Psalm 106:16-23 “They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, the LORD’s saint. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burnt up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass. They forgot God, their Saviour, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.”

The people continued to rebel and a group of them spoke out against Moses. Even after seeing the Lord’s power in deposing them, they forgot about His majesty and might. They even forgot about the awesome power He showed in bringing them out of Egypt! They engaged in ongoing idolatry, and their idolatry continued to provoke God until He was ready to start over. Moses, however, pleaded on their behalf, and God spared them.

Exodus 32:11-14 “Moses begged the LORD his God, and said, ‘LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, “He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?” Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.” ‘ So The LORD turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people.”

The lesson for us? Intercession can make a difference!

James 5:16-18 “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

For additional worship: What if His People Prayed (Casting Crowns)