
Moses steps in and participates.
(21:02):
He fellowships deeply with Godand he reflects God's heart back
to him in the way that heintercedes.
Moses is so centered andanchored in the grace of God and
because of this he findsclarity and persistence.
This is such a prayer of minefor all of us that we would find
(21:25):
this same clarity andpersistence, because we're
spending time with God and wecan touch his heart and
understand what his will is.
And the bravery that this manshowed to step in and intercede
would be ours, because we wouldbe sure of who our God is.
(21:45):
Now.
Moses was not the first personto step in and intercede.
Before this, all the way back inGenesis, chapter 18, we see
Abraham interceding for hisnephew, lot.
Do you remember?
Lot's family moved into Sodomand Gomorrah and Abraham found
out that God was planning towipe it out.
And Abraham intercedes InGenesis 18, he says God, god,
(22:09):
would you destroy the righteouswith the wicked?
And then he goes through thisscene where he says if there
were just 45 righteous, and thendown to 40, and down to 30,
down to 20 down to 10.
Finally, abraham says, god, ifthere are 10 righteous, would
you destroy the city?
And God says no, for the sakeof 10 righteous I would save it.
And because of thisintercession of Abraham, angels
(22:33):
are actually sent in to Sodomand Gomorrah to rescue Lot and
his family and pull them out ofSodom and Gomorrah before it is
destroyed.
So again, abraham,understanding the heart of God,
not desiring to destroy therighteous with the wicked,
intercedes on behalf of hisfamily and God adjusts his plans
(22:54):
based on Abraham's intercession.
Now there are several times allthroughout the scripture where
we see people interceding onefor another.
One of my favorites is in Amos,chapter 7, and it recounts a
similar event God revealing hisjudgment to Amos and Amos
interceding on Israel's behalf.
(23:15):
And again we read that Godrelented of the plans that he
had laid out because of theintercession of Amos.
Another instance is in Ezekiel,chapter 22.
It gives us a unique and avaluable look at God's heart.
We have a similar situationwhere Israel is being judged and
(23:35):
she is suffering for her sins,but in verse 30, this is what
God says.
So I sought for a man amongthem who would make a wall and
stand in the gap before me onbehalf of the land that I should
not destroy it.
But I found no one.
(23:56):
In this verse we read that Godis looking for a righteous
person.
For a righteous person, it says, who will stand in the gap and
make a wall on behalf of theland so he wouldn't destroy it.
God is looking for righteouspeople who share his heart to
intercede.
And it's funny because throughthis we understand it's not
(24:20):
about the one that's praying,but it's about the one who's
working, and it's about hisheart being reflected in the
person that's praying.
And we are invited into thisdelicate dance with the divine
and God.
He's not a genie in a bottlethat exists just to make your
life easy and blessed.
(24:40):
He is so much more.
God is so powerful and yet he'sapproachable.
He's uncompromising in truthand yet he's full of grace and
compassion.
This deep and unfathomablerelationship is so nuanced, but
it's also simple andoutrageously sweet and amazing.
(25:02):
God's character is revealed tous and the best thing we can do
is get to know him so we canreflect that character of God
back to him, because we'reinvited into this mystery of
prayer, and it is a holy calling.
God so desires praying mothersand grandmothers and friends and
(25:25):
strangers and prophets andpaupers.
He needs Hannah's.
He needs Jocobeds with faith toplace their baby in a basket
that's covered in prayer.
He desires the Lois's and theEunice's, this powerhouse of
prayer that supported Timothy inhis life.
God desires friends with enoughfaith to take the roof off of a
(25:48):
house in order to get theircrippled friend to Jesus.
My friends, jesus wants you, hewants us to come before him and
plead the cause of others, tostand in the gap, to make a wall
.
2 Chronicles 16.9 says this theeyes of the Lord run to and fro
(26:11):
throughout the whole earth toshow himself strong on behalf of
those whose heart is loyal tohim.
