It wasn't only his love for idol-worshipping Israel that prompted Moses to pray his ultimatum prayer to God--"forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book [of Life] which Thou hast written" (Ex. 32:32).
Something more was involved: Moses was most of all concerned for the honor of God's name. In versus 12 and 13 he argued that if God could not forgive His rebellious people, the world would get a false view of the character of God. That would mean that the plan of salvation must go down the drain. And God "repented" (vs. 14).
It is unthinkable that Moses was more mature, more loving, more righteous than God Himself. God came down to his level to show him how distressed He was with the perversity of Israel. He virtually invited Moses to share His burden. In fact, we can say reverently that God put the fate of Israel in the hands of Moses! And if we can say that, He also put the plan of salvation in his hands. Would Moses rise to the occasion? Could he handle this tempting offer that God made to him, to make of him "a great nation" so that no longer would people talk about the "children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," but from now on it would be "the children of Moses"?
It turned out that Moses was more concerned for the honor of God and for His plan of redemption than he was for his own personal, eternal salvation! He must have been convulsed with tears before he expressed that decision, for he was in dead earnest. It took every ounce of his soul energy to pray that prayer.
That must be why the Father sent the resurrected Moses on that special errand to meet with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration before His crucifixion (Matt. 17:1-3). Moses understood the heart of Jesus who would also surrender His hope of eternal life when He was "made to be sin for us" and endure "the curse of God" in dying that awful death on His cross. Moses and Jesus shared something in common: the love that is agape. Someday 144,000 others will also share it (Rev. 14:1-5, 12). They will learn a higher motivation than pious self-concern for their own reward.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 3a, 2001.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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