Exodus Message #38 Ed Miller September 8, 2021
Listen to the audio above while following along with the transcript below (also available for download in PDF at www.biblestudyministriesinc.com)
We are here to enjoy the Lord in the Bible and in each other. So, we’re very thankful that you are here. As we come to look in God’s Word, I remind my heart and I remind you that there is a principle of Bible study that’s absolutely indispensable, and that’s total reliance on God’s Holy Spirit. He’s the One that inspired this Book, and only God can reveal God, and He delights to do it, and He’s promised that if we would come as little children, that He would unveil Himself to us. I want to give you a verse that’s not on your sheet. Just for information, those sheets that have been handed out are the Bible verses in the order that I’ll quote them. If that helps you that’s fine, otherwise use your device or your Bible, or something. Probably it is not on that sheet. Hebrews 7:24&25. It’s not the complete quoting of those verses, but I’ve lifted certain words out of those two verses, and I’ve put them together, “Jesus, because He continues forever, He always lives to make intercession for us.” Our Lord Jesus is an intercessor, a mediator, and because He lives there is never a moment day or night, 24/7, when He’s not praying for us according to the will of God. We’re going to look a little bit as an intercessor today, but that’s the Intercessor. If you ever tell me, “I’m praying for you,” I’ll say, “Thank you. I need your prayers, but I know also that my High Priest is praying for me.”
With that in mind, let’s just commit our time to the Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank You that You’ve gathered us again together to pause from life and to look into Your word, and to behold the Lord Jesus in a fresh way. We commit our time, Lord, and we thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit whose pleasure it is to turn our eyes to Jesus. We ask that You would do that this very morning. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As I already said, welcome back to our study. We’re in the book of Exodus. It’s been a while. The last time we met together was in late May, so that’s more than three months ago. So, you might want to know how we are going to begin. Review is a little difficult on a couple of counts. One, because we’re in lesson 38, so are we going to review all of that? And, since it’s been a while, we might have forgotten a lot. That’s a little bit of a problem, but I want to take that problem as an opportunity to remind you of what we’ve stressed from day one, and that is that although a review may be helpful, it is not necessary. It’s in my heart to proclaim a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and not a book. We’re studying Exodus, and I hope when we’re done you’ll know more about Exodus than you’ve known before, but our goal is not to learn Exodus. It’s to see Jesus. That’s why we gather. Because we’re focused on Him, every study stands on its own two feet. So, you can come in now, having missed many studies, and still see the Lord. Let’s say, for example, of the 37 lessons that went before, that you missed 34 or 35, or maybe all 37, and you might think, “Oh, I’m coming to a Bible study, and I’ll be completely lost, because they are in lesson 38.” You will not be lost because every lesson is a new look at our Lord Jesus. You may have missed the way we saw Him last time, but you don’t have to miss the way we’re going to see Him today. For that reason, you don’t have to worry about the review.
Having said that, that a review is not necessary, there may be some that have been following along and would like to have some logical connection. So, in the light of that, very briefly I want to bring you up to speed and where we are in terms of the marvelous book of Exodus, the revelation we’ll have today and how that fits in. I’ll remind you of a few facts.
In our study we’ve been looking at the redemption in Christ. God has redeemed His people out of Egypt. In our study we’ve come to Mt. Sinai. That’s where we are, where God gave the Ten Commandments. They’ve only begun their journey. You know the journey is going to take forty years. They are going to be going through the wilderness. We’re only a couple of months out of Egypt when we arrive at Mt. Sinai. According to the Bible they’re going to stay at Mt. Sinai for about a whole year. I reminded you, and I will again, how much inspired space, how many chapters God gives to that one year at Mt. Sinai. You may be surprised to know that He has given 59 chapters for that single year. The reason why that’s important, you take the first 11 chapters of the Bible, Genesis 1-11, and that covers 2,000 years: 2,000 years in 11 chapters, and 1 year in 59 chapters. I believe God is jealous of inspired space, and so if He has a lot to say about Mt. Sinai, I think we ought not rush through this particular section.
