Part 1 ended with several questions
- If God’s timeline is growing short, what should believers do about it, if anything?
- What should I myself do about it?
- And specifically — what does it have to do with intercession?
I asked the Lord those questions, and the first thing he answered was, “Think Daniel.” And so I did.
I found an interesting passage in Daniel 9:1-19. Daniel had found the prophecy of Jeremiah about the captivity of Israel and discovered that it would last for only 70 years. Instead of just saying to himself, “Oh, good, time’s up! Good, good, good!” and waiting for it to happen, he began to pray.
“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:” (Daniel 9:3 KJV) The content of his prayer? Confession for the sins of Israel. Repentance. A plea for mercy.
I read David Guzik’s commentary on this passage in The Blue Letter Bible. (https://www.blueletterbible.org/) He says this:
“The number of years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah: Daniel knew that effective prayer comes out of knowing and praying both God’s word and our present circumstances. His study of prophecy showed him a specific number — the 70 years described in Jeremiah 25:11-13 and Jeremiah 29:10, and his knowledge of the times led him to know those passages applied to his time.”
In the book of Ezra, I found this reference: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” (Ezra1:1-2 KJV)
David Guzik’s commentary about Daniel in this passage:
“It is quite possible that the prophet Daniel was instrumental in this stirring up of Cyrus. He may have showed the king the prophecies of Jeremiah 25:8-13 and Jeremiah 29:10-14, which refer to the punishment of Babylon and the end of Israel’s exile. And if he showed Cyrus such prophecies, he almost certainly would have included Isaiah 44:28-45:5, which mentions Cyrus by name some 150 years before he was born.”
In Daniel’s prayer, I found it interesting that he didn’t ask God to return the people to their land, now that the seventy years were up. Here’s what he did ask:
“O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” (Daniel 9:16-19 KJV)
Daniel asked God for mercy. For forgiveness. And for God’s face to shine upon the sanctuary in Jerusalem.
Did Daniel, and perhaps others, have to pray, to confess, to repent for the sins of his nation, and to intercede for mercy, in order for Jeremiah’s prophecies to be fulfilled? I think so. Here’s why:
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30 KJV)
Also, in Isaiah 59:15-21:
“Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
“18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. 19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
“21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.” (Isaiah 59:15-21 KJV)
Because he didn’t find a human intercessor, God provided one: Jesus.
Reminder, the definition of intercessor is one who meets with someone else, to intervene for or against another person. In the Isaiah passage it is from the Hebrew word “paga,” to strike, or to meet. The New Testament Greek word “entunchano” has a similar meaning: “to fall in with, meet with in order to converse; to make petition,especially to plead with a person, either for or against others.”
If an intercessor wasn’t necessary in the situation, why did Father God need to provide one? Why send Jesus to be our primary intercessor, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit? And why send the Holy Spirit to inhabit Christians, those human beings who believe in Jesus?
There is one critical fact to keep in mind:
When God created planet earth, he gave the management of it and authority over it to human beings. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26 KJV)
In Adam’s fall, the enemy took it over, and he has done his best to wreck it and kill all the human beings he can ever since. (John 10:10)
Jesus’s work on the cross and his resurrection restored the management of planet earth and its control back to human beings. Satan’s most useful weapon is deceiving people in general, and especially keeping Christians from ever learning about or exercising that legally restored authority.
For those who do know about it, however, perhaps we should re-read Isaiah 59:15-21 and ask ourselves this: What words is God putting into their mouth? What power is in those words? Or in their behavior, as a result of those words?
Here are several examples:
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- The account of Aaron and Hur holding up Moses’s hand while Joshua led the army to fight and beat Amalek, Exodus 17:1-16. Hand up, Joshua won. Hand down, Joshua lost. Strange way to win a war.
- The first part of Chapter 17 is great too; another strange solution to a bad problem, no water. What to do?! God says, Strike a rock… huh?
- Then there’s the day the sun and moon stood still, Joshua 10:12-14. This passage is also pretty strange. Joshua talked to the Lord first, then turned and talked to the sun and the moon. It doesn’t tell us what Joshua said to the Lord; after all, God had already promised them the victory (verse 8). Did he ask God what he should do, exactly? And did God then instruct him to speak to, i.e. take authority over, the sun and moon? Probably.
- Consider Abraham’s intervention, in Genesis 18:17-33. God himself came in human form bringing along a couple of angels, to meet with Abraham in person. After an initial conversation, he described his plans to destroy the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah where Abraham’s nephew Lot lived.
To me, several verses in this Genesis passage are quite fascinating:
“And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” (Genesis 17:17-19 KJV)
Abraham was upset at God’s plan, knowing that his nephew Lot and Lot’s family lived there. He had the guts to argue with God!
“That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25 KJV)
And so Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy righteous people with the wicked. Maybe thinking surely with Lot and all of his family, there are ten… and thus he stopped his request at ten righteous people. Unfortunately, there weren’t even ten. The cities were destroyed, although Lot and his two daughters were rescued through Abraham’s intercession.
Back to my questions:
- What should believers do about God’s timeline growing short, if anything?
- What should I do about it?
- And specifically, what does it have to do with intercession?
Well, we already know some things. First, we know it is not God’s desire that any should perish (be destroyed): “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)
And we know that God himself provided a way of escape from destruction, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV)
But many will perish. Without intervention — including intercession — they will perish.
A word of caution: Without hearing and heeding God’s direction, his leading about even what we should pray in the first place, and then what to speak (command, declare and decree), we may pray “hit and miss prayers,” praying our own will but missing God’s will.
We may be tempted to quit trying, telling ourselves “This doesn’t work.” Don’t quit! Keep praying, keep listening to God’s voice, asking for and listening for his directions. Keep speaking the words he gives you to speak and doing what he tells you to do.
Some of it may seem odd, considering the examples above. Say it anyway. Do it anyway.
With the voice of the Holy Spirit putting his own words in our mouth, we partner with him to accomplish those words, God’s will — the confession of sin and repentance leading to the rescue, deliverance, and salvation of many.
Revival. Awakening! If time is short, how diligent, how determined should we be?
Esther's Petition 