Poor Moses, his fellow Israelites were always disappointing him. First they whined and complained before he parted the Red Sea, saying they were better off back in Egypt. Now, the moment he leaves them to be with God on Mount Sinai, they loose their minds and make a golden calf to worship as their god.

How crazy is this?! I mean, honestly, how could they possible forget all the awesome things the one and only God had already done for them. Just to go and worship some inanimate object? Well, actually this isn’t too far from where we are in our present culture. But, we have already discussed this in previous blog postings.

What I am getting at right now is that Moses had to go and stand in the gap for the people of Israel. Because God is a jealous God and demands all of our allegiance, you can only imagine how angry He was at the people. In fact Exodus 32:10 said that the LORD’s wrath burned hot and He was ready to consume every one of them!! Oh man, Moses must have been freaking out at this point.

What is so cool is that, instead of freaking out, Moses immediately went to bat for his people. He pleaded with God on behalf of these wayward Israelites.

Exodus 34:9 (New International Version)
9 “O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes,” he said, “then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

Moses sets a great example for what we need to be constantly doing for our very own wayward nation. We must be on our knees in prayer, pleading to God for forgiveness and mercy. Just as He heard Moses’ prayers, God hears our prayers as well. Think about how many evil things could turn around in this country if every Christian pleaded to God in this manner on a daily basis.

We need God on an individual basis. But, let us not forget that our nation as a whole needs God desperately, too!