In our study we’ve completed the overview of Moses; first forty days on the mountain. Two times he went up the mountain. He went up a lot more than two times, but two times for forty days at a clip. The first forty days in Exodus 24:18, “Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” We see the end of that in Exodus 31:18, “When He had finished speaking with him on Mt. Sinai, He gave Moses two tables of testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.” That forty days ended abruptly. Exodus 32:7&8, “The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down at once, for your people who you have brought up the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They’ve quickly turned aside from the way I commanded, and they made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your God, oh Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”
Imagine Moses in that sweet fellowship with God forty days and forty nights, and all of a sudden God says, “Get up at once, depart, go down; your people have sinned.” It was sort of a shock. Other things happened and I’m not going to revisit the story of the brook that descended out of the mount and how Moses dealt with the calf and how God dealt with it, the curse of Levi turned to a blessing; I’m going to pass over all of that. It’s on my heart to share with you this morning a wonderful characteristic of that servant of God, of Moses. He was the human leader of almost three million people. God was using him as a human leader, and Moses had a sensitive heart for these people. I say that had to be a miracle because as we go through the record they weren’t always so kind to Moses. They didn’t treat him that well. Exodus 17:2, “Therefore, the people quarreled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water, that we may drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’” Then he called on the Lord in verse 4, “Moses cried out to the Lord saying, ‘What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me?” That’s not just a figure of speech. They were ready to stone him to death.
It’s hard to love and identify with somebody that wants to stone you to death. This is just an illustration of Moses’ heart. He’s amazing. Another time they tried to fire him. He was the leader, and they said, “What right do you have to lead? We can lead, too.” Let me give you this record from Numbers 12:1&2, “Miriam,” that’s his sister, “Aaron,” that’s his brother, “spoke against Moses because of the Kushite woman whom he had married.” He married a Kushite woman, and they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us, as well?” So serious was this attack against God’s servant that we read in verse 9, “The anger of the Lord burned against them, and He departed, but when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white a snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.” Because of that rebellion, the sister of Moses caught leprosy; God gave her leprosy. There’s more to that story, but I just wanted you to know that they are not all in favor of Moses at all times, and yet His heart burned hot in love for God’s people.
One of the main looks into Moses’ heart is given by looking at the times he prayed for them. When someone is praying for you, you can hear the prayer and you pretty much know their heart, when they are pouring themselves out to God. Moses interceded for them; Moses prayed for them. Exodus 32:30, “On the next day,” this was after the sin, “Moses said to the people, ‘You yourselves have committed a great sin, and now I’m going up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make an atonement for your sin.’” That pouring out of Moses’ heart in prayer to God for the people is a window into his heart. What I’d like to do this morning is just take those prayers that he prayed and look deep, and we’ll get to see the heart of an intercessor, and then we’ll multiply that times infinity and we’ll have a little look at the heart of our intercessor, the Lord Jesus.
Let me just bring that part before you. 1 Timothy 2:5&6, “There’s one God and one mediator, also, between God and man,” and it’s not Moses, “the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” And then in Hebrews 12:24, “To Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, to the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Able.” A mediator is a go-between; it’s someone who intercedes, someone who tries to reconcile the offended with the offender. In this case Moses was the mediator, and he’s coming between a sinful people and a holy God.
All through the Bible, the Old Testament, Moses is a picture of our Lord Jesus in different ways. For example, as a deliver he’s a picture of the Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus, of course, is the great deliverer. As a prophet he’s a picture of the Lord Jesus, but this morning, as an intercessor, as a mediator. I’m going to focus on the prayers of Moses for the people, but I want you to know, just so you are reading the Bible you’ll see this, it’s not a single passage. I can’t just say, “Let’s look at Moses’ prayer. It’s starts in chapter 2 and it’s verses 5-18. It’s not like that because he prayed, and then stuff happened, and then he prayed again, and other things happened, and he prayed again, and other things happened. So, what I’ve done, he prayed, and other things happened, and I’ve pushed that aside for now. He prayed and I brought all his prayers together, as if they were in one passage, because I want to see the heart of an intercessor.
