Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Moses’ Mediation, God’s Mercy
We are coming to the end of this ongoing study on Numbers 14. Already I have shown you Israel’s sinful fear, God’s judgement on their unbelief, and Israel’s false repentance. Then, I showed you how Caleb’s courageous faith stood in stark contrast to Israel’s absence of faith. Now, I want to focus on Moses’ mediation.
You can glean a lot of truth from a narrative passage of Scripture just by observing how its characters relate to God. What do they do? What do they say? What do they not do or say? However, there is an even more important reason to study Moses’ mediation in Numbers 14: Moses illustrates what mediation looks like so you and I can better understand how Jesus mediates for His people.
So for this post, I want to give you one thing Moses did not do when mediating, and two things Moses did do.
“I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”
Numbers 14:12-19, ESV emphasis added
Moses does not plead Israel’s merits
Explanation
Sometimes it is helpful to think about what something is not so you can more clearly see what something is.
In this case, think about what Moses did not say as he pleaded for God’s mercy on the Israel. Not once does Moses mention Israel positively. In fact, Moses hardly mentions Israel at all in his prayer to the Lord. There are a number of things Moses could have pleaded as he mediated on Israel’s behalf:
- Could talked about the good things Israel has done in the past
- Could have reminded God of the times Israel did have faith
- Could have argued destroying the whole nation is not proportional to the sin
But Moses says none of these things. Why? Because Israel had no merit to plead. No rights, nothing they “deserved.” Israel was a nation helplessly enslaved and doomed apart from God’s gracious action. And now, they were rebelling against that same God.
No good thing Israel had done, no moment of faith could counter Israel’s sin and unbelief. Moses does not approach God on the basis of good things Israel had done because no good work could counteract their sin or merit God fulfilling His promises.
Application
When you think of Jesus mediating and interceding for you, what do you picture? Do you imagine He mentions you, your character, your merits, your personal holiness? It is so easy to imagine that you and I have “something to bring to the table” before God.
Let Numbers 14 humble you and remind you there is no good work you have ever done that merits you any blessing from God. Jesus did not need to die because you needed some minor improvements. You had no righteousness to bring before God.
And that is the amazing grace of the gospel. It is Christ’s merits, not yours, that matter. When you are tempted to look at your own works, character, or “goodness” and imagine that somehow these grant you right standing before God, remind yourself of Moses and Israel in Numbers 14. You have nothing to bring. But Christ has all you need.
Moses pleads God’s reputation among the nations
Explanation
If Moses does not approach God on the basis of Israel’s merit or past goodness, how does Moses address the Lord? The first way is by pleading God’s glory among the nations. Moses starts out by saying if God destroys Israel, the nations who have heard of His “fame” will think less of the Lord.
Here you see again that Israel’s purpose was to display God’s glory among the nations. It started with God’s original promise He gave to Abraham in Genesis 12: “In you all nations shall be blessed.” In Deuteronomy, Moses says one of the reasons God gave Israel the law is so that other nations would look and say “Wow! What a nation! Israel is wise and their laws are righteous and their God dwells among them!”
What made Israel special was not Israel. It was God choosing to display His glory through Israel. Need more evidence of this?
- In 2 Samuel 7, David prays and says God saved Israel from Egypt to make a name for Himself.
- In 1 Kings 8 when Solomon is dedicating the temple, he says nations will hear of God’s great name and come to the temple to worship
- The Psalms are constantly calling the nations to praise the Lord, often right after recounting God’s redemptive work in Israel: Psalm 96:3 “Tell of God’s glory among the nations! His wonderful deeds among all the peoples!”
- Ezekiel 39:7- God says “My holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy named be profaned anymore. And nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy one of Israel”
- And then in the New Testament: Romans 1 says “Through Jesus Christ our Lord we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including you who were called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
If you get nothing else from these verses, see that God seems primarily concerned with the nations knowing who He is and seeing His glory. And that is why Israel was originally redeemed out of Egypt and that is what Moses pleads here in Numbers 14.
