Changing God's mind

Deuteronomy 9 gives us insights to what kind of man Moses was. Moses had a tough job as leader of a stubborn nation. On several occasions, God was ready to destroy Israel for their sin, but through Moses' tremendous acts of intercession and pleading, he actually changes the mind of God.

As Israel is about ready to enter the promised land, Moses recounts some of the past trials they've experienced in the wilderness and encourages them to always fear the Lord. In Deuteronomy 9 we have the recount of what happened in Exodus 32. Let's look at verses 7-14 for a quick recap of a particularly big bind that Israel had got themselves into:

[Moses talking to Israel] "Remember how angry you made the LORD your God out in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until now, you have constantly rebelled against him. Remember how angry you made the LORD at Mount Sinai, where he was ready to destroy you. That was when I was on the mountain receiving the tablets of stone inscribed with the covenant that the LORD had made with you. I was there for forty days and forty nights, and all that time I ate nothing and drank no water. The LORD gave me the covenant, the tablets on which God himself had written all the words he had spoken to you from the fire on the mountain. "At the end of the forty days and nights, the LORD handed me the two stone tablets with the covenant inscribed on them. Then the LORD said to me, 'Go down immediately because the people you led out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have already turned from the way I commanded them to live and have cast an idol for themselves from gold.' "The LORD said to me, 'I have been watching this people, and they are extremely stubborn. Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.'

So God is fixin' to destroy the nation of Israel after this idol worshipping atrocity (wonder what God thinks of our American Idol worship these days?). God makes plans to start over with Moses and will, in turn, make Moses into a great nation. Stop! Not so fast God! Let's look at verses 15-19 of Deuteronomy 9 and see what Moses did to change the course of history by changing God's mind.

"So I [Moses] came down from the fiery mountain, holding in my hands the two stone tablets of the covenant. There below me I could see the gold calf you had made in your terrible sin against the LORD your God. How quickly you had turned from the path the LORD had commanded you to follow! So I raised the stone tablets and dashed them to the ground. I smashed them before your very eyes. Then for forty days and nights I lay prostrate before the LORD, neither eating bread nor drinking water. I did this because you had sinned by doing what the LORD hated, thus making him very angry. How I feared for you, for the LORD was ready to destroy you. But again he listened to me.

Now, let's examine Moses' tactic here. Moses didn't just waltz into God's throne room, declaring the promises of God and then asking the Lord reconsider. He also didn't humbly pray one time to the Lord for HIm to graciously reconsider His plans at the weekly prayer service. No, not Moses, the friend of God.

Did you catch what Moses did in verses 7-14 when he was on the mountain for 40 days and nights? He didn't eat or drink that whole time he was up there. Okay, so we know a little about the physical condition of Moses when we get to verses 15-19 above. So what tactic does Moses take to get God to overturn His decision? Moses does several things, as follows:

1. He demonstrates righteous anger at the nation of Israel by smashing the "Law" (the stone tablets) to pieces. Geesh -- that seems pretty irreverent. Can you imagine our pastor so indignant at the congregation's behavior that he rips up God's Word in front of us on Sunday? We'd probably consider our pastor the one with the problem.
2. Moses prays for 40 days and 40 nights begging the Lord for Him to reconsider His plans to destroy Israel. Moses fears the worst and remains humble during this time. 40 days of prayer? That's incredible in its own right! How long have you or I prayed for our nation that Lord would shine upon us once again? How long have we prayed for God to forgive our nation for the atrocities we perform in our country?
3. Then this is the crazy part. Moses, who just fasted on the mountain for 40 days, fasts again for another 40 days. I'm not sure I can even fathom this. I haven't fasted for 1 day myself for any significant issue in my life, yet Moses appears to have just done an 80 day stretch. Not sure how that is humanly possible, but he does it. David Blaine, eat your heart out! I'm just blown away by this act of will and discipline that Moses has over his own physical desires.

Okay, so let's look at the bottom line? Verse 19 says, "But again, He [the Lord] listened to me."

What else can I say about this passage? Next time I will write about the next series of verses after verse 19. The rest of this passage continues with similar thoughts, but there's another twist that demonstrates more of Moses' tremendous character. Moses, he is just an awesome example of humility and obedience to follow if you want the Lord to change His mind about something significant in your life or our church or our country.

So, if you are like me, would you ever think that God would actually change His mind? Probably some would say I'm a little off based here, and I'm misinterpreting the Scriptures. First, let me explain here what I am not saying. I am not saying that God was wrong or made some sort of error in judgement. God certainly had ever right and responsibility to destroy Israel for rejecting Him and falling into sin. The Bible teaches us that death is the penalty we all must pay for our sin. What we really see in this passage is a demonstration of the God's mercy and how Moses was able to unleash this mercy.

Sound familiar? The Bible says in John 3:18 that those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior are already condemned to an eternal hell. But we also know from Acts 16:31 that this judgement of damnation that has already been executed upon us all can be overturned for anyone who receives the Lord Jesus as his or her Savior. Through His tremendous act of obedience and humility on the cross, the Lord Jesus has changed the the Lord's mind to destroy us (for those that have put their faith and trust in Him). What an awesome truth!