As I said before, Moses had many trips, and don’t forget his age; he’s pretty old now and is 80 years old, and he’s climbing up this mountain. He had to do it, if my count is right, eighteen times up and down the mountain at that age. I can hardly get up stairs, let alone climbing a mountain. Twice he went and stayed forty days. The first forty days we’ve mentioned, and that was before the sin of the golden calf, and we read that, and you can see it on your sheet, Exodus 24:18 and 31:18. I won’t read that now.
The second forty days was after the sin with the golden calf. I’ll read again verse 28,” He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread or drink water and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” That’s the second time. Following each forty-day period there were certain things that happened: Moses’ response to the sin, God’s response to the sin, the tribe of Levi repents, and God turns the curse to a blessing. That happened after the first forty, and after the second forty certain things happened. You’ve got the pre-tabernacle tabernacle, when Moses set up a tent outside the camp, and you’ve got Moses’ shining face. There are other stories, but I’m going to set those aside, and bring the prayers together.
Let me give you the reference for all the prayers I’ve brought together. The first is Exodus 32:7-14, and that’s when God first told him that they sinned. He was coming down from the mountain and he prayed before he came down. And then Exodus 32:30-35, “On the next day Moses said to the people, ‘You yourselves have committed a great sin. Now I’m going up to the Lord, and perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” So, he goes up again. And then Exodus 33:12-23 is the final record of his intercession and it ends with the great story of the cleft rock, which Lord willing we’ll look at next time.
In those three different meetings Moses pouring out his heart to the Lord, God shines a spotlight on the heart of Moses, because He wants you to see what a real intercessor looks like. As we look at this, maybe God will answer the question in your heart, “Am I a real intercessor?” These principles apply to us, but it also shows what a wonderful intercessor we have in Christ.
During this conversation between Moses and the Lord, God is digging into the heart of Moses, because He wants us to see the heart of a true mediator. God makes some suggestions to Moses, and they are strange. While praying, God suggests certain things that really have no place in the heart of a mediator. A test brings out the real you. We can be faking on the outside but let us close the door and go into the room and lets be ourselves, and God says, “I want you to see Moses as he really is.”
You remember that God tested Abraham in Genesis 22:1, “It came about after these things, God tested Abraham. He said, ‘Abraham,’ and he said, ‘Here I am,’” and that’s when he had to bring his son up on the mountain to be a burnt offering. Listen to Genesis 22:12, “And He said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad. Do nothing to him. Now I know that you fear God, since you’ve not withheld your only son from Me.” That’s a strange verse. God tested him, and He said, “Now I know,” as if He didn’t know before. You know that God knew right from the beginning. That test was for Abraham, so that Abraham would know. He did the same thing for his servant Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 32:31, “God left him alone, and only to test him, that He might know all what was in his heart.” Sometimes God just leaves you alone to see how you respond to this situation or that situation, and the way you respond, that’s who you are. God often brings us into a test to dig deep, to search us to the quick, in order that we might know who we are.
So, when we go through this, everything is not as it appears to be. We need the eyes of the Holy Spirit to see what is going on when Moses prays with God. With these eyes things are not what they appear to be. I want to take you beyond these eyes. With these eyes it appears that Moses is in a controversy with God. The word controversy might be a little strong, but there’s a conflict in his heart. It looks like God says something, and Moses says, “No, no, no; let me correct You. It’s not that way.” It looks like Moses is arguing with God, now get this, and winning. He’s winning the argument. Listen to Exodus 32:14, “So, the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
What is that all about? God says something, and Moses says no, no, no and so God changed His mind. It’s not all what it appears. We know God is not changing His mind, but certain things are going on, and it looks like God takes a certain position, and Moses says no and that can’t be, and he argues with God; God is testing him, because he wants to bring to the surface what we can see as the heart of a real mediator. To Moses what God proposes runs contrary to His heart, and seems inconsistent, “That can’t be You, God. I must be hearing wrong. That’s not in keeping with Your character.” We know God is God and He doesn’t change, so let’s look at the prayer. We’ll see it with these eyes, but it’s not that way, so then we’ll see it with these eyes. May God help us see the heart of a real mediator. It’s so beautifully mirrored in this servant of the Lord.
