“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15)

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;” (John 17:20)

We know that when Jesus was on the cross, He said that it is finished. Yes, His work as being manifest in the flesh is finished. But Jesus’ continues to work. What is the work that Jesus is doing even today?

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)

Jesus intercedes for His church. Therefore today if we love the Lord, we should also love God’s people and love the church. If Jesus intercedes for His church, we need to have Jesus’ desire as our desire. We need to have Jesus’ purpose as our purpose. Brothers and sisters, what do we need for the church? For brothers and sisters to intercede for the church.

“(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)” (Numbers 12:3)

How humble are we? We will know by how much time we spend praying for God’s people and God’s church. Moses was a humble person indeed.

“Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.” So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.” (Exodus 32:30-35)

God was very angry when the people made the angry calf. But Moses prayed for the people. He was not praying for innocent people, but for sinful people. In verse 32, Moses even says, “Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”” Moses was willing to put himself forward so that God would forgive God’s people. Actually, if we look at verse 14, we see that Moses had already interceded for the people.

“So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.” (Exodus 32:14)

If God already said that He would relent from the harm that He would do to the people, then why did Moses beg God again? He wanted to make sure, because he knew how sinful God’s people were. He put God’s people ahead of himself. Brothers and sisters, we need more people like Moses. If someone is sick, we pray for them. If someone has difficulties in their lives, we pray for them. What if someone is going against God’s will? Do we think that it is alright? “Nah, he’s like that, no one can change him, so we just leave it.” If we are like that, then we are to blame when the church is weak. We are to blame! We need to learn from Moses.

“So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.” (Numbers 12:9-10)

What did Moses do?

“So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!”” (Numbers 12:13)

Moses understood that Miriam had sinned against God. It was a serious sin. God gave her leprosy. That meant that she would be severed from God’s people forever. What did Moses do? Moses cried out to God to heal her. Actually, can leprosy be cured? No. Not by man. Only one can cure leprosy—God Almighty Himself. So here we can see that Moses was hurt by Miriam. But Moses did not hold a grudge against Miriam. Because Moses had a compassionate heart.

We need more people like Moses to forget about the hurt and to see people’s spiritual needs. If you know that someone has sinned against you, that means they have sinned against God. That means they need God’s forgiveness. Today if we want our church to be stronger, we need to pray like Moses, just like how he prayed for Miriam.

“So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.” (Numbers 12:15)

Was it cruel for Miriam to be shut out? But that is what God’s law stipulated. So she could have a chance to be healed. Seven days was not forever. And then God brought her back in. Today, we need to pray like Moses prayed for Miriam.

“Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”” (Numbers 14:11-12)

By the way, this was not a temptation from the devil. God wanted to make Moses great. God said, “I’m going to make you great.” Isn’t that amazing, if God wanted to make you great? Greater than the Israelites? Forget about these troublesome people! They don’t listen! They’re so stubborn! For so many years they’re still the same! But what did Moses do? Moses prayed for these people. “Don’t do that,” he said to God. Moses rejected God’s offer. Why? Because Moses cared about God’s name. Moses cared about God’s people. So therefore, he humbled himself and prayed for God’s stubborn people.

“Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word;” (Numbers 14:20)

What a powerful prayer. Why was it so powerful? Because Moses was humble. He did not focus on himself. He did not focus on how he was made to feel when the Israelites were so troublesome. He only focused on God’s promise and God’s love for God’s people.

We thank our Lord Jesus. Today we learn from Jesus. We learn from Moses. Moses prayed for the people that worshiped the golden calf. Moses prayed for Miriam’s sin. Moses prayed for God to continue to lead them. Why do you think all this is recorded for us? It is for us in the end time true church. It is not just a story. It is not just history. It is a prophecy that we have to adopt. Because Moses is a sign for a true believer in God. A true servant.