I know that our deepest heart'sprayer is to be somebody that
stands in the gap, to put ourhand up and say here I am, lord,
send me when his eyes aresearching the earth, looking for
(26:32):
someone whose heart is loyal tohim.
I want that to be me.
I want that to be you.
I want to be women that standin the gap, that are willing to
be the bridge, even though itcosts us.
I'm so encouraged as I look atMoses in his stance here, the
bravery that he showed to standin front of God and intercede,
(26:56):
and yet the humility that he hadthroughout his whole life to
fall on his face when he wasaccused.
But when it came to standing upfor Israel, when it came to
standing up for righteousness,for grace and compassion, he was
that man.
I pray that we have a heartlike that, that is brave as a
lion and so humble at the sametime, that we would know who we
(27:21):
are, that we would know our God.
You are valuable, you areimportant.
God wants to partner with youin his plan for people's lives.
He wants you to be a part.
You matter.
Your voice matters, yourprayers matter.
Your time with him matters.
(27:41):
I want to leave you with aGeorge Mueller quote that I
absolutely love about prayer.
It says this it's not enoughfor the believer to begin to
pray, nor to pray correctly, noris it enough to continue for a
time to pray.
We must patiently, believingly,continue in prayer until we
(28:02):
obtain an answer.
Further, we have not only tocontinue in prayer until the end
, but we have also to believethat God does hear us and will
answer our prayers.
Most frequently, we fail in notcontinuing in prayer until the
blessing is obtained and in notexpecting the blessing.
Those who are disciples of theLord Jesus should labor with all
(28:25):
of their might in the work ofGod, as if everything depended
upon their own endeavor.
Yet, having done so, theyshould not in the least trust in
their labor and efforts, nor inthe means that they use for the
spread of the truth, but trustin God, alone, alone.
And they should, with allearnestness, seek the blessing
(28:47):
of God in persevering, patientand believing prayer.
Here's the great secret ofsuccess, my Christian reader.
Work with all of your might,but never trust in your work.
Pray with all of your might forthe blessing in God, but work
at the same time with alldiligence, with all patience and
(29:08):
with all perseverance.
Pray and work, work and prayand still again, pray and then
work, and so on all the days ofour life, and the result will
surely be abundant blessing.
Whether you see much fruit orlittle fruit, such kind of
service will be blessed.
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sholy word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to Whispers of Grace.
(00:40):
This is episode three in ourthree-part series of the Golden
Calf Account.
It has taken us three episodesbecause this is such a rich,
amazing text and there's so manythings that I saw in here that
I wanted to pull out.
So this episode we are going tofocus on another aspect of the
Golden Calf Account in Exodus,chapter 32.
(01:01):
We're going to look at Moses'srole and interaction with God
and the relationship that thisman had with God and the
beautiful mystery ofintercession, because that's a
lot of what we see in thischapter is Moses interceding for
the people?
So to get us started, I'm goingto read a testimony from the
(01:23):
life of a man named GeorgeMueller.
If you're not familiar with him, he was a German man that was
born in 1805.
He was a Christian evangelistand a preacher, but he was
mostly known for his work withorphans in Bristol, england.
In his lifetime he cared forover 10,000 orphans.
That's a lot of what he's knownand remembered for.
(01:45):
But he was one of the greatestmen of prayer known to history.
He had this amazingunderstanding of prayer and he
has some of his prayers recorded.
They are just radical and faithdrenched.
He was a man that felt excitedby challenges and deficiencies
because he understood that whenthere was lack, god was going to
(02:07):
show up.
So he actually was excited whenthings fell apart because he
expected God to move, and he did, over and over again in this
man's life.
If you haven't read anythingabout him, I encourage you to
pick up a biography, read someof his quotations, to read about
his life.
Because it is so encouraging tohear about this man's life.
(02:28):
I'm going to read to you alittle testimony from his life.
In November 1844, I began topray for the conversion of five
individuals.
