Moses, The Intercessor

Moses, The Intercessor Exodus 32.1-14 Moses was faithful in all of God’s house. Hebrews 3.5 Moses was the meekest man on earth. Numbers 12.3 He was also an intercessor. He is responsible for standing in the gap and convincing the LORD not to wipe out Israel. He was concerned about the LORD’s reputation and honor. Throughout the Bible there are a variety of examples of intercessory prayer, but one that stands out among them is the story of Moses. Moses is seen throughout Exodus as an intercessor, taking the needs of his people before God, asking God to change His plan to destroy them. What brought Israel to this place of needing this intercessory prayer? * Impatience is never good spiritually vs.1-2 It always leads to evil and foolishness Be aware of it. Do not give into it. You will regret it. Proverbs 19. 2  Desire without knowledge is not good—
    how much more will hasty feet miss the way! Notice there is no record of Aaron consulting the elders. He did not take time to think. He did not pray. He acted impulsively to please the people. He almost wiped out the whole nation by his quick and wrong response. People pleasing is not good. Learn to wait for the LORD. Find godly counsel. Place your hope in Him * Weak Leaders make bad decisions vs.3-4 Spiritual Leaders Must Be Strong This is a quality that is non negotiable when it comes to choosing a leader. They must know their strength is from the LORD. Moses did. Aaron failed. Ephesians 6. 10 Finally, be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God,so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. I heard of Pastors who brazenly said that they only read the Scriptures when preparing for a sermon. Bad choice. No wonder they failed! They were not taking time to feed themselves, to watch over themselves. Acts 20. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. Keep watch over yourselves… a former Pastor I knew, who did not do this fell into a trap of making money, lots of it. He soon was paying more attention to his accumulation of wealth, to the Stock Market, than he was his own soul and he was out. He lost his way. It is noteworthy to see that Aaron had them bring their gold. 2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He involved the children. You cannot serve both God and money. God or gold. * Spiritual Leaders Must Stand Alone At Times Aaron should have led the people in waiting. He would have had to do this alone. I can tell you from experience that it is not a pleasant experience. It is interesting that my parents moved in 1973 to a place where they had found a church with a large youth group for my brother and I. My memories are not of sweet fellowship but two years of contending for the faith. Mercy! There was a lot of immaturity in that group. My parents thought, “This will be good. They will have a lot of Christian friends.” Many of those kids headed down the wrong path. Many shipwrecked their faith. Some have died of alcoholism. It is not over yet, sad to say. Some who opposed Christ have repented and come to Him but they are in the minority. I remember running after kids, confronting others. I did not know at the time but the LORD was preparing me for my life’s work. To this day there are some advocating things against the LORD and His Word. I remember times of repentance, when I cried, as kids I prayed for, surrendered to Jesus. I remember the loneliness I felt as I stood for what was right. * Spiritual Leaders Cannot Please The Crowds. Pilate tried Elijah stood alone and got depressed. He believed he was all alone. I Kings 19.3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. 9 And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” Depression can come from being alone. It can result in a loss of perspective. It does not necessarily mean you have sinned. Elijah didn’t. Standing alone can drain you and at the same time fill you with strength from the LORD. If God calls you to be a shepherd, you must be ready at times to stand alone. Another question I would ask would be pastors, “Tell me about times in your life when you have had to stand alone.” Whether we are shepherds or not, there will be times when we have to stand alone, against the crowd, against the majority, who Al though they rule, are seldom right! * Mixing Faiths Result In Compromise vs. 5-6 Aaron was violating the first two commandments God has always asked for 100% This is His Holiness Syncretism cannot be embraced. He will not share His Glory with another This is a huge problem today! Accommodating other faiths into ours. I have heard idiots say to young people, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something.” God help us! * Moses’ Conversation with the LORD vs. 7-14 God knows the hearts of all people The LORD’s offer to Moses was rejected by him. vs. 11-13 He was concerned with God’s reputation. We are as well. The LORD Relented He was moved to pity and compassion We can move the Hands of God through prayer. Young Lady on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday. My prayer before we went. Arts text: It’s was good. A little ambitious,🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♂️ perhaps, 😂 but fun. I haven’t seen anything about the bridge jumper so she probably is ok. We saw a LOT yesterday! 😰 “At this very moment someone is dying just next door…” Phineas Bresse What is Intercessory Forgiveness. It is Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing,” It is praying forgiveness for people who do not ask, on the contrary are currently causing pain. We can only do this through Christ. When we intercede we feel what the people we are feeling feel. We put ourselves in their shoes Be an intercessor