Interceding for us

Today I read something in the Bible that I don't remember ever seeing before.  In Exodus chapter 4, God was meeting with Moses, giving him a job to do.  He showed Himself powerful enough to rescue his people, the children of Israel, from bondage.  He gave Moses the resources to take the message to Israel's captors.  He even said Moses would not be alone--God would be there with him, and so would his brother Aaron.  But Moses' final word on the subject was this: "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." (verse 13.)  "And the Lord's anger burned against Moses." (verse 14.)

All of that I have read before.  And Moses took his family, and did as the Lord commanded.  He left his father-in-law, took his wife and two sons, and went back to Egypt.  But here is the passage that I had not noticed before.  Verses 24 through 26 says: "At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses, and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin, and laid it at Moses' feet. 'Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,' she said.  So the Lord left him alone."

What stands out about this verse?  Well, first we can surmise that Moses had not followed the law of God, as he had not circumcised his son.  That would have disappointed God.  But this was not the first law of God that Moses had broken.  In chapter 3, Moses killed an Egyptian.  He committed murder.  As a result of that sin, Moses left his people in Egypt, and went to Midian, and married a Midianite woman.  God couldn't have been too happy about this, either.  Once Israel had taken the land God had promised to them (later in the book of Exodus), Joshua spoke the word of the Lord to them, and one of the commands was to avoid marrying outside their race, outside their faith.  But the thing that really ticked God off the most is the fact that Moses stood eye to eye with Him and said "no".  Even though Moses repented later, and did what God had told him to do, God was still so displeased with him that He intended to kill him.

In steps Zipporah, Moses' wife.  She was a Midianite, but she knew enough about Hebrew law to make up for her husband's disobedience.  She circumcised her son, and thereby saved Moses' life.  She interceded for him, and God answered her prayer.  He had mercy on Moses because of Zipporah's act of faith.  She called Moses her "bridegroom of blood," because of the tradition of circumcision that his religion had demanded.

This reminds me of another passage later on in Exodus chapter 32 where God got so mad at His people that He was ready to kill them all.  He told Moses to step aside, that He was going to smite them all and make another nation of Moses' children.  But Moses interceded for the people, and God relented.  Apparently, Moses remembered a time when God was so mad at him that He was ready to kill Moses.  And he must have remembered his wife, Zipporah, who performed an act of holiness to make things right between Moses and his God.  It really makes a difference in your life when you have experienced God's grace.

God's word has other examples of intercession for His people, culminating in the death of Jesus, God's Son, to absolve the sins of the world.  He became the Blood Covenant for us, and He is the Bridegroom for the Church, His bride (we are looking forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb).  So, just as Zipporah called Moses her Bridegroom of Blood, Jesus became one for us. 

Even later in the New Testament, John talks about Christ Himself interceding for us when we sin (see I John 2).  See, just because Jesus died and was raised to life again, doesn't mean that God will never be angry with us.  I am sure He gets angry enough with me to kill me, to just wipe me off the face of the earth.  But thank God someone intercedes for us, and that someone could be a friend or a relative, a pastor or a teacher, or Jesus Christ Himself.

That is one way we can do the work of the Lord: interceding for someone else.  In other words, the work of God's Son is to intercede for us, to go before the Father and beg His mercy on us.  If we also go to God for another person, we are doing the very same thing that the Son of God sets about to do.  So we are doing the work of God when we pray for one another.  Sometimes our prayers are spoken words, like Moses defending his fellow Israelites. Other times our intercession could be an action, like Zipporah stepping up and obeying God when her husband had failed to do so.

Loving Father, show me a way to stand in for another, to make that person right with You.  I know that each person's salvation is a personal thing, something that must be between each person and You.  But if I can step up for someone and change their circumstances by doing the right thing, perhaps Your anger against them will be appeased, and You will show mercy on them.  Perhaps You will allow them to live, giving them another chance to make You their personal Savior; or maybe You will take away their suffering for a moment, so that they can see clearly and know that You are God. Thank You for showing mercy to me when I do not deserve Your grace.  Please make me worthy of You.

Amen.