I prayed every day, without asingle intermission, whether
sick or in health, on the land,on the sea and whatever the
pressures of my engagementsmight be.
(02:49):
Eighteen months elapsed beforethe first of the five was
converted.
I thanked God and prayed on forthe others.
Five years elapsed and then thesecond was converted.
I thanked God for the secondand prayed on for the other
three, day by day.
I then the second was converted.
I thanked God for the secondand prayed on for the other
three, day by day.
I continued to pray for themand six years passed before the
(03:12):
third was converted.
I thanked God for the three andwent on praying for the other
two.
These two remained unconverted.
Thirty-six years later, hewrote that the other two, who
were sons of Mueller's friends,were still not converted.
He wrote but I hope in God, Ipray on and I look for the
(03:33):
answer.
They are not converted yet, butthey will be.
In 1897, 52 years after hebegan to pray daily without
interruption for these two men,they were finally converted, but
not until after Mueller died.
Mueller understood what Lukemeant when he introduced a
(03:54):
parable that Jesus told aboutprayer, saying then Jesus told
his disciples a parable to showthem that they should always
pray and not give up.
That's from Luke 18.
And this is the way it was withGeorge Mueller, over and over
and over again.
This incredible faith and thisrelationship with God, where he
(04:16):
could intercede on behalf ofother people and God moved in
amazing ways.
Thinking about thisrelationship that Mueller had
with God, it just causes me tocontemplate the beauty and
perfection and glory of God.
He's so huge and unfathomable,and yet he allows us to come
(04:37):
close to him, to have fellowshipand to have access to his heart
and to interact with his plans.
Now, that is just.
It's wild to think that the Godwho created the world is
willing to partner with us, toallow us to intercede for his
will to be done.
It is a mystery for sure tothink that God allows us and
(05:00):
invites us to intercede.
If you're not familiar withthis word, intercession it just
means to stand in the gap forsomeone else, to give of your
own personal time and energy toplead the cause of another
person, to pour yourself out onbehalf of someone else, to pray
for them.
(05:20):
An intercession is the veryheart of God.
It is exactly what Christ didwhen he stood in our place and
ransomed us from sin and death.
He interceded for every sinner.
Hebrews 7.25 tells us that Jesus, as our high priest, lives to
(05:42):
make intercession for us.
Now, this is something thatI've mentioned before on the
podcast, because it blows mymind to think that Jesus is your
intercessor.
It says that he is continuallypraying for you and he is the
bridge between God and man.
Isaiah 53, 12 tells us thatJesus poured his soul out onto
(06:06):
death and was numbered with thetransgressors and bore the sins
of many so that he could makeintercession for sinners.
This was the heart of Jesus'smission was to take our place,
to intercede for us.
Now, romans 8 26 shows us thatthe Holy Spirit also makes
(06:30):
intercession for the saints,according to the will of God.
It says that when we don't knowhow or what to pray, the Holy
Spirit actually steps in andfills the gap and prays for us.
So the Bible tells us thatJesus and the Holy Spirit are
intercessors and they aremotivated by love, and God, the
(06:51):
Father, is the one that sent theSon to intercede.
So this topic that we'retalking about is something that
is so dear to the heart of God.
So now I want to focus on ourman, moses, and study his
interaction with God at MountSinai and his method and heart
(07:11):
for interceding for thisstubborn and sinful nation of
Israel.
So just a real quick recap.
We're at Mount Sinai.
Moses went up to the top of themountain to receive the Ten
Commandments.
The Israelites down in thevalley get weary of waiting and
they create a golden calf.
They bow down and worship thecalf and say that this is the
(07:32):
God that freed us from Egypt andjust like that, they become
idolaters and turn away.
So then we pick up the story inExodus, chapter 32, verse 7.
It says Exodus, chapter 32,verse 7.
It says and the Lord said toMoses Go, get down, for your
people, whom you brought out ofthe land of Egypt, have
(07:54):
corrupted themselves.