It is not about Israel’s righteousness or worth. It is God’s glory, God’s promise, God’s plan for the world. God destroying Israel in Numbers 14 would not be the main tragedy. The tragedy would be other nations thinking less of God.
And that is Moses argument: since the Egyptians know about what the Lord has done for Israel and God’s promise to bring them into the land, if God destroys Israel know Egypt will think less of God. So Moses pleads “Don’t damage Your reputation among Egypt and among the nations!”
Application
Why does God do what He does? This is a vital question to answer for you to make any sense of your life. Thankfully, Scripture seems incredibly interested in giving you that answer: God’s glory in all things. God displaying His magnificence and worth through His chosen means.
And what is most astounding of all: God chooses to display His glory by showing mercy to sinful humans. By saving His helpless, fallen creation. By choosing and calling a people for Himself to “declare the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Is this comforting to you? Do you value God’s glory above all things? I think passages like Numbers 14 humble us and remind us what really is most important in the universe.
In a world that tells you to think highly of yourself, God’s word reminds you that His glory and the display of that glory is the most important.
Moses pleads God’s character
Explanation
Moses doesn’t just plead God’s glory. He pleads God’s character as revealed in Exodus 34, particularly God’s “faithful love.” The word is “chesed” and it is an incredibly important Old Testament word. It signifies God’s loyal, covenant love. In fact, the word shows up around 250 times in the Old Testament and is often mentioned in the same context as God’s character and covenant.
This loyal love, this covenant love expresses itself in kindness and mercy towards the object of God’s love. This covenant love is one reason why God in the prophets often compares His relationship with Israel to that of a marriage relationship. It is the same idea: God has entered a covenant relationship with Israel and is committed to doing them good, even when they don’t deserve it.
“Chesed” is not a feeling of love, it is a commitment God has made. And Moses’ mediation is specifically in light of this love: “God’s power be magnified (i.e. displayed), pardon the people’s wrongdoing in accordance with Your faithful love.”
What is God’s response to Moses’ mediation? God heard Moses’ plea on behalf of the people and though Israel proved unfaithful, God remained faithful and gracious. Of course, we saw in a previous post that Israel’s punishment was still severe. But God did not destroy the nation.
God is merciful to Israel but not at the expense of justice. God isn’t just rich in faithful love; He also does not leave the guilty unpunished.
God is faithful to His covenant, but He will discipline His people when they disobey Him.
Application
Moses pleading God’s covenant love and covenant commitment should become the image you think of when you read about Jesus mediating on your behalf. Jesus does not plead your merits. He pleads the “New Covenant in His blood.” Why is this a comfort? Because you can stop worrying about God casting you aside.
The “perseverance of the saints” is a marvelous doctrine, but many people (including myself) struggle to live out on a day-by-day basis. We know we are saved by grace alone in Christ alone, but it is still so easy to fall back into a “merit-based” theology. Numbers 14 is a comfort because it reminds us:
- Pleading your merits before a thrice Holy God will condemn you every time. You have nothing in your hands to bring.
- Despite this, all who believe in Christ have entered into a covenant with God. It is a covenant based in God’s promises and for God’s glory.
- Because of this covenant, “who can bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” God will not destroy you, just like He didn’t destroy Israel in Numbers 14, because to do so would break His covenant.
When you are discouraged and feel like you have ruined any chance of God being merciful to you, think of Christ standing before the Father. What is He saying? He is pleading His blood, the blood that brought you into an eternal covenant with God. And until Christ’s blood loses its power to cover your sins, which it never will, then you are safe and secure in your salvation.
The New Covenant in Christ’s blood is what keeps you secure. Your good works can’t add to it’s power, nor can your worst sins nullify it’s effectiveness
Conclusion
One of my favorite hymns is “Before the Throne of God Above.” A verse from it is a fitting end to this post:
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look, and see Him there
who made an end to all my sinBecause the sinless Savior died
Before the Throne of God Above
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me
Moses’ mediation in Numbers 14 gives us a beautiful picture of Jesus’ mediation. It is not based on our merits or works. It is based on God’s covenant and commitment to His own glory. That is freeing truth. It shifts your perspective away from self and back to God.
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