DEPTHS OF INTERCESSION BEFORE THE THRONE OF GRACE
MOSES’ INTERCESSION FOR A COVENANT NATION
Exodus 33:18-19
18 And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." 19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you,
and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will
have compassion on whom I will have compassion." NKJV
I. The context of Exodus 33:18-19
A. MAJOR RECENT EVENTS MOSES ENCOUNTERED THAT PRECEDED THIS COMMUNION WITH THE LORD
1. Name of God and Holiness of God – Moses encountered God of the Burning Bush at Mount Horeb Who
made known the name of God (Sinai). (Ex. 3:2; 3:14)
2. Justice of God – Moses was an instrument of the Lord to bring the judgment of God and devastation with
great power to the most powerful and advanced civilization of his time. (Ex. 4-13)
3. Power of God – Moses led the people across the Red Sea as if it was dry land. (Ex. 14)
4. Mercy and Love of God – Moses saw God sustain and protect Israel in the wilderness. (Ex. 15-18)
5. Wisdom, Righteousness and Justice of God – Moses mediated the giving of God’s Law for Israel. (Ex. 19-23)
6. Faithfulness of God – Moses mediated God’s covenant with Israel. (Ex. 24)
7. Beauty and Holiness of God – Moses was given the pattern of the tabernacle and priesthood for Israel.
(Ex. 24-31)
B. MOSES’ ASCENSIONS TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD
1. First Ascension (Ex. 3:2) – The Angel of the Lord revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush.
2. Second Ascension (Ex. 19:3-6) – God revealed to Moses His desire to make Israel a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation and His special treasure if Israel would keep the covenant of the Lord.
3. Third Ascension (Ex. 19:20-25) – God descended on the mountain of the Lord with thick cloud, fiery and
smoky furnace and great quake. God commanded Moses to get the people sanctified for 3 days and to bring Aaron
up with him. Israel preferred that God not speak to them directly in such an awesome manifestation.
4. Fourth Ascension (Ex. 20:22-26) – God commanded Israel through Moses regarding the abominable nature
of idolatry in His sight and the importance of proper worship of God.
5. Fifth Ascension (Ex. 24:1-11) – God commanded Moses to ascend the mountain of the Lord with Aaron,
Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel. Moses alone was allowed to come near to the Lord. Moses,
Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel went up after they made covenant of blood with God, and
they saw the God of Israel.
10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it
was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they
saw God, and they ate and drank. Ex. 24:10-11 NKJV
6. Sixth Ascension (Ex. 24:12-32:35) – God gave Moses the commandments on the two tablets of stone and
also showed Moses the revelation of the tabernacle and priesthood. God descended in the midst of the cloud like a
consuming fire and covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, God spoke to Moses from the cloud.
Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
7. Seventh Ascension (Ex. 34:4-29) – God commanded Moses to prepare two tablets of stone like the first two
tablets that were broken and come up to the mountain of the Lord in the morning. Moses obeyed God and God
showed Moses His glory and proclaimed His name to Moses again. Moses was on the mountain of the Lord forty
days and forty nights without food or drink.
4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai,
as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 Now the LORD descended in
the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed before him and
proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and
truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth
generation." 8 So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Ex. 34:4-9 NKJV
C. MOSES’ INTERCESSIONS FOR ISRAEL
(Ex. 32:7-33:23)
1. First Intercession (Ex. 32:7-14) – Moses pleads with God on the basis of God’s irrevocable covenant with
Abraham.
2. Second Intercession (Ex. 32:30-33) – Moses atones for Israel’s sin of idolatry by asking God to blot out from
God’s book his name instead of Israel’s.
3. Third Intercession (Ex. 32:34-33:17) – Moses pleads for God’s presence to be with Israel instead of His
angel. God answered Moses, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”
D. GOD’S ANSWER TO MOSES’ INTERCESSION FOR ISRAEL (V. 17)
17 So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and
I know you by name."
1. So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken. Moses and Abraham had great
confidence when they petitioned God because of their intimate knowledge of who God is. We approach God on the
foundation of His character and mercy. We must be bold to approach God with faith for without faith it is
impossible to please God. (Heb. 11:6; Matt. 7:7; Matt. 21:22; Heb. 4:14-16)
2. for you have found grace in My sight. Moses found favor in the sight of the Lord. Moses was known by the
Lord as the most humble person. His godliness and humility kept him in the grace of God. James 4:6: “God resists
the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
3. and I know you by name. In Scripture, there were many occasions when God dealt with His people through
their names. He called certain individuals by name. This is a mark of great intimacy Moses truly has great standing
in the heavenly and spiritual realm.
15:1 Then the LORD said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable
toward this people. Jer. 15:1 NKJV
14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their
righteousness," says the Lord GOD. Ezek. 14:14 NKJV
II. The depravity and presumption of Israel
A. Sinning after a great deliverance in Egypt. (Ex. 3-14)
B. Sinning after much preservation and provision during their pilgrimage. (Ex. 14:14-31)
C. Sinning after receiving the Law of the Lord. (Ex. 19-20)
D. Sinning after seeing the glory of God in the mountain of the Lord. (Ex. 24:9-11)
E. Sinning after making a covenant with the Lord. (Ex. 24:6-8)
F. Sinning after a holy pattern of worship and priesthood was instituted with clarity. (Ex. 25-31)
III. The depths of Moses’ intercession
A. Contending on behalf of the people of covenant with the Lord. (Ex.24:8-18)
B. Contending for the purpose of the Lord. (Ex.32:31-35)
C. Contending for the promise of the Lord. (Ex.33:1-3)
D. Contending for the presence of the Lord. (Ex.33:12-16)
E. Contending for the glory and beauty of the Lord. (Ex.33:19-23)
F. Contending for the covenant and law of the Lord. (Ex.34:4-10)
G. Contending for the revelation and display of the grace and mercy of the Lord. (Ex.33:18-23)
IV. What is the Spirit saying to the church?
A. We must not underestimate the depths of the presumption and depravity of mankind.
B. We must lay hold of God’s biblical remedy for a fallen covenant nation – intercession for mercy before the
throne of grace.
C. When sin abounds, grace abounds even more. This is a kairos for a widespread national and global
intercessory movement that will bring forth the revelation and the display of the depths of the mercy and glory of
God.
D. God is using this context to raise up prophets and intercessors across this nation.
E. The destiny of this nation will be determined on our knees; as praying churches boldly contend for the
display of the mercy and glory of God.
V. God is calling for true worshippers to function in the ministry of intercession with authority to shift the destiny of this
nation and generation.
2 Cor. 3:7-15
7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look
steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the
ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness
exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that
excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. 12 Therefore, since we have
such hope, we use great boldness of speech-- 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel
could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same
veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. NKJV