INTERCESSION

Greetings,
"And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.  And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin and wilt Thou be wroth with all the congregation?"   Numbers 16:20 - 22

"But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.   And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation:  and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.   And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.  And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment.  And they fell upon their aces.  And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them:  for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.    And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people:  and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.  And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed."   Numbers 16:41 - 48

The role of the intercessor has become to me the most important thing that a Christian and the church can learn.   Now an intercessor is not just a person that prays.  For there are many that pray and say prayers.  Buddhists pray, Muslums pray, Hindus pray, religious folk pray and even Christians pray.   But simply because one prays, does not mean that their prayers are heard or answered.  Yea, the very work point and purpose in prayer is so to be heard that the prayer may be answered.  I fear that the Christian and the church today prays and hast learned to say prayers to ease their conscience and pass their burden to a religious duty done.   But the intercessor rises above this notion to accomplish something beyond himself or his desires and wishes.  Yea, it is to learn that the work of the intercessor is the work of God.

This chapter 16 in Numbers is a perfect example and illustration of the intercessors responsibility and duty.   Twice, found within this chapter, is the situation between God and man/His people.   God's wrath is provoked, and life and death are held within a moments response by Moses and Aaron as they intercede.   This was not just one moment that fell upon them that they rose up in rebellion against God and against Moses, but this had been building.   It is the progression of evil.

THE PROBLEM

Sin is always the problem.   From Numbers chapter 11 through chapter 16, we see over and over these several chapters the progression of evil.  We see the continual problem of sin arising.   They complained about the food.  They complained about water.  They complained about the living conditions.   The complained about God's choosing of the priest and Levities.   They complained about Moses and Aaron ruling over them.  They complained about God.  'Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.'   And through all this complaining from the psychical, to the spiritual, at the root of it is the sin of rebellion.  'We will not have this man to rule over us.'   Lost men will not submit nor surrender to the Lord God.   Rebellion is always at the root of such sin.  From Satan's rebellion from God in heaven; to Adan and Eve's rebellion in the garden (bolstered by Satan's temptation) to our hearts rebellion, it is a root cause of our folly.   And the intercessor is a skilled surgeon to go beyond the superficial, and to get to the root cause of sin and the issues that needs intercession.   

This progression of evil was climaxed here in chapter 16 with two incidents needing an intercessor to deliver their rebellion from the Lord utterly consuming them from annihilation.   From Numbers 11 through chapter 16 they had continued to murmur, question, and assault the Lord's servants.   Each time these things progressed, the greater the anger of God toward them for their unbelief and all their sin.   This great sin of rebellion was progressing continually and affecting the whole congregation.  "A little leaven, leavens the whole."  It is necessary to understand that when rebellion is allowed it will continue to esclate and face the severe wrath of the Lord.  this wrath of the Lord had climaxed now to two incidents where God was done and was ready to 'remove them from the earth.' 

It is necessary that the intercessor understands such sins that continue to provoke and anger the Lord.  Whether this sin is done by 



THE RESPONSE

God's response to their progression of evil was to destroy them.  Life and death was before them.  Time was of the essence.  I read where Aaron was commanded by Moses to go, because the plague had already began from the Lord.   And Aaron ran to get to the dividing line of 'life and death'.   Oh, brethren, are we not there?!   All around us in our day is life and death.  Some soul drug overdoses to death;  some soul, hopeless, commits suicide;  some soul gunned down on the streets;  some soul plagued with disease is facing eternity.   And here we are, called of God, to plead with Him for grace and mercy.  To plead for life, not just life here, but eternal life there with Him.   As Jonathan Edwards preached it, 'you walk on a pie crust; and at any moment you can break through and drop down into an eternal hell fire.'   God holds yours/theirs steps, your/their breath and gives them time.  Time to respond, time to be saved, time to repent.  One more prayer, one more tear, one more moment, one more invitation and then, the end.   One more breath and then eternity.   And the intercessor, with their eternal plight hanging before their eyes and souls, cries out in anguish, in honor for His Son, His great name, to deliver them, to save them to make them His'.    Oh, what a response is needed by the intercessor for this which is at stake. 




THE REMEDY

If it was not for God's mercy, grace, longsuffering none of us would exist or survive.   Are we not all sinful and vile?  Have we all not practiced, loved and adhered to world, flesh and Satan to sin against the Lord?   Had it not been for His redemptive, gracious, Divine purpose of salvation, none of us would exist to rejoice in how great our Savior is.   Even Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 'such were some of you' before their redemption and salvation.   But God in His purposes saves and redeems and works a mighty work of deliverance.   Moses was such a man that God raised up for such a time to deliver His people from His wrath. 

We know that Christ is our great Intercessor, Who pleas with His heavenly Father on our behlaf.  First for our salvation; then for our sanctification.   The Happy Goodman family used to sing a song, 'Somebody Prayed For Me"; and I believe herein is our salvation done, God moves someone to pray for us.   And as we are prayed for, so we turn to pray and interecede for others and their salvation.  This is the great work of God through prayer and by prayer.  As He has done and is doing, so do we.   This is Christ-likeness.   

Then we continue to pray and intercede for all the other things that are at stake, in jeopardy, and assaulted by Satan and hell.   We see the needs, we hear the cries and we know that the labor of prayer is put into motion to deliver, protect, empower, encourage, and overcome for our Lord's glory.   We see and hear as God sees and hears and His heart cry, becomes ours in intercession.   God's eyes run to and fro throughout all the earth to show Himself mighty.   And this has how He has ordained it. 

So let us be faithful to approach our Intercessor on the throne, seated at the right hand of the Father.  Let us be often in our secret closets.  Let us pray so as to prevail. 




Started:  March 21, 2019

Continued:3/22;

Finished: