128
The prayer of intercession is not one which is unknown by those who have concern for and lead others in the way of the Lord. The patience of the Lord was thoroughly tried by the wayward actions of the children of Israel. So much so that the Lord asked Moses to step aside and He would thoroughly destroy the extremely disobedient nation and blot out any memory of them from the earth. Furthermore, He would make Moses to be fruitful and the descendents of Moses would be a mightier and a greater nation, the kind of people whom He desired to have. Deut. 9:14 Most definitely an exceptionally good offer had Moses desired to make a name and a kingdom for himself.
In the process of making intercession for the people Moses called upon them to take a stand for the Lord. He called for all those who were on the side of the Lord to come out from among the people and identify themselves and make a commitment to the Lord. Beautifully, those responding were of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of the priesthood. They were called upon to destroy the unbelieving and sinful from their midst. They also were to consecrate themselves unto the Lord and Moses would go and make atonement for their sin. Ex. 32:26-30
When Moses went before the Lord it was with words of confession. The people have sinned a great sin. Then he prayed for the Lord to be merciful and forgive their sin. However he did not stop there, he placed himself in the position of becoming a sacrifice. He went to the extreme by requesting that his name be blotted out of Godís book of life, if He could not forgive the people of their sin. Ex. 32:31-32 That has to be the ultimate of sacrifice and intercession. It shows the great love that Moses had for the people. How many today would place themselves in such a situation in order to see a people who were so disgusting to the Lord delivered from judgment. The Apostle Paul had such compassion for Israel that he was willing to be accursed, cut off, from Christ if only his people could be saved. Rom. 9:3 The history of the early church tells us that not all Israel were saved. They came to Christ as individuals and not in mass. It will be the same in the end of the age, salvation is a personal matter, not a national issue. The prayer of intercession has a great effect on the heart of the Lord. The majority of Israelites were spared from annihilation, only those who had sinned and obviously had not repented would be blotted out of Godís book of life. Committing oneself totally to the Lord in the prayer of intercession such as we find here, will yield the good results and end with the souls of sinners being saved.