What I’d like to do is home in on the wisdom of the Lord and how He dealt with Moses, and He did it on purpose to showcase the heart of a true mediator and to shadow our great mediator, the One, our priest who lives forever to intercede for us. I’m going to frame it as it actually took place. What I mean by that is, the very order in which God was convinced otherwise, the very order is how we’ll look at it. Four times God said something, and made an offer to Moses, and Moses said, “No, I can’t have that.” It seemed like he talked God out of it. Let’s look at that.
The first jarring comment God made was right after the forty days in the mountain, he’s in fellowship with God, Exodus 32:7, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down at once. Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They turned aside quickly from the way I commanded them. They’ve made for themselves a molten calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it.” Watch carefully what God said, “Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt.” Moses responds, verse 11, “And Moses entreated the Lord his God and said, ‘Oh Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with power and a mighty hand?” Moses is saying, “Don’t call them my people. They aren’t my people. You said that I delivered them. I didn’t deliver them. You are the One. They are Your people. They are not my people.” Moses, as a mediator will hear nothing about taking Lordship or possession over the people of the Lord. He’s not going to assume that God’s call for him to minister to his people somehow makes him the Lord, the authority, “These are my people. This is my flock. This is my congregation. This is my group. This is my ministry.”
It’s so similar. I’m going to give you a New Testament example. I’ll tell you about it and then we’ll read the verse. It’s so similar to John the Baptizer. He had a great ministry getting ready for Jesus, and His disciples came to Him and said, “We’ve got bad news, John. You’re losing disciples to Jesus.” The way he worded it was beautiful. I’m going to paraphrase, but then we’ll read the verse, and you’ll see that I’m not too far off. “John, I’ve got bad news. You’re losing disciples to Jesus.” And John says, now this is the Miller’s reversed, John said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I am not the groom. I’m the best man. I’m not the groom. He’s the groom. The bride belongs to the groom.” The best man has no right to touch the bride. The ministry of the best man is to facilitate the union of the bride and the groom.
I chose a good friend of mine, and at that time I considered him my best friend, Russell Hickman was his name, to be my best man. He drove up from New York to Connecticut to facilitate the relationship between me and my Lillian. If Russell Hickman had dared make any illicit move toward my bride, it would have been a different kind of wedding. Hands off the bride; you’re the best man. Listen to the verse, if this is not what he’s saying, John 3:29, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice, so this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase. I must decrease.” John had it right. His disciples said, “Bad news; you’re losing disciples.” He said, “Really? That’s not bad news. That’s good news because I’m the friend of the groom. I’m the best man, and I have no right to claim God’s people as mine.”
That’s what Moses was saying. One characteristic of a real intercessor for God’s people is to understand that they belong to the Lord. They’re His people and not my people. I don’t have a flock. It’s His. It’s His congregation. The true intercessor does not seek a following. He wants people to gather to Christ. Moses was certainly a celebrity then, and the fact is he’s a celebrity now. When you say Moses, especially among the Jews, Moses is a big name, but in his heart, he wasn’t that big; he was just the friend of Jesus, and he was trying to facilitate God’s people and the Lord and bring them together. It’s about them.
I want to say one more thing about that first contradiction, “They’ve not my people; they’re Your people.” It’s a mighty miracle to have an intercessor’s heart. It doesn’t just come. You can’t decide, “Alright, I’m going to be an intercessor like that, and I’m going to apply those principles.” No, no, no; the Holy Spirit has to burn that into your heart. Man is naturally self-centered to the core, and even Christian men, Christian women. God says that the greatest test you have, is that man is tried like silver is tried, by the praise accorded them. Harder than any affliction, any disease, any tragedy is the test, the furnace of praise. We’re a strange group, a strange animal. If you pat us on the back our head swells up. That’s the kind of animal we are. He wants praise and he wants to be a leader, and don’t forget we’re talking congregation of almost three million people. In the natural heart he would have been proud. “I’m Moses and I’m the leader of three million people. What a church I have; it’s a big church!” He said, “No, don’t call them my people. I reject that.” I’m suggesting that’s a mighty miracle of God.
