In Exodus chapter thirty-two, verse eleven, Moses begs the Lord His God, simply asking, “why are you so mad with the people you brought out of Egypt with power and a mighty hand?” The mediation of the people of Israel reveals that God answers the prayers of His faithful servants and allows them to share in His redemptive purposes and decisions. God desired to destroy the rebellious people. Yet Moses acting as a mediator between the Lord and the people, interceded to turn away God’s wrath and change His stated intention. Because of Moses’ prayer, the Lord relented.
The great truth emphasized here is that God makes His servants co-workers with Him. He appoints the mediators and intercessors for the lost. However, in some measure, the fate of the perishing is in their hands. Still, God has ordained that the sincere intercession of a righteous person may move Him to change His temporal will and bring redemption instead of judgment. Prayer does indeed change things.
God does not disregard the intercession of a faithful servant as long as the hope for redemption remains. God will reject mediation only when sin has reached its limit. It is an unfathomable mystery to persuade God by the intercession of fallible human beings to alter His announced course of action and turn from wrath to mercy. God is not an implacable deity or a God of inflexible fate but a personal God who delights to be moved by the