They have turned aside quicklyout of the way which I commanded
them.
They have made themselves amolded calf and worshipped it
and sacrificed to it and saidthis is your God, o Israel, that
brought you out of the land ofEgypt.
And the Lord said to Moses Ihave seen this people and indeed
it is a stiff-necked people.
Now, therefore, let me alonethat my wrath may burn hot
(08:17):
against them and I may consumethem and I will make of you a
great nation.
And then Moses pleaded with theLord God and said Lord, why
does your wrath burn hot againstyour people, whom you've
brought out of the land of Egyptwith great power and with a
mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians speakand say he brought them out to
(08:39):
harm them and to kill them inthe mountains and to consume
them from the face of the earth?
Turn from your fierce wrath andrelent from this harm to your
people.
Remember Abraham, isaac andIsrael, your servants, to whom
you swore by your own self andsaid to them I will multiply
your descendants as the stars ofthe heavens and all this land
(09:02):
that I have spoken of I give toyour descendants and they shall
inherit it forever.
So the Lord relented from theharm which he said that he would
do to his people.
Now we've looked at manydifferent aspects of this
account.
The past two episodes wefocused on the sinfulness of
idolatry in part one and in parttwo we looked at the posture
(09:25):
and identity of God as jealousand how beautiful and biblical
that is.
But now I want to focus onMoses as intercessor.
The first thing that I noticeas I read through this prayer
and Moses's posture is that heknew who he was.
He knew that he was called tobe a humble servant leader.
(09:48):
He's often recorded as fallingon his face before the crowds.
They would come and they wouldbring all of their accusations
against him and often threatenedto kill him, and Moses would
fall on his face in humility.
He was known as the most humbleman in all of the earth.
God spent 40 years helping Mosesto understand how small he was.
(10:12):
In the grand scheme of things,god did so much in his heart and
when he rose him up as a leader, this man knew what he could do
and what he couldn't do.
The other thing is that Mosesknew his God because God had
appeared to him not only in theburning bush but here on the
mountain.
They've just spent 40 daystogether in fellowship.
(10:33):
He's getting to know him andGod is correcting Moses and
Moses is having fellowship withhim.
So Moses is very tuned in tothe heart of God, to his methods
, to his plans, because he hasshared this intimate fellowship.
So this is deep understandingthat Moses had of himself and
(10:55):
his role and his God's heart.
This perfectly aligns him tointercede powerfully for the
nation of Israel.
Because when he comes to God,moses isn't coming for himself,
to make himself look grand orfabulous, but he's coming for
Israel because he wants Israelto glorify God.
(11:15):
Moses understood that all ofthis was not about him, how he
looked as a leader, but it wasabout the glory of God.
Verse 11, it shows us thisposture of Moses's heart.
It says that he pleaded withthe Lord.
He didn't come before God anddemand.
I've heard people pray theseprayers where it's almost like
(11:36):
they're in charge of God andthey feel that they can move the
hand of God and they demandthings of him.
That is not the posture ofMoses' heart here at all.
It says that he pleaded withthe Lord because, again, he knew
his place as a creation talkingto his creator.
And when he pleads before theLord, he is focused on God's
(11:59):
reputation among the foreignnations.
That's what he says, right?
We just read it.
And then after that he speaksGod's great deeds and his heart
for Israel back to him.
He calls on the great andmatchless grace of God to show
itself once again in the midstof Israel's foolishness.
(12:23):
When we come to God to intercedefor others, is it in a humble
fashion?
Do we remember who we aretalking to?
Do we fall on our face inworship and acknowledge his
supreme power and wisdom, or dowe get focused on our own issues
and forget who we're reallytalking to?
We get distracted.
(12:45):
We get so easily focused onjust what we're thinking and
what's in front of us that it'seasy to forget who we're talking
to.
Now we have access to thethrone of grace.
This is a gift, and scripturedoes tell us to come boldly to
the throne of grace.
But we must come humbly, likeMoses did as well.