That happened in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 3, “One says that I’m of Paul, and another that I’m of Apollos. Are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They’re servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” My natural heart loves praise. Somebody says, “Wow, you’ve been such a great powerhouse in the kingdom of the Lord. We’re going to name a room after you, or a building after you, or even an outhouse after you, an Ed Miller outhouse.” That’s our natural heart, and that’s why I say that for Moses who was leading almost three million people to say, “No, they’re not mine, they’re Yours and Your people and they belong to You and I will not lord it over them and I will not take authority over them and I want You and them to get together.” That was the heart.
Hold that. There’s a second manifestation and God does the same kind of thing; He makes an offer. Exodus 32:10, “’Now then, let Me alone,’ God says to Moses, ‘That My anger may burn against them. I may destroy them, and I will make of you a great nation.’” When the Lord said, “Let me alone,” He was saying to Moses, “Don’t pray for them and don’t intercede for them. I’ve washed My hands of them. They’ve sinned and I’ve given up on them. I’m going the other way. I’m going to destroy them and I’m going to start all over. And this time, Moses, I will make of you a great nation. Remember what I told Abraham, that I was going to make of him a great nation? That’s over. Now, you are going to be the leader of a great nation.”
If you catch the impact of what God is saying, we know His real heart and we need to see with these…. He’s not going to break covenant with Abraham, but that’s what it sounds like. It sounds like God is saying, “About a thousand years ago I made a promise to Abraham, but they blew it, they messed up, and now I’m going to set that aside, and I’m going to start all over again, and this time you are going to be the head of that.” I told you in the first case when Moses refused to claim God’s people as his own. That was a miracle. This is even more of a miracle, I think. Imagine if God came to you and said something like this, “You know, I’ve had ministries on the earth, but I’m not happy with the way they’re going.” The Billy Graham organization. What if God came to you and said, “You know, if think with all the influence he’s had, I’m going to wipe that out, and I’m going to start all over, and I’m going to use you,” for that or for some other ministry or a Bible school or a seminary or something. “I want to start over and I want to use you, because I know you aren’t going to fail. You’re a good person, and you’re not going to fail.”
I can see me, apart from the Holy Spirit, and I’m speaking as a fool, but I know my heart, and my Lillian knows my heart. If God were to come to me and say, “Here’s such and such a ministry. I’m not happy and I’m putting it aside, and I’m going to start all over, and then I’m going to use you.” I think my natural heart would say, “Lord, I’m not qualified for this. However, if that’s Your will, and that’s how you feel, and You’re convinced of that, I don’t want to go against You. I’m going to need grace and I’m going to need power, but if You want it, okay I accept.” That’s my heart.
Not Moses. Listen to Moses, Exodus 32:13, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I’ll multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven. All this land that I’ve spoken I’ll give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.” Moses said, “Remember Abraham and remember Isaac. A thousand years ago You made a promise. You made a vow. You swore, and God, I know You, and You’re faithful, and You will not break Your promise. I appreciate the offer that You want to start over with me, but, Lord, I reject that offer.” Listen to Moses praying. It’s marvelous to see a heart like this. He said, “You have a name. You have a renown. You have a reputation. You can’t break Your word.” Exodus 32:12, “Why should the Egyptians speak saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the face of the earth,’ and turn from Your burning anger, change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.” Look at his heart!
The way it’s written, as I said before, it looks like Moses convinced God. We know better, but it looks like that. He said, “You can’t break Your promise.” So, we read in verse 14, “So, the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.” To Moses those were legitimate offers, and when he turned them down it was a real revelation of his heart. “Moses, I want them to be your people.” He said, “No, no, no; it can’t be.” “Moses, I want to start all over. I want to use you.” Moses said, “No, no; You can’t do that. You can’t break Your promise. You’re a faithful God. You vowed and You swore by Yourself.” A true intercessor has no agenda to compete with any other person, or any other system, or to have a ministry that replaces some other ministry, or to have a congregation over which they can claim some kind of authority and lordship.
