Intercession & Grace

Sermon 79 in Series

Exodus 32:7-14
[7] And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. [8] They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” [9] And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. [10] Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

[11] But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O 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? [12] Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. [13] Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” [14] And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1.   What does it mean to say that the sinfulness of sin can only be understood against the backdrop of God’s goodness? In what ways has God shown his goodness to Israel up to this point in the narrative?
2.   How does God characterize Israel’s sin? What does it mean to be “stiff-necked” and how have you seen this play out in your life or the lives of others?
3.   How do we tend to underestimate our sin and fall short of God’s assessment? What is the remedy for this misaligned perspective?
4.   How does God’s language to Moses show that he intends to extend grace to Israel? How does this conversation function as a test for Moses and a pointer to Christ?
5.   To what does Moses appeal as he intercedes to God on behalf of Israel? How should this guide our intercessory prayers?

References: Exodus 24:7, 12; Genesis 6:12; Romans 1:23; Genesis 12:2; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Exodus 3:10; 7:5; Genesis 49:10.