What do you do when you desire the best for others, but there is sin in the
camp? This is an age-old problem that
keeps raising its ugly head. What do we
do? And what do we mean by “the
camp”? Camp can be a metaphor for home,
church, summer camp, business place or organization, city or nation. Camp can mean any collective reality of
gathered people with a shared mission and purpose.
A powerful example we find in Moses’
account written in Exodus, chapters 32 and 33.
When Moses finally came down the first time from Mt. Sinai with two stone
tablets of the “Testimony” he confronted sin in the camp. Put yourself in Moses’ sandals. He’s just had a long, personal meeting alone
with God on the mountain. God gave him
explicit directions for the life and wellbeing of the people beyond the Ten Commandments. His directives included matters of the
protection of property, laws of justice and mercy, social responsibility, the
building and furnishing of a tabernacle for worship, and so on. We can imagine Moses’ was excited to share
with the people God’s remarkable interest and confirmed covenant with
them.
Arriving
back down the mountain, Moses was slammed by two realities: Sin in the camp and God’s wrath in
response. In spite of God’s salvation
and all his blessings, the people had lost faith in God. They had replaced him with a lifeless,
impotent idol in the form of a golden calf.
They bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and attributed to it their
salvation from Egypt. God was
furious. He said, “They are a stiff
necked people. . . Whoever sinned
against me I will blot out of my book. . . I will punish them for their
sin.” Then God said to Moses, “I will
not go with you to the land I promised.”
God withdrew his presence
By this time it looked like God’s patience
had run out. God decided to fulfill his
covenant, but also a devostating one, to abandon his relationship with Israel.
After all, his reaction was in response to their sin of abandonment of
him. His relationship to his chosen people
would end. What would you do if you were Moses? Moses loved being in the presence of God. Prior to his encounter, Moses was in the habit of seeking God's presence by taking his tent and pitching it some distance outside of the camp calling it “the tent of meeting.” At these times a pillar of cloud, God’s presence, would form and stay at the door of his tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face. So, in light of the people’s sin, this is what Moses did once again. There in the tent he argued with God in prayer and interceded for the people. He asked for God’s favor and pleaded for God’s continuing presence in the journey ahead, not just for himself, but for all the people. He said to God, “If your not going with us, we are not going anywhere.” And “If you withdraw your presence from us, what else will distinguish us from all the other people on the face of the earth?” Moses moved God’s heart and God changed his mind. God finally responded, “I will do the very thing your have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Moses’ relationship with God was deeply intimate. He pleased God deeply. He had high favor with
God. In intimacy, he sought more favor from God on others’ behalf.
It was Moses’ faithful, intimacy with God that made him a successful
intercessor. What a lesson for us. God knows our hearts, but wants to hear from
us what is on our hearts. He gives us
time and attention. He calls us to love
him and to love others. And he permits us to intercede on their behalf no
matter how crazy, hopeless, and undeserving of forgiveness and mercy their
situation may be.
Did Moses change God’s mind? He seems to have influenced it. When there was sin in the camp, Moses called
it what it was and responded accordingly.
Then he shifted into prayer interceding on behalf of those who
occasioned the sin in the camp in the first place. He was a bold activist with a two-fold
response seeking restoration of the people’s relationship with God. The greatest need today is for deep people of
character based on their intimacy with God!
When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai . . .
his face was radiant because he had
spoken with the Lord.
Exodus 34:29
No comments:
Post a Comment