We’re seeing what God said of him in Numbers 12:3, “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man that was on the face of the earth.” Isn’t that a tremendous verse? You know what makes that even more tremendous? Who wrote that? Moses. Can you imagine? This is part of the Pentateuch. God says, “Alright, Moses, write, ‘Moses is the meekest man that ever lived on the earth.’” I’d say, “Come on; let Eli write that, or Joshua.” But that just shows his humility, and how willing he was.
Alright, there’s a third characteristic of an intercessor’s heart. Exodus 32:32, “But now if You will, forgive their sin. If not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written.” Isn’t that an amazing statement! Most of my commentators interpret this as if Moses was saying, “Take me and not them. I don’t want them to die. If anybody has to die judge me and blot me out of Your book.” I’m not suggesting that wasn’t in his heart. Some people think it’s the same thing that Paul said in Romans 9:2, “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” What a heart to say, “If you save them I’d be willing to go to hell in their place.”
Can you imagine a heart like that? Who has a heart like that? I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t. I wonder if anyone has enough love to say, “Send me to hell, so that they can go to heaven.” I don’t know. I would do it physically. If I had a chance to die for my Lillian or somebody in my family or maybe even for you, for a good man. Some would even give their lives to die. That’s what the first responders in our military do all the time. They just stand there and are willing to die for others. But eternal death? I’m glad I don’t have to face that issue. I honestly think I love me too much to be willing to do that, maybe for my Lillian or somebody in my family. I don’t know, but my point is, that would take a miracle.
Anyway, Moses had an intercessor’s heart. I don’t really think he was saying, “Me instead of them.” I don’t think that is what he was saying. It may look like that at first, but I don’t think he was saying that. I think he was saying, “Lord, I am one with these people. I would rather die with them, than see them condemned and me spared.” I think that’s what he was saying, “Don’t exclude me. If You are going to judge them, then judge me, as well. If You are going to be angry with them, then blot me out of the Book. Don’t spare me because I’m one with them.” If think the principle that God is showcasing is that God’s intercessor is one with the body, one with the people of God. He deals with us individually, but He also deals with us as a unit. We’re all one. That’s the heart of an intercessor.
I remember seeing that principle when Jesus stood in the waters of Jordan to be baptized. You remember John’s reluctance, “What are You doing here? You don’t need to be baptized.” He said, “Yeah, but I want to stand with them. I want to stand with those who need to be baptized.” He identified with us, and I think stand or fall, Moses just wanted to be one with his people. It’s sort of like the prayer in Daniel. This has very much convicted me. Daniel 9:8&9, “Open shame belongs to us, oh Lord, to our kings, our princes, our fathers. We’ve sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness. We’ve rebelled against Him, nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord, our God.” You know Daniel. There’s not a sin recorded of him, but when he prays for the nation, he doesn’t say, “They, they have sinned, they’re corrupt.” He said, “We have sinned.” He puts himself in with the nation.
I don’t know how to pray for America. I often pray and trust the Holy Spirit to groan what I can’t word. I don’t know how to pray for this country, but I would have a hard time praying like Daniel. I could say, “Lord, they’re killing your babies in the womb,” but I can’t say that I’m guilty of killing babies in the womb. They’re corrupt, they’re defiled, they’re immoral. Daniel identified with them. He said, “We are ashamed; we have done this.” A real intercessor can identify with those he prays for. Again, it takes a miracle of God to have an intercessor heart. It doesn’t just happen.
There’s a fourth principle and let me look at that, stated in verse 34, “Go, now, and lead the people where I told you. Behold, my angel shall go before you.” When Moses brought back that word, “The cloud, the Lord who had be guiding you is over, and He’s not going to guide you anymore, but He’ll give an angel; an angel will guide you.” Listen to Exodus 33:2, “’I’ll send an angel before you. I’ll drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, Hivite, Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. I will not go up in your midst because you are an obstinate people. I might destroy you on the way.’ And when the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning and none of them put on his ornaments, for the Lord had said to Moses, ‘Say to the sons of Israel, “You’re an obstinate people. Should I go up in your midst for one moment? I would destroy you. Now, therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I might know what I shall do to you.”” God said, “I’m not going,” and they began to weep because God is not going.”
