The Go-Between

“Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, shew me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight: and consider that this nation is Thy people.”  Exodus 33:13

Moses was a great servant of God.  Several times he went to bat for the Hebrew people when they blatantly disobeyed God.  When he was on Mt Sinai in the presence of God receiving the law that God instituted in order for His people to know how to live, His people got tired of waiting on Moses and decided to take matters into their own hands.  Moses’ brother Aaron collected gold earrings, melted them, molded the gold into an image of a calf, and then designated it a god to be worshipped.  If that wasn’t bad enough, Aaron gave the golden calf credit for rescuing the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt (Exodus 32:1-6).

While the people were offering sacrifices to the calf and having a party, God told Moses to get down from the mountain because the people had corrupted themselves.  God was so angry at His people that He threatened to destroy them all and start over.  Moses intervened, bring up the point that God’s reputation would be harmed.  The Egyptians would accuse Him of tricking the Hebrews in bringing them out of Egypt so that He could kill them rather than protect them.

Moses also reminded God of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring forth a great nation from their descendants.  Moses must have been as frustrated with God’s people as God was, but he felt a real need to defend them because he took the responsibility that God had given him to lead these folks to the promised land very seriously.  God listened to Moses and spared the Hebrew people.

Moses was the Old Testament mediator between God and His people.  Today, in the age of grace, Jesus Christ is our Mediator before the Father.  He was our substitute on the cross paying for our sins.  He is our Role Model who shows us how to live in a sin-cursed world.  He not only mediates in our place before God, He actually defends us as our Attorney before the Judge of all the earth.  If we could see through a window into heaven, we would be amazed at the times that Jesus has gone to bat for us.  He doesn’t provide excuses for our sin, but He points to the scars in His hands, feet, and side as evidence that He has paid the penalty for our sin, making us justified before the Father.  The only retainer that we owe is our complete commitment to Christ.  And who wouldn’t want to be committed to One who loves us that much?