Deuteronomy 9:18-20 – Standing in the gap

Moses had a deep appreciation of God’s heart. He knew how serious the sin committed by the children of Israel at Horeb was against the Lord. He knew how deeply the sin cut into God’s heart. The proposal of God to Moses to let Him destroy the children of Israel was not an empty threat. In part the people and even his own brother Aaron was spared because of His unrelenting intercession for them. What Aaron did was inexcusable. As the second in command, he should have known better. But his lack of courage made him pander to the clamor of the people and made a molten calf for them. Moses had to take the cursed calf, grounded it into dust, and scattered it in the brook.     

Acting as the mediator, Moses pled with God. And his pleading started long before he came down and smashed the two stone tablets. Then he spent another 40 days and nights in God’s presence fasting and interceding for the people, for what they had just done was no trifle. In Deuteronomy 9:18-20, we are given a glimpse into the heart of a true intercessor. Moses’ unselfish prayer for the Israelites cushioned the judgment that God wanted to pour out on the people. Had Moses not interceded they would have been destroyed by God in His wrath and hot displeasure. In Moses’ intercession, we can learn much about what a true intercession entails.

Firstly, true intercession must be entered into with the spirit of earnestness. Moses said he “fell down before the Lord.” This is a posture of humility. With a humble attitude, he literally poured himself out in intense pleading. This earnestness was also seen in his abstinence from food and drink. So urgent was the matter to him that he abstained from food and drink for 40 days and nights. Secondly, true intercession must be engaged with deep feeling and concern. Not only was Moses concerned for the name of God but also for the lives of the people. It takes empathy to be able to stand in God’s shoes and feel how He felt. And it takes sympathy to feel for the people despite their wrong to want to pray for them. Thirdly, true intercession requires boldness. Ordinarily, to face one’s boss who was seething in anger would already be a terrifying experience. Just imaging facing a wrathful God. Even multiplying the intensity of the terror by a thousand times would not adequately describe the trepidation. Intercession has to be entered into with fearlessness. Fourthly, true intercession calls for perseverance. Moses prayed for forty days and nights. For all of us, spending one day in prayer would be a difficult thing much less forty days and nights. In fact, to pray for an hour would already take a toll on many of us, much less one day. Remember the disciples who couldn’t even tarry an hour with Jesus in the Garden. It is true that if we can tarry with God for one hour, we can pray for seven. The fact of the matter is this: lacking perseverance, it’s hard to be an intercessor. God is still looking for intercessors to stand in the gap before Him for the people and the land so that He would not destroy them. Are we willing?