Confession and Intercession
There are two things that always touch God's heart. God is quick to hear sincere confession of sins, and the faithful intercession of a righteous believer. Both of these are seen, when the Israelites were suffering from the plague of poisonous snakes that were killing people after the people had complained about their food and water again. (Numbers 21:7) All believers should be practicing both of these disciplines all of the time.
Confession of sins is required by God before He will forgive our sins and restore us to purity, so we can have close fellowship with Him. (I John 1:9) When we sincerely confess specific sins, we name the sin against God and against other people, like the Israelites did here. We have to do this with urgency and truthfulness, because God sees our hearts. The fact that the Israelites wanted Moses to pray for them, showed that they knew the serious nature of their sins. They knew that God could decide to kill them as He killed Dathan, Abiram, and the others who followed them in rebelling against God and Moses. When God heard their confession, He forgave their sins.
However, it was not until Moses interceded for them in prayer that the consequences of their sins were lessened. (James 5:16) Moses was righteous before God, so He went to God's throne and asked Him to take the snakes away. He did not do that, but He made a way for healing by the bronze snake being put on the pole. Then, anyone who looked on it in faith that they would be healed was delivered. However, that was done only in response to the faithful prayer of Moses who was in good standing with God.
That is why we need to confess our sins daily, and we need to intercede for those around us on a regular basis, too. There is great power in both of these things, when we do them from our hearts.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 22-24.
Confession of sins is required by God before He will forgive our sins and restore us to purity, so we can have close fellowship with Him. (I John 1:9) When we sincerely confess specific sins, we name the sin against God and against other people, like the Israelites did here. We have to do this with urgency and truthfulness, because God sees our hearts. The fact that the Israelites wanted Moses to pray for them, showed that they knew the serious nature of their sins. They knew that God could decide to kill them as He killed Dathan, Abiram, and the others who followed them in rebelling against God and Moses. When God heard their confession, He forgave their sins.
However, it was not until Moses interceded for them in prayer that the consequences of their sins were lessened. (James 5:16) Moses was righteous before God, so He went to God's throne and asked Him to take the snakes away. He did not do that, but He made a way for healing by the bronze snake being put on the pole. Then, anyone who looked on it in faith that they would be healed was delivered. However, that was done only in response to the faithful prayer of Moses who was in good standing with God.
That is why we need to confess our sins daily, and we need to intercede for those around us on a regular basis, too. There is great power in both of these things, when we do them from our hearts.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 22-24.