Speaker: Pastor Steve Byrens
Exodus 32:11 (NLT), “But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?”
LIFEPOINT: Intercessory prayer is one of the ways that God engages His people in the work of redeeming a lost world! There are people in your life that need your prayers!
Of all the things that modern culture has revealed to us, one of the most obvious is the fact that we all tend to copy the things we admire: We see this in fashion, speech, social media, and in the way we decorate our houses. But we also see this with Christians, by the way we often imitate styles of worship. In some ways, this can be very dangerous. For example: When the Hebrew people all joined together to worship a golden calf, creating an idol to take the place of Yahweh. On the other hand, this tendency can also work to our advantage. Especially when we learn from, and are mentored by people who are further along in their spiritual maturity than we are currently.
One place where this is particularly true, is when it comes to developing our prayer life and the desire to intercede on behalf of the people God has placed in our lives. I remember listening to Godly men pray when I was a new Christian. I was amazed by their ability to pray God’s Word back to Him. They reminded God of His promises, and then stood on those promises in faith! This type of prayer is only possible if you personally know the God to whom you are praying. We find a perfect example of this in today’s passage in Exodus 32-34. Through our study, we’ll examine a powerful example of a man who knew how to pray in a way that moves God’s heart!
In His Service,
Pastor Steve
Exodus 32:1–14 (NLT), “When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” 2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” 5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!” 6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry. 7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” 11 But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’” 14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.”
1. Moses intercedes for the people.
Exodus 33:19 (NLT), “The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”
On the one hand, God responds to the intercession of His people. On the other hand, He insists He is sovereign. He’s going to do things His way. How do we make sense of that?
Amos 7:1-3 (NLT), “The Sovereign Lord showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king’s share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up. 2 In my vision the locusts ate every green plant in sight. Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please forgive us or we will not survive, for Israel is so small. So the Lord relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said.”
Amos 7:4-6 (NLT), “Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land. 5 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.” 6 Then the Lord relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign Lord.”
Amos 7:7-9 (NLT), “Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. 9 The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”
Ezekiel 22:30 (NLT), “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.”
God is looking for one man to plead with him for the people. That’s what it means to “stand in the gap before me so I would not have to destroy them.” He is looking for just a single intercessor. But he can’t find one. Let’s look at verse 31 for the consequence:
Ezekiel 22:30-31 (NLT), “I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
2. Moses asks to take the people’s place in punishment
Exodus 32:25-29 (NLT), “Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him. 27 Moses told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” 28 The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day. 29 Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”
The LORD takes sin very seriously. As His people, we need to understand this truth if we are to avoid falling into the trap of idolatry.
Exodus 32:31-32 (NLT), “So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”
LIFEPOINT: Intercessory prayer is one of the ways that God engages His people in the work of redeeming a lost world! There are people in your life that need your prayers!
This is ultimately a powerful picture of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who willingly offered Himself on our behalf.
Exodus 32:33-35 (NLT), “But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins.” 35 Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.”
Revelation 14:17-20 (NLT), “After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who had power to destroy with fire, came from the altar. He shouted to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are ripe for judgment.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse's bridle”
The key theme: God hates idolatry! And, whether He uses temporal judgments like we read about in the Old Testament, or eternal judgments that are given clarity in the New Testament: God holds His people accountable either way!
Despite Yahweh’s Judgement, Moses responded by bowing and worshiping the LORD. He then intercedes one more time:
Exodus 34:9 (NLT), “And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favor with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.”
Moses’ primary concern is the forgiveness of their sin, so that the Lord’s presence will remain among them, and they will remain His own special possession!
