Moses - Servant of God - The Meekest Man in All the Earth
9 - Moses the Intercessor
Under the guiding and protecting hand of God, Moses has led the people out of Egypt and they have set out on their journey to the land God has promised to them. Already they have experienced evidences of God's care and provision for them as He has delivered them from the pursuing Egyptians at the Red Sea, turned bitter water into sweet water and brought them to a place where they could camp in safety and with plenty more water.
As time passed they ran out of the supplies they had brought out of Egypt and were in need of food. Where were they to find food in a desert? Again we see God's amazing provision for them, in spite of their constant complaining to Moses. Every morning He provided them with manna for bread and every evening quails for meat. Such was the grace of God towards an ungrateful and grumbling people.
All this reminds me of the words of Psalm 103 verses 7 to 10: "The Lord made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbour his anger for ever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities." Surely, such gracious provision for the needs of the people was a constant confirmation of God's working on their behalf. This provision lasted until they reached the borders of Canaan some forty years later. They had been brought out of Egypt by divine purpose, and having saved them the Lord was going to preserve them.
The Lord Jesus taught his disciples to ask their heavenly father for their daily bread, to trust Him for the necessities of life, and Christians still do this. We recall the words of the Saviour on another occasion when He described himself as the bread of life, the living bread which came down from heaven. He is the source of spiritual life for a spiritually starving world. He is the food for God's pilgrim people on the way to heaven as they read and think about Him in his word the Bible. If we as Christians do not feed upon Him in this way then we will starve spiritually and fall away.
Moses was proving to be a great leader. He led by example, but his task would never be easy. The people of Israel proved time and again to be ungrateful, disobedient and difficult. In spite of this Moses was able to cope with his responsibilities extremely well, whatever the circumstances, although his patience, and God's patience, was often tried to the limit. How and why was he able to do this? I believe there are three reasons:
- He was a genuine man of God who had a remarkable, personal relationship with his Lord. Such was this relationship that God often spoke directly with him.
- He was a man of prayer, particularly on behalf of God's people - the people he had been called to lead. Moses was a great intercessor. The dictionary defines intercession as: "Entreaty in favour of another, especially a prayer in petition to God on behalf of another." As we follow the life of Moses we will we often see him interceding before God on behalf of his wayward people.
- Moses had a large heart of love for his often unlovable people. He was taking God's love for the children of Israel as his example.
So here are the three reasons why Moses succeeded as a leader under God: He had a personal, real relationship with God. He was a man of constant prayer, and he had a genuine love for the people of God. Christian leaders, pastors, and elders can, and need, to learn from Moses this way of godly leadership. They need to put into practice these qualities in their service in Christ's church and among God's people today.
Now we come to the next stage in Israel's journey towards the Promised Land. They have left the oasis of Elim where the Lord supplied them with water and have travelled across the desert towards Mount Sinai. Travelling from place to place as the Lord commanded them, they have arrived at a place called Rephidim. Once again their faith in God is tested because they find that there is no water for the people to drink. It was a situation they had already faced some months before. Again they blame Moses for their predicament and seemingly forget that up to then God had supplied all their need. Moses says to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?" The situation became such that Moses feared for his life thinking that the people were about to stone him. He cried out to the Lord, "What am I to do with these people!" You can almost hear the frustration in his voice! The Lord answered his servant at once, giving him the instructions we find in Exodus chapter 17 verses 5 and 6:
"Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the River Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock of Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink."
Obedient servant that he was, Moses did as the Lord commanded him and the people were given an abundant, continuing supply of fresh water to drink. We are told in verse 7 that Moses called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" Once again we see the kindness of God towards these rebellious people; kindness shown because of his love for them and because of the faithfulness of his servant Moses.
It was at Rephidim that the people were to experience their first encounter with an opposing army. We read in verse 8 that "The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim." These people were a race of wild, desert nomads who were scattered in an area from the far south of Canaan across the Sinai peninsula. They were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, distant relatives of the Israelites, and were to be a constant enemy before they entered Canaan and even after they had settled in the land. They continued their bandit-like raids until Saul became the first king of Israel. Eventually the race died out. Here at Rephidim they proved to be a strong and determined enemy.
It is at the time of this first battle that we are introduced to a young fighting man called Joshua. He was a true man of God like his leader Moses. His name means "Yahweh (or Jehovah) saves". It was already in God's mind that this young warrior, Joshua, should serve an apprenticeship under Moses and eventually follow him as the overall leader of Israel. In the Aramaic language of New Testament times "Joshua" is the same as "Jesus". You will remember that in Matthew's account of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel said to Joseph, " ... you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
We have already noted in this talk that Moses was a man of prayer, and we see the evidence of this again as the Israelites fight their enemies. The account of the events that day are found in Exodus chapter 17 verses 8 to 15. Moses instructed Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." What was Moses going to do? He was going to pray that the Lord would give his people victory over the enemy. He took with him Aaron and another man called Hur.
It is an amazing story, for as long as Moses held up the staff of God the Israelites overcame the Amalekites. When Moses lowered his arms the enemy prevailed. The battle continued until sunset and as Moses became tired his companions held up his arms, and so the Israelites won the battle and their enemy was defeated. To commemorate this great victory Moses built an altar and called it "The Lord is my banner". He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord."
The lifting up of Moses' hands was an act of intercession on behalf of the fighting men. Unable to fight himself, Moses exerted a powerful influence on the issues of the battle by his prayer. At all times, the Christian man or woman who brings the power of heaven into human affairs does most toward deciding them. Unnoticed by the fighting men, Moses is yet the most conspicuous figure in that day's struggle. Prayer of this sort is never an easy task to be accomplished without effort. The uplifted arm of prayer involves weariness and watchfulness, and it is not to be wondered at that the intercessor is often faint and in need of support as Moses was that day. This is what makes the union of God's people in prayer so necessary and so vital as we confront the enemies we face as believers.
May we learn from the example of Moses the great intercessor before the Lord.