Bible Lesson: Intercessory Prayer:
Moses Intercedes For Pharaoh.
Bible Texts:
Exodus 8:8,12-15/ 28-32/ 9:33-35/
10:16-20 NLT
Exodus 8:8,12-15 NLT
8 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and
Aaron and begged, “Plead with The Lord to take the frogs away from
me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer
sacrifices to The Lord.”
12 So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s
palace, and Moses cried out to The Lord about the frogs he had
inflicted on Pharaoh.
13 And The Lord did just what Moses
had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the
fields all died.
14 The Egyptians piled them into
great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that relief
had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and
Aaron, just as The Lord had predicted.
Exodus 8:28-32 NLT
28 “All right, go ahead,”
Pharaoh replied. “I will let you go into the wilderness to offer
sacrifices to The Lord your God. But don’t go too far away. Now
hurry and pray for me.”
29 Moses answered, “As soon as I
leave you, I will pray to The Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies
will disappear from you and your officials and all your people. But I
am warning you, Pharaoh, don’t lie to us again and refuse to let
the people go to sacrifice to The Lord.”
30 So Moses left Pharaoh’s palace
and pleaded with The Lord to remove all the flies.
31 And The Lord did as Moses asked
and caused the swarms of flies to disappear from Pharaoh, his
officials, and his people. Not a single fly remained.
32 But Pharaoh again became stubborn
and refused to let the people go.
Exodus 9:33-35
NLT
33 So Moses left Pharaoh’s court
and went out of the city. When he lifted his hands to The Lord, the
thunder and hail stopped, and the downpour ceased.
34 But when Pharaoh saw that the
rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned
again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn.
35 Because his heart was hard,
Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as The Lord had
predicted through Moses.
Exodus 10:16-20
NLT
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses
and Aaron. “I have sinned against The Lord your God and against
you,” he confessed.
17 “Forgive my sin, just this
once, and plead with The Lord your God to take away this death from
me.”
18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s court
and pleaded with The Lord.
19 The Lord responded by shifting
the wind, and the strong west wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea.
Not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt.
20 But The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s
heart again, so he refused to let the people go.
Dear Christian,
what we have here are four examples of how Moses interceded for the
evil Pharaoh of Egypt.
Isn't it a shame we
are not taught this in church?
We are to
intercede for our enemies! (Some may need to read this several
times!)
“Well sure
Pastor, aren't to bring down fire on them?”
Luke 9:51-56 KJV
51 And it came to pass, when the
time was come that He should be received up, He steadfastly set His
face to go to Jerusalem,
52 And sent messengers before His
face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to
make ready for Him.
53 And they did not receive Him,
because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem.
54 And when His disciples James and
John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to
come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55 But He turned, and rebuked them,
and said, Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of.
56 For The Son Of Man is not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to
another village.
Moses prayed that
his enemy might be relieved of his terrible plagues.
Are Christian
people to lovingly intercede for their enemies?
Matthew 5:44 KJV
But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully* use you, and persecute you;
Luke 6:28 KJV
Bless them that curse
you, and pray for them which despitefully* use you.
*
Despiterfully-Greek: Epereazo (Ep-ayt-reh-ad-zo): To
insult, slander: use despitefully, falsely accuse.
Romans 12:9 KJV
Let love be without dissimulation*.
Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
*Dissimulation-Greek:
Anupokritos (An-oo-pok-ree-tos): Hypocrisy,
unfeigned.
Dissimulation:
The act
of dissimulating; feigning; hypocrisy.
(Dictionary.Com)
Romans 12:9 NLT
Don’t just pretend to love others.
Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.
A sign of a great
leader is, how many lives has he worked and interceded to save! Moses
was a man of God, and great leader of God's people.
Matthew 7:20 KJV
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall
know them.
Is the love of many
today, filled with hypocrisy? Yes!
I Peter 4:17 KJV
For the time is come that judgment
must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what
shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
If a book could be
opened to show just how many loving prayers, you have prayed for your
enemies, and or friends, just what would it show?
(“Unlocking The Mysteries Of
Prayer” Amazon.Com
Pastor Reine's new book about prayer that can change your prayer life
forever!)
Ezekiel 22:30,31
NLT
30 “I looked for someone who might
rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched
for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t
have to destroy the land, but I found no one. 31 So now I will
pour out My fury on them, consuming them with the fire of My anger. I
will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, The
Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
