Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: “LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?” (Ex. 32:11).
In today’s passage we have one of the greatest pictures of the intercession of Christ found anywhere in Scripture: Moses stepping into the gap between God and His people and pleading for reconciliation, pleading for God to relent, to turn away His wrath, and to show the Israelites mercy. He does this first by reminding God that the Israelites did not belong to Moses (as God had said in the previous passage), but that they were “Your people.” They belonged to Jehovah. While it is natural and just for a father to discipline his son, it is unnatural for a father to slay his own son. It was this point that Moses had in mind by pointing out that the Israelites were God’s people, chosen by Him to be His adopted children. In just four verses, Moses used the words “you” and “your” eight times. It was God who led the people out of bondage by His power and mighty hand. It was God who swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their descendants would be like the stars in the heavens, and that they would inherit the land forever.
By appealing to God’s faithfulness to His own covenant promises, Moses interceded for the people, asking God to relent and to show them mercy even though their sin deserved instant punishment. He appealed to God’s honor, for He had brought them out of Egypt. If the Israelites were to die in the wilderness, what would the Egyptians say of God? The eyes of all the nations were set on Israel, but if they were to be destroyed after being so miraculously saved, Egypt would say that God was either weak or fickle, that He would not or could not complete the salvation He began. Moses wanted God’s name to be glorified, and he knew that, though God would be right and just to destroy the Israelites, His name would be magnified if He showed them mercy.
Though we who have been saved from the bondage of sin blatantly transgress God’s law, He will show us mercy because of His promises, because of His honor, and because of the faithful intercession of His Son who speaks on our behalf. If it weren’t for Christ standing at the right hand of the Father, we would have no Advocate, no one to speak on our behalf, and we would be ruined. But because of Christ and the faithfulness of God to His covenant promises, His anger is abated and His wrath is removed.
Those who believe that you can lose your salvation do not understand Christ’s intercession. You cannot lose your salvation because Christ is constantly interceding on your behalf when you sin. Be comforted today that you are God’s child, and that, though He disciplines you, He will never destroy you