At that time the cloud had been guiding them, but at this moment the cloud moved, and it just stood over the tent where Moses was. God says, “I’m not going with you anymore.” Exodus 33:7, “Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp. He called it the tent of meeting.” That’s not the tabernacle yet. It’s a foreshadow of that. “And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.” There was sort of a corporate excommunication, and God left the people over there, and just came to Moses.
Exodus 33:9, “Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend, and stand on the entrance of the tent and the Lord would speak with Moses.” When God said that He was going to send His angel, I’m not going to read it again but verse 2&3 He says, “You are still going to have victory. Don’t worry about that. I’m going to take care of the Canaanites, and My angel will take you into the land. You are still going to have blessing; you are going to have possession.” Wouldn’t you think if God said to you, “You sinned. If I walked with you, I’d have to kill you. So, I’m going to send my angel, but you’ll still have victory, and you’ll still have all the blessing. You are going to the land of milk and honey”? Not Moses. Moses said, “Thank you very much for the offer of an angel, but an angel is not You. And thank You for victory, but victory is not Christ. And thank You for blessing, but blessing is not Christ.” And as Moses refused to have a people he could call his own, and as Moses refused to have God start all over with Him, and as Moses identified with the sinful people of God, now Moses says, “If You don’t go with us, I’m not going.” This is an amazing prayer.
Exodus 33:12, “Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘I see You say to me, “Bring up this people, but You Yourself have not let me know by whom you will send with me. Moreover, You’ve said, ‘I’ve known you by name,’ and You’ve also found favor in my sight. Now, therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways, that I might know You, so that I might find favor in Your sight. Consider, too, that this nation is Your people.’ And the Lord said, ‘My presence shall go with you.’” And Moses responded in verse 14, “And He said, ‘My presence shall with go with you and I’ll give you rest.’” Verse 15, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.” “I insist on Your presence. If Your presence isn’t with me, thank You, Lord, for all Your offers, but I don’t want angel guidance. Thank You for all Your offers. What good is victory over your tongue and over your mind and over your lust if you don’t have the Lord? We’ve got to have You. What good is blessing? What good are all the gifts, if you don’t have Him? If you don’t come with us, I’m not going.” Do you see Moses’ heart here? It’s a tremendous revelation, and I think those exchanges between the Lord, “They are not my people, I don’t want You to start over using me, I can’t have that. I want to identify with them. If You are going to kill them, kill me. I’m one with them. And Lord, I’m not going to take another step without Your presence. I need Your presence. There’s no substitute for You.”
The application to ourselves is that it’s all a miracle. You can think of it for yourselves. Have you ever wanted to lord it over God’s people? Did you ever want a name and have a following, and all of that kind of thing? Are you one with God’s people? May God help us! Let me ask this; don’t answer, I just want you to think about it. Can you live another day without His presence? Absolutely not, underscore that. We can’t live without His presence. Angels are no substitute for Jesus. Victory is no substitute for Jesus. Blessing is no substitute for Jesus. There is no substitute. He’s the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
Now, lets take that and multiply it by infinity. 1 Timothy 2:5, “There’s one God, one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” Praise God for a heart like Moses had, but when I look at the Lord Jesus, as I said earlier, that when you tell me you are praying for me, I covet your prayers. Thank you; I know what God does in answer to prayer. I’m dependent, and I’m thankful for the prayers of the saints, but when I read Hebrews 7:24, “..but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently, and He’s able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
I’ll give you verses step by step. John 15:16, “You belong to Him. You did not choose Me. I chose You and appointed you, that you would go and bear fruit, that your fruit would remain.” You belong to the Lord. Your body belongs to the Lord. You are not your own. You are bought with a price. Be very careful how you handle other peoples’ property. You are not your own. You belong to Him, and He’s faithful. He made you a promise and He’s not going to say, “Alright, you messed up, and now I’m going to choose somebody else.” Philippians 1:6, “I’m confident of this very thing; He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ.” He started in you, and He’s going to finish the work. He’ll never break His promise. 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “Faithful is He who calls you, and He’ll bring it to pass.” The Lord is faithful. John 17:23, “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so the world may know that You sent Me, and love them even as You love Me.” We’re one with the Lord. He identifies with us.
