Numbers 14:11-25 - Intercession is Required!

Numbers 14:11-25

Moses Intercedes for the People

11 Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13 And Moses said to the LORD: “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 18 The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

20 Then the LORD said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— 22 because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. 25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.”

Intercession.  This was needed after the people refused to enter the promised land of God’s grace set before them after spying it out and giving a willing false report out of faithless fear.  These were about to be smitten by the LORD for their rejection of Him through their defiance of disbelief and disobedience, smitten with disease and disinherited as children of promise.  They had no excuse after witnessing the mighty hand of God in their deliverance from bondage and feeding with bread from heaven.  God was about to take them out and raise up a new people from Moses that would be even better and stronger.  Moses heard these things and pleaded with the LORD to show mercy in order to not defame His reputation after the nations witnessed His deliverance of His chosen nation.  He boldly said that the nations would not only tell the tales of their great deliverance, but then mock God by saying He was not strong enough to complete their deliverance and bring them into the promised land as if it was an uncertain declaration of a less than able diety.  He reminded Him that they knew how He met face to face with them through Moses and led them in the cloud by day and fire by night, yet would be seen as unable to keep His promise if the people were destroyed.  Of course, the LORD was capable of knowing these things and had no real intention of not keeping the promise, but this was likely the threat to demonstrate that He could do this but still would deal with the rejection and rebellion in another way, one which would pass the promise to the children of this lot instead of them for their unfaithfulness.  A similar statement was made by Jesus Christ (Mark 12:9-10, Matthew 21:43-44, Acts 13:46) to Israel again when He told them the kingdom would pass to others except for a small remnant (Romans 11:5) of this nation.  The LORD heard Moses and answered according to His predetermined plan with the abundance of mercy and grace that Moses reminded Him that is His character.  This statement of God’s power in merciful grace was brought out by the intercession of Moses for the people who would still be held accountable, yet not destroyed.  This echoes through time to the passage in 1 Corinthians 3:12-13, 14-15 where we who are God’s people in Christ are to be accountable yet not condemned for how we live for His kingdom now and into forever.  There will be loss of rewards and shame for the things we do which do not last but great rewards for the faithful words and deeds done for Him according to the first and second (Mark 12:30-31) great commandments.  In God’s great mercy He not only forgave the children of Israel then, but continues to do so now through the eternal intercession of Jesus Christ by His sacrificial lifeblood which passes over our sin now and forever!  We have been pardoned and are no longer under the curse of the Law (Hebrews 7:16, 25) which requires perfect obedience to escape judgment; Jesus has obeyed completely (Hebrews 5:8-9, Philippians 2:8) for us and accepted us by grace unearned and undeserved by His great love for we the people of His choosing.  Moses was a type of Christ to come as our intercessor, yet one with the power of an endless life (Hebrews 7:16) to make this deliverance possible as no mere man can ever accomplish for our salvation.  Yes, these things are only possible be He is the divine Son of God, equal to the Father (John 10:30) and Spirit in all but person.  This good news of His salvation, our deli by the intercession of His Son, is the final statement of God that “all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD” in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:6) and Savior.  Intercession is required and Jesus the Son of God has done this once for all for all (Romans 8:34, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:1) who repent, turn to trust His person and work on the cross, and find an entrance to the kingdom that can never be taken away!