Moses Intercedes for the People
14: 5-19
Moses intercedes for the people DIG: Why did Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes? What is the significance of the Sh’khinah glory here? What was Moshe’s main argument against ADONAI? Why was it such a good argument? Do you think God’s anger with the Israelites was justified?
REFLECT: In what ways do you suffer the sins of your parents and grandparents? Take a moment to intercede and pray for those who are now under God’s judgment. Ask Him to open their eyes to the truth before it is too late. Thank the Lord that He is willing to forgive us for our sins.
Yes, discipline the people for their sin if You must,
but please don’t totally destroy them for Your Name’s sake.
In the midst of this riot of rebellion, only a few voices still spoke of God’s grace and remembered His power. The Torah mentions four such people: Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb. These were the only ones mentioned as not being part of the larger, rebellious community. I suspect that they are listed because of their prominence in the central story. But I also suspect that they were not, in fact, the only ones in the entire community who were faithful to YHVH. In any period of great apostasy, we (and Scripture) tend to focus on the majority of the rebels and to forget about the righteous of the TaNaKh. ADONAI always has a remnant of faithful believers. Certainly this was the experience of Elijah on Mount Carmel (First Kings 19:10, 14 and 18). Yet, the only voices of reason and faith we hear in the text are those of Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua.
The words of the faithful (14:5-10a): Moshe and Aaron fell on their faces before the entire assembled community of the people of Isra’el, half in anticipation of the divine wrath about to explode upon the people and half in prayerful intercession for Ha’Shem’s forgiveness. It was a national rebellion! Joshua and Caleb, from those who had explored the Land, tore their clothes in a ritual symbolic of mourning. They tried to dissuade their countrymen from their foolishness, countering the lies of the majority report, saying: The land we passed through in order to spy it out is an outstandingly good land . . . their protection (Hebrew: tzillam, meaning shade) has been removed from them. In the hot and arid regions of the Middle East, the concept of shade is a symbol of grace and mercy, a relief from the searing heat (Psalm 91:1). YHVH had served as a protecting shadow for the peoples of the land of Canaan; but now that protection was gone. God was with His people. The faithful declared: ADONAI is with us! Don’t be afraid of them! If ADONAI is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this Land and give it to us — a land flowing with milk and honey (14:5-9).248
Finally, they got to the theological heart of what was at stake: Just don’t rebel against ADONAI. And don’t be afraid of the people living in the Land – we’ll eat them up! The question was not who was taller or who had the larger fortifications or who had more weapons. Ultimately, all such reliance on human power and estimates was irrelevant. The issue was trusting in the power of Isra’el’s God. He could be trusted to make good on His promises and bring the Israelites into the Promised Land. That fact should have been enough to strengthen their confidence, but the whole community chose insurrection over submission as they passed the word to gather stones to kill their faithful leaders in whom they had lost confidence. Despite the pleas of Joshua and Caleb and the prostrate forms of Moshe and Aaron, the people were deaf to mercy and blind to truth. They were determined that all four of them should be stoned to death (14:10a).249
The threat of Ha’Shem (14:10b-12): YHVH considered obliterating Isra’el there on the spot. Just then, the Sh’khinah glory appeared in the Tabernacle to all the people of Isra’el (14:10b). When Ha’Shem appeared, He did not thunder against the people; instead, He spoke directly to His servant Moses about their outrageous behavior. His words had a sense of disbelief: How much longer are these people going to treat Me with contempt? As we think of God’s promise to bless those who bless Isra’el and to curse the one who treats the people with less than a sense of dignity and respect (Genesis 12:3), we wonder what must be in store for the one who holds YHVH in contempt! How much longer will they not trust Me, this unbelief was the root of the problem (to see link click Bz – Faith and Obedience), especially considering all the signs I have performed among them (14:11)? Since God was able to defeat the Egyptians, He could certainly defeat the Canaanites. Ha’Shem’s anger against His people was at fever pitch. He declared: I am going to strike this rebellious people with a plague, destroy them, disinheriting them from the covenantal promises of the Land (see the commentary on Genesis Eg – I AM the LORD, Who Brought You Out of Ur of the Chaldeans to Give You This Land). And God could begin again. With a plague the people could be reduced to a believing remnant. Moshe could be the new “father;” he could be Abraham brought back to life, as it were. Therefore, God said: I will make from you a nation greater and stronger than they are (14:12)! For the second time since the Exodus, YHVH speaks of starting over with Moshe in order to create a new people faithful to Himself (Exodus 32;10). But Moses refused to take the offer that God gave him.
Moses intercedes (14:13-19): To the extent that the expression of the wrath of Ha’Shem was a test of the character of Moshe, we see in his response one of his greatest moments. Not for a second did he mull over the possibility of a new people of God, “the children of Moses!” Instead, zealous for the protection of the perception of the character of YHVH among the nations, Moshe couldn’t contain himself, “When the Egyptians hear about this – [and they will] – because it was from among them that You, by Your strength, brought this people up – they will tell the Canaanites. It seems that the Egyptians had been keeping track of the migration of the Israelites, hoping that they would eventually return as their slaves. They have heard that you, ADONAI, are with this people; that you, ADONAI, are seen face to face; that Your fire-cloud stands over them (see Bk – The Pillar of Cloud and Fire); that You go ahead of them in a column of cloud by day and a column of fire by night (14:13-14).
For Moses, there was something far more important than his own pride and destiny, something even more important than the people themselves . . . this was the reputation of God! If You kill off these people at a single stroke, then the nations that have heard of Your reputation will say that the reason ADONAI slaughtered these people in the desert is that He wasn’t able to bring them into the Land which He promised to give them. So now, please, let ADONAI’s power be as great (14:15-17).
Even more compelling, Moshe invoked ADONAI’s twelve attributes. God is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in lovingkindness (see the commentary on Ruth Af – The Concept of Chesed) and truth; showing grace to the thousandth generation, forgiving offenses, crimes and sins; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and grandchildren, and even to the third and fourth generations (Numbers 4:18 quoting Exodus 34:6-7). So, yes, discipline the people for their sin if You must (see the commentary Hebrews Cz – God Disciplines His Children), but please don’t totally destroy them for Your Name’s sake.
Then, armed with the twelve attributes of God’s essential character, Moshe pleads: Please! Forgive the offense of this people according to the greatness of Your grace, Your covenantal faithfulness, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now (14:19).250
Moderns who have rejected the message of the TaNaKh have often done so on the basis of faulty biblical teaching. They have been taught through popular culture and through misinformed teachers that “the God of the Old Testament” is a God of wrath, whereas “the God of the New Testament” is all mercy and grace. It is to YHVH’s attribute of lovingkindness (see chesed above) that Moshe appeals in his plea to ADONAI not to destroy Isra’el (14:18-19).
Moses knew the LORD intimately. He knew Him as a consuming fire; he also knew His warm embrace. We tend to focus on the flashes of God’s wrath. Moshe reminds us that while the wrath is real, it is long delayed. The most remarkable feature of God’s exercising His wrath is how much frustration He tolerates before He finally acts in righteous judgment. I suspect that there are occasions when we all have wished that Ha’Shem would “zap” this evil or reach out and destroy that evil. But the fact that He has not yet done so is a loving reminder that He may extend the same patience with us as well.251
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your wonderful attributes that You described to Moshe. Then ADONAI passed before him, and proclaimed, “ADONAI, ADONAI, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, showing mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7). Meditating on your outstanding characteristics brings such peace and joy!
To Abram You called Yourself, God Almighty. When Abram was 99 years old, Adonai appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Continually walk before Me and you will be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). As my Almighty Father there is no reason for me to worry about any “giant problem.” Your presence is always with me (Hebrews 13:5) to help me, and is so much greater and more powerful than any problem! You are the Great King who, by the breath of His mouth, can “fix giant problems” (Revelation 19:15).
Gracious and compassionate Heavenly Father, You fixed the giant problem of my sin by sending Yeshua the Messiah as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) to suffer and die as my substitute, then you conquered the giant of death by rising victoriously (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21)! Thank You for being such a wonderful Heavenly Father that can always be relied on and trusted! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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