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tails ofthat
in
the next installment.)
God tests and t ries us all in ditfer–
ent ways, but be thankful you don't
have to go through what Moses did!
Moses knew whose idea this whole
plan was: God's. God's plan, God's
people, God's plagues, God's Ex–
odus (and, of course, God's law).
But the people only saw Moses, the
man to blame. When Moses was up
on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten
Commandments, he was staggered
by what his Maker had to say:
"Qu ick! Go on down. for
your
people that
you
brought from Egypt
have defiled themselves" (Ex. 32:7).
Remember, Mo ses had not
wanted the job in the first place.
tried in every way to avoid the call–
ing God had given him- now God
Himself was seeming to sound just
like the people and blaming it all on
Moses! But God had more to say.
" 1
have seen what a stubborn. re–
bellious lot these people are. Now
let me alone and
my anger
shall
blaze out against them and
destroy
them al/;
and
I
will make you.
Moses, into a great nation instead of
them" (verses 9-10). This was the
same God of !ove who later became
Jesus Christ; the same God who
gave His own Life for you and me,
and yes, all those Israelites whom
He was now threatening to de–
stroy- and even those Egyptians He
had
destroyed; the same God of
whom John spoke in the New Testa–
ment when he said: "For the law
was given by Moses, but grace and
truth carne by Jesus Christ" (John
1: 17,
KJV). But in this situation it
was
God
(who became Jesus Chris t,
the Spokesman, the
Logos)
who had
just given the law in His own voice
to Israel, and written with His own
finger in stone to Moses- a nd it was
Moses
who was asking for
grace!
Bold lntercession
"But Moses begged God not to do
it. 'Lord,' he pleaded, 'why is
your
anger so hot against
your
own
people whom
you
brought from the
land of Egypt with such great power
and mighty miracles?'" (Ex. 32: 11 .)
People have misunderstood John 's
statement cited above, probably be–
cause they
have not read the whole
book!
At this particular moment the life
of an entire nation-millions of
26
people, with all their potential bil–
lions of descendants (and maybe
you
are one of them!)- hung on the
words of one man: Moses. Most
people's opinion of Moses' suppos–
edly harsh character would surely
demand that Moses would have
been the first one to take God up on
His olfer! Let God kili a llthe Israel–
ites; they were just a pain in the
neck to Moses anyway! And what a
promise to Moses himself: to make
a whole nation from the one man,
Moses, just as He had made the
whole nation of Israel from one
man, Abraham! After all. Abraham
was lOO years old when his son of
promise, Isaac, was born-and
Moses was only 80!
Moses, who governed with an
iron hand. Moses, who administered
corporal and capital punishment for
crimes against God's laws-and
stoning has got to be one o f the
hardest of all capi tal punishments!
Moses, granite-faced. stern and un–
bending. Moses, man of law. prime
minister of the administration of
death!
There are not many Christians
who would depend on Moses for
merey!
But here's the story of what really
happened-believe it or not- written
in the eterna! words of God's own
truth!
Moses interceded for Israel in-
At thls particular
moment the llfe of an
entlre natlon-mllllons
oJ people, wHh all thelr
potentlal bllllons of
descendants-hung on
the words of one man:
Moses. Most people's
oplnlon of Moses'
supposec:tly harsh
character would surely
demand that Moses
would have
been the
flrst one to take
God
up on
Hls
offerl
stead of for himself. Moses screwed
up his spiritual courage a nd spoke
to God Himself as no other man
has. Moses went
boldly
to the throne
of grace.
Addressing God Almighty, Moses
said: "Do you want the Egyptians to
say. 'God tricked them into coming
to the mountains so that he could
slay them. destroying them from off
the face ofthe earth'?" (Verse 12.) A
strong argument. but 1 would think
a dangerous one to use on God
Himself. But Moses. seeking merey
for
others,
went far beyond that!
Moses the Merciful
"T urn back from your fierce wrath,"
Moses bo ldly said. " REPENT!"
Moses said- To Goo! "Repent of
this evi l against thy people." Has
any other man dared to speak to
God like this-and lived? Moses
did! Yet somehow it doesn't seem to
fit with what we've always heard
about Moses. does it?
Moses continued: ·'Remember
Abraham. Isaac, and Israel. thy ser–
vants. to whom thou swarest by
thine own self, and saidst unto
them,
1
will multiply your seed as
the stars of heaven, and allthis land
that
1
have spoken of will
1
give
unto your seed, and they shall in–
heril it for ever" (verse
13. KN).
What boldness! What absolute
trust in the merey and grace ofGod!
What spiritual
guts!
What a merci–
ful Moses!
And beyond that. it was elfective:
it worked! "And the LORD RE–
PENTED of the evil which he thought
to do unto his people"! (Verse
14,
KJV.)
WHY?
How can this be? God angry?!
Moses merciful?!
lt
doesn't make
sense with what you've heard be–
fore, does it? An enigma. a puzzle. a
paradox!
But what about all those people
the great God of !ove destroyed and
a ll those people that harsh man
Moses "saved" that day? And. in a
larger sense, if God is all powerful
and a llloving. why does He allow so
much human sulfering today?
Moses learned the answers to
these puzzles in a gripping tale
worth the telling-read it next
issue.
o
(To Be Continued)
The
PLAIN TRUTH April 1977