Moses was in the Presence
of the Glory of God
Deut. 9:9
and 18
This message is a call to
intercession. Moses had two periods of 40 days and 40 nights with no bread and
no water. He lay prostrate before the Lord. The ministry of intercession is not
just for women, it's for every Christian.
There are many men as
well as women of God in the bible who interceded for the people. Abraham
pleaded with God at Sodom and his nephew Lot was saved together with his two
daughters,
Gen.19:29. Nehemiah wept, fasted and prayed before the Lord on behalf of
the people of Israel, even confessing their sin,
Neh.1:1-10. Esther risked her life by approaching the king, pleading for
her people and the Jewish nation was saved,
Esther
7:1-6.
During Moses' first
period of 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain, God gave him his commandments.
But when Moses came down from the mountain, he saw the people's sin - they had
made a golden idol in the shape of a calf.
How quickly people turn
away from the Lord into sin. How often people take their eyes off Jesus. When
did you last go up the mountain? If we stayed longer on the mountain, perhaps
we wouldn't go into the valley.
What does the valley
represent? Sin. We lower ourselves, take matters into our own hands and lose
our dependence on God. We lose our relationship with him, we lose our intimacy
with him. This leads to us losing our joy, our peace and we return to striving.
This is what happened to the Israelites. They took matters into their own hands
and very quickly forgot how God had miraculously delivered them from the hands
of the Egyptians.
Not only was Moses
distressed to see the sinful condition of the Israelites, he was robbed of his
blessing - that precious time he'd spent in God's presence. Our sin affects not
just us but other people.
But Moses went straight
back up the mountain and lay prostrate before God for a second period of 40
days and 40 nights. He interceded for the people who'd sinned.
Gen.9:25-27 shows us how Moses pleaded with God for the people. His
intercession was not for himself, it was for others. What does that tell us
about our intercession? We can fall prostrate before the Lord and cry out for
others, for our families and friends who don't know Jesus or who have walked
away from him, for our churches, for our nation.
What does it tell us
about Jesus' intercession for us - scripture tells us he intercedes for us
continually,
Heb.7:24-25. Even though we sin, even though we disobey, even though we
forget him sometimes in our busy lives, he still intercedes for us because of
his great love for us. The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, intercedes for us;
my Jesus, my Saviour, intercedes for me, for you, continually, before his
Father in heaven.
God hears our prayers, he
hears the cry of our hearts. He wants to bless us. He wants us to spend time
with him - that's when he speaks to us, gives us guidance and
direction.
How vital it is that we
abide in God's presence. If we spent more time in his presence, then maybe we
would spend less time striving, struggling and worrying. Then maybe we wouldn't
go into the valley, or into sin.
Let us, like Moses, spend
precious time with our God. When he came down from the mountain, Moses' face
shone with the glory of God - people knew he'd been in God's presence. I wonder
if my face shines when I've been in God's presence?
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