I’ll tell this quick story. I had a friend named Pat, and when he was in the room, he was the whole show. This one day I was fellowshipping with a brother that I hadn’t seen very often. I looked out the window and I saw Pat coming. I did not want him to interfere with my fellowship with this brother I hadn’t seen in a while. So, I told my brother, “You just stay here. I’m going to meet him at the door and tell him that it’s not a good time.” So, I met him at the door, and this guy was just ready, and I said, “Pat, this is not really a good time. Maybe we can get together another time.” He said, “Oh, I just want to share a verse, and I’ll be on my way.” I said, “Alright, what’s the verse?” Hebrews 2:11, “Both He who sanctifies and those who sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason He’s not ashamed to call them brethren.” How convicted I was; He’s not ashamed to call them brethren. Now, that’s the Lord talking about you.
I would have a hard time, I might do it by faith, of thinking of Jesus as my brother. He’s my Lord. Just to say that He’s my brother… But He has no problem calling me His brother. Isn’t that awesome? Not ashamed to call them brethren. Matthew 28:19, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo,” He doesn’t say an angel, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
I want to get this last thing in. I see Moses here, I don’t know the words, disagreeing with the Lord, arguing with the Lord, disputing with the Lord, counseling the Lord, telling Him how these things ought to be, and I’m saying to myself, “How can anybody be that bold, to come before the Lord in that way, and God says, ‘Here, I offer you this,’ and I say, ‘I don’t want that, you can’t do that.” “Here have this.” “No, no, no, can’t do that.” “I’ll give you an angel, and I’ll give you victory and give you the land.” “Nope, not good enough. I want You.” How in the world, what boldness!
I think the secret is in Exodus 33:11, “The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” You have the same thing again in Numbers 12 and Deuteronomy 34, God and Moses were real friends. It’s easy to talk to a friend; you can tell them what’s on your heart. If you had a confidante, you could tell a confidante something, but if it’s a stranger, then you have a hard time. If some friend came up, if any of you came up and said, “Can I borrow your car?” I’d throw you the keys. You can take the car. If a stranger, when my little twin girls were growing up, if a stranger came to the door and said, “I’m going to the park, and I’d like to take your daughters. Would that be alright?” You can’t trust a stranger. I hear people telling me all the time, “I wish I had more faith; I wish I had greater faith, I wish I had stronger faith, I wish I had faith.” It’s easy to trust a friend. You don’t need more faith. You need to cultivate a friendship with the living God. Do you know why people struggle with faith? It’s because the Lord Jesus is a stranger. They don’t know Him, and you can’t trust a stranger. It’s not possible to trust a stranger. You’ve got to be a friend, and it’s easy to trust a friend. You find those who are walking in friendship with God, they won’t have trouble with faith. It’s easy to trust a friend. Psalm 62:8, “Trust in Him at all times, and pour out your heart before Him.”
I want to give one last verse because He’s the mediator, you belong to Him, He’s faithful and He’ll keep all His promises, He’s one with you, and I want to say a verse about He’ll never leave you. Hebrews 13:5, “He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert, nor will I ever forsake you.’” In the English language when you take two negatives and put them together, it becomes positive. “I don’t want none.” That means I want some. But in the Greek if you put two negatives together it’s a stronger negative. If you put three negatives together it’s a stronger negative. If you put four negatives together, and the most the Greek has is five negatives, and it’s in that verse. Hebrews 13:5 literally it’s, “I will never, never, no not never leave you nor forsake you.” He’s with you at all times, no angel, better than victory, better than blessing, you have Him.
I want to praise God for Moses’ little picture of an intercessor, but I want to thank the Lord for the Lord Jesus who is our intercessor. Let’s pray together.
Our Father, thank You for this wonderful word, not what we think what it might mean, but everything that You’ve inspired it to mean. Work that in our heart. We thank You for Jesus, our high priest, who lives forever to make continual intercession for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.