(13:05):
He understood his relationshipFor you, it's a daughter to a
father.
It's as a creation to ourcreator.
It's as a bride to a husband.
It's as a bondservant to amaster.
There's so many layers of ourrelationship with God, but if we
(13:27):
can remember who he is and whathe's done, it will help us to
come as humble intercessors.
And when we come humbly, do wecome to glorify and magnify God
or ourselves?
Because the Pharisees love topray these lengthy prayers, loud
(13:47):
and on the street corner foreveryone to hear, so people
would think that they were soholy.
Is our prayer to make ourselveslook pious or to fulfill some
check mark in our heart?
Because here Moses was seekingGod's honor and his glory before
the nations.
His highest priority in thisrecorded prayer is that God
(14:11):
would be glorified among theheathen.
His heart was right and in thisprayer that Moses makes, he
also speaks the goodness and thepromises of God back to him,
which is something that Godloves.
As you read through the Psalms,it's one of my favorite places
(14:31):
when you hear the authors of thePsalms recite back to God their
history and his promises andplead based on those promises.
And Moses here.
He calls on God to keep hisword and he asks for yet more
astounding grace to cover yetanother wicked trespass.
(14:52):
Why?
To prove yet again that God wasmassive in grace and would keep
his covenant.
Because of who he is?
Not based on Israel'sfaithfulness, but based on the
faithfulness of God.
But based on the faithfulnessof God, moses pleads his case
(15:15):
based on the character and theidentity of God that is revealed
through redemption.
Have you ever thought aboutwhat the core of God is?
It is grace and mercy.
This is what pours out of God.
Think of it.
When Jesus was on this earth, hemoved towards the defiled.
He moved towards thecompromised, towards the weak
(15:37):
and the degraded and thedestitute.
He was always moving towardssinners who were in their sin.
That was where Jesus was mostcomfortable.
That was where his heart pulledhim, because he wanted to offer
grace and mercy to these sheepwithout a shepherd.
He saw the sin as an effect ofthe fact that they were lost.
(15:59):
They didn't know God and hisheart broke for them.
In John, chapter 6, verse 37,jesus says the one who comes to
me I will by no means cast out.
That is the heart of Jesus.
He wants us to come to him, andwhen we come humbly to God, he
(16:21):
promises to not cast us aside,because the very heart of God is
redemption through grace.
And this is what Moses istapping into here.
Even through all the dark daysof the prophets and Israel's
captivities and all of theirhistory up and down, god is
always looking for humblerepentance and true belief, and
(16:45):
when he punishes them, it's torepair their broken relationship
.
So God wanted Moses to interactand to intercede for his
beloved people, because it wasin line with his will and
(17:05):
expressed in his very nature.
This is God's heart for Israeland this is God's heart for you,
cole.
A Bible commentator said itthis way we are not to think of
Moses as altering God's purpose,but as carrying it out.
Moses was never more like Godthan in such moments, for he
shared God's mind and lovingpurpose.
(17:26):
That was the key to thesuccessful intercession.
Moses was never more like Godthan in such moments, for he
shared God's mind and his lovingpurpose, and I love this
conclusion that Cole brings outbecause it's fleshed out all
through the scriptures.
The Bible describes God'syearning to offer grace and
(17:50):
forgiveness.
It reminded me of Jesus inMatthew 23, verse 37, when he
says O Jerusalem, jerusalem, theone who kills the prophets and
stones those that are sent toher.
How often I wanted to gatheryour children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under herwings, but you were not willing.
(18:10):
This is God's heart for us.
God wants to gather those thatare lost.
He wants to bring redemptionand forgiveness and grace.
Do you believe that this isGod's heart for you, or do you
feel like he's just some angryGod in the sky that has a big
stick waiting to smack you whenyou mess up?
(18:30):
Because that is not a properunderstanding of God's heart.
So keep this in mind as we justenter back into our text here
in Exodus 32.
So after Moses pours his heartout, speaks God's word back to
him and taps in to God'sgreatest desire, which is to
(18:51):
offer forgiveness and grace.
It says in verse 11,.
So the Lord relented from theharm which he said that he would
do to his people.
So that word relented in Hebrewactually means to sigh or to
breathe strongly.
So the implication in that wordrelented is to pity or to be
(19:13):
comforted, to sigh or to breathestrongly, to kind of be turned
aside from what he was lookingto do, because God set aside his
initial judgment and he wascomforted by the reflection of
his heart that Moses presented.
So Israel would still bepunished for their sin, but now
(19:35):
they wouldn't be completelywiped out because God chose to
allow Moses to enter in to thisprocess.
And it's interesting becauseGod could have actually wiped
Israel out completely andrestarted this whole thing with
Moses and he would have stillfulfilled the promises to
Abraham, isaac and Jacob.
(19:56):
But when God said to Moses letme alone that my wrath may burn
hot against them, moses didn'twalk away.
Think of that.
God tells Moses let me alonethat my wrath may burn hot
against them.
And Moses doesn't walk away.
(20:16):
In that moment he could havebeen free of these faithless
complaining people, but he choseto stand in the gap for them.
That just shows how much he'sreflecting God's heart.
In the section, moses could havebeen respected and revered as
the new patriarch of God'schosen people.
But Moses stands his ground andhe chooses to intercede.
(20:39):
He doesn't step aside and say,oh, god will do what God will do
.
I have no role here, I can'tchange your mind, so go ahead.
God unleash your wrath.
He steps in.
He steps in between God and hispeople and puts himself
straight in the way of the wrathof God.
Moses steps in and participates.
(21:02):
He fellowships deeply with Godand he reflects God's heart back
to him in the way that heintercedes.
Moses is so centered andanchored in the grace of God and
because of this he findsclarity and persistence.
This is such a prayer of minefor all of us that we would find
(21:25):
this same clarity andpersistence, because we're
spending time with God and wecan touch his heart and
understand what his will is.
And the bravery that this manshowed to step in and intercede
would be ours, because we wouldbe sure of who our God is.
(21:45):
Now.
Moses was not the first personto step in and intercede.
Before this, all the way back inGenesis, chapter 18, we see
Abraham interceding for hisnephew, lot.
Do you remember?
Lot's family moved into Sodomand Gomorrah and Abraham found
out that God was planning towipe it out.
And Abraham intercedes InGenesis 18, he says God, god,
(22:09):
would you destroy the righteouswith the wicked?
And then he goes through thisscene where he says if there
were just 45 righteous, and thendown to 40, and down to 30,
down to 20 down to 10.
Finally, abraham says, god, ifthere are 10 righteous, would
you destroy the city?
And God says no, for the sakeof 10 righteous I would save it.
And because of thisintercession of Abraham, angels
(22:33):
are actually sent in to Sodomand Gomorrah to rescue Lot and
his family and pull them out ofSodom and Gomorrah before it is
destroyed.
So again, abraham,understanding the heart of God,
not desiring to destroy therighteous with the wicked,
intercedes on behalf of hisfamily and God adjusts his plans
(22:54):
based on Abraham's intercession.
Now there are several times allthroughout the scripture where
we see people interceding onefor another.
One of my favorites is in Amos,chapter 7, and it recounts a
similar event God revealing hisjudgment to Amos and Amos
interceding on Israel's behalf.
(23:15):
And again we read that Godrelented of the plans that he
had laid out because of theintercession of Amos.
Another instance is in Ezekiel,chapter 22.
It gives us a unique and avaluable look at God's heart.
We have a similar situationwhere Israel is being judged and
(23:35):
she is suffering for her sins,but in verse 30, this is what
God says.
So I sought for a man amongthem who would make a wall and
stand in the gap before me onbehalf of the land that I should
not destroy it.
But I found no one.
(23:56):
In this verse we read that Godis looking for a righteous
person.
