SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Scripture: Numbers 14:15-19

Numbers 14:15-19 says, “Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, ‘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.’ And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, ‘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.’ 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.” Moses interceded for the people and he pled for mercy. He declared something about God that we need to remember. In verse 18 he says, “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.” Our intercession is absolutely essential to bring pardon to a nation. In the process of doing it, we have to satisfy both dimensions of Who God is – the Priestly side and the Kingly side. While mercy triumphs over judgment, if people will not turn sometimes judgment is necessary. In this case Moses made it clear, those who incited the people to unbelief needed to pay the ultimate price. And that has not changed. It is just as true in our generation as it was in Moses’. And we need to remember it when we pray. We need to pray Psalm 21:8-12, “Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, And the fire shall devour them. Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth, And their descendants from among the sons of men. For they intended evil against You; They devised a plot which they are not able to perform. Therefore You will make them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.”