But I feared the taunt of Israel’s enemy, who might misunderstand and say, “Our own power has triumphed! The LORD had nothing to do with this!”’ [Deuteronomy 32.27]
These are the words of God speaking.
I recall two accounts where Moses successfully appealed to God's pride in his intercession for Israel.
Then the LORD said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” But Moses tried to pacify the LORD his God. “O LORD!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’” So the LORD changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people. [Exodus 32.9-14]
And,
But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!” But Moses objected. “What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” he asked the LORD. “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt. Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, ‘The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.’ “Please, LORD, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’ In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.” Then the LORD said, “I will pardon them as you have requested. [Numbers 14.10-20]
God takes His reputation seriously. Although this will seem like an overstatement of the obvious, God takes His reputation much more seriously than most people do.
In both passages above where Moses appealed to God's pride - His reputation - we might gain an understanding about how we too might intercede for others and ourselves! Appeal to God's reputation! It has everything to do with God's promises - His Word - that was known not only by Israel, but also known by Israel's enemies.
How did Israel's enemies know what God had promised Israel? Israel was obviously very vocal about their God and what He had promised them. Herein then lies a key contribution of our own into the equation of appealing (in intercession) to God's reputation: our testimony to the world.
Our testimony to the world can look like a lot of things, but at its core, what we communicate to the world about God must make God's promises very clear. Unless we have clearly articulated that "God is our Healer," how else can we appeal to God to uphold His reputation as Healer before a watching world? The world doesn't know God is Healer unless they are told. This applies for every characteristic of God that we as believers trust in: He is our Peace, He is our Provider, He is our Strength, etc...
If "believers" are confused about God's character (ignorant of His Word), then there is no way they will convey His promises to the watching world with any conviction or clarity. Consequently, there will be no effect in appealing to God's reputation (interceding as Moses did) because whatever the world learns from a confused believer's experience and testimony is naturally only confusing (at best).
Moses' confidence in his appeal to God was no less than his confidence in his appeal to Pharoah (and all other enemies of Israel)! Moses was not unclear or vague in his representation of God to Pharoah! Therefore, when it came time to intercede for Israel, Moses was 100% correct in his appeal to God about His reputation!
Unless we are first thoroughly convinced of God and His character, then, accurately and clearly declare His character to the world based on that conviction, any appeal we make to God based on His reputation is useless.
Based on what the world thinks of God, we have done a poor job of testifying God's true character to the world. We have done a poor job of communicating God's true character because we are not truly convinced of God's true character ourselves! Church history is all over the map with confusion and uncertainty of its own identity because it is confused and uncertain of God's identity! Let that soak in... start with the early Church and process up through the Dark Ages, the Crusades, etc... up to modern times. As the world sees God, there is not much reputation to be upheld!
Think about this: for me to say God is my Healer AND then to go to the doctor and rely on medicine sends a very mixed signal to a watching world. IF then I am made well, the watching world will say The LORD had nothing to do with this! Why? Because the world will reason, Our own power [the knowledge of science and medicine] has triumphed! The world's taunt is only empowered more as our "mixed-signal healing" looks nothing like the very Son of God we claim to believe Who healed miraculously and instantly.
Whoa, this is deep! What IS God's reputation today as seen in our lives and testimony?
This gives a whole new depth to the first thing Jesus taught us to pray:
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. [Matthew 6.9]
Father, may my testimony of You be accurate and clear to a watching world. And, may then my intercession to You be effective!
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