For a righteous person, it says, who will stand in the gap and
make a wall on behalf of theland so he wouldn't destroy it.
God is looking for righteouspeople who share his heart to
intercede.
And it's funny because throughthis we understand it's not
(24:20):
about the one that's praying,but it's about the one who's
working, and it's about hisheart being reflected in the
person that's praying.
And we are invited into thisdelicate dance with the divine
and God.
He's not a genie in a bottlethat exists just to make your
life easy and blessed.
(24:40):
He is so much more.
God is so powerful and yet he'sapproachable.
He's uncompromising in truthand yet he's full of grace and
compassion.
This deep and unfathomablerelationship is so nuanced, but
it's also simple andoutrageously sweet and amazing.
(25:02):
God's character is revealed tous and the best thing we can do
is get to know him so we canreflect that character of God
back to him, because we'reinvited into this mystery of
prayer, and it is a holy calling.
God so desires praying mothersand grandmothers and friends and
(25:25):
strangers and prophets andpaupers.
He needs Hannah's.
He needs Jocobeds with faith toplace their baby in a basket
that's covered in prayer.
He desires the Lois's and theEunice's, this powerhouse of
prayer that supported Timothy inhis life.
God desires friends with enoughfaith to take the roof off of a
(25:48):
house in order to get theircrippled friend to Jesus.
My friends, jesus wants you, hewants us to come before him and
plead the cause of others, tostand in the gap, to make a wall
.
2 Chronicles 16.9 says this theeyes of the Lord run to and fro
(26:11):
throughout the whole earth toshow himself strong on behalf of
those whose heart is loyal tohim.
I know that our deepest heart'sprayer is to be somebody that
stands in the gap, to put ourhand up and say here I am, lord,
send me when his eyes aresearching the earth, looking for
(26:32):
someone whose heart is loyal tohim.
I want that to be me.
I want that to be you.
I want to be women that standin the gap, that are willing to
be the bridge, even though itcosts us.
I'm so encouraged as I look atMoses in his stance here, the
bravery that he showed to standin front of God and intercede,
(26:56):
and yet the humility that he hadthroughout his whole life to
fall on his face when he wasaccused.
But when it came to standing upfor Israel, when it came to
standing up for righteousness,for grace and compassion, he was
that man.
I pray that we have a heartlike that, that is brave as a
lion and so humble at the sametime, that we would know who we
(27:21):
are, that we would know our God.
You are valuable, you areimportant.
God wants to partner with youin his plan for people's lives.
He wants you to be a part.
You matter.
Your voice matters, yourprayers matter.
Your time with him matters.
(27:41):
I want to leave you with aGeorge Mueller quote that I
absolutely love about prayer.
It says this it's not enoughfor the believer to begin to
pray, nor to pray correctly, noris it enough to continue for a
time to pray.
We must patiently, believingly,continue in prayer until we
(28:02):
obtain an answer.
Further, we have not only tocontinue in prayer until the end
, but we have also to believethat God does hear us and will
answer our prayers.
Most frequently, we fail in notcontinuing in prayer until the
blessing is obtained and in notexpecting the blessing.
Those who are disciples of theLord Jesus should labor with all
(28:25):
of their might in the work ofGod, as if everything depended
upon their own endeavor.
Yet, having done so, theyshould not in the least trust in
their labor and efforts, nor inthe means that they use for the
spread of the truth, but trustin God, alone, alone.
And they should, with allearnestness, seek the blessing
(28:47):
of God in persevering, patientand believing prayer.
Here's the great secret ofsuccess, my Christian reader.
Work with all of your might,but never trust in your work.
Pray with all of your might forthe blessing in God, but work
at the same time with alldiligence, with all patience and
(29:08):
with all perseverance.
Pray and work, work and prayand still again, pray and then
work, and so on all the days ofour life, and the result will
surely be abundant blessing.
Whether you see much fruit orlittle fruit, such kind of
service will be blessed.
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