"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.”
Approximately two years after their miraculous exodus from Egypt, the Israelites are very close to entering the land God had promised. Moses sends 12 spies in to the land, and they came back with a huge cluster of grapes and mixed reviews. (Numbers 13) 10 of them said "The land IS indeed plentiful, flowing with milk and honey and fruit like this. But the people are strong, the land is big, the fences are big and strong. We are like grasshoppers to them. So we vote to either stay here or go back to Egypt." Caleb and Joshua tried to convince the people that they were well able to overcome all of the obstacles. But fear was already embedded in their hearts. The Israelites cried loudly and wept all night. They pulled the same argument out of their storehouse--"Oh that we could have just died in the land of Egypt!" But this time they added "Or why couldn't we have just died in the wilderness? Why would God bring us in to this new land, only to kill us? Our wives and our children will be the spoils of war with these giants!" (Numbers 14:3)
Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb fall to the ground and beg the Israelites to trust God and not to rebel against Him. The congregation vote to stone them instead. 😟 The glory of God appears, and the LORD says to Moses, "Why should I be patient with these people? I'll just break ties with them and focus all of my attention on blessing you." But Moses advocates for these people he has led for so long. He reminds God that His reputation is on the line with the Egyptians, and all other people groups they might encounter. God is famous for His loving protection and guidance toward His chosen people, Israel. Moses says the enemy will think God is weak and impatient if He kills them right as they reach the promised land. Then Moses prays God's promise back to Him. (Our verses.) He prays for pardon and forgiveness for the sin of this people according to the greatness of the LORD's steadfast love.
Did God forget that He had made this promise to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7? Did He become weak and change His mind? No, definitely not! But the people became weak. The people changed their minds. The people forgot. Moses might have even forgotten, because he fell before the people to plead before he fell before God. Moses needed to bring back to mind the promise of God. These verses change me by reminding me to pray the known promises of God back to Him. I don't need to make up a bunch of flowery sentiments to sway God. I need to recount the track record of our faithful God, remember His great power, recite His promise based on His character, and then repeat it for our good and His glory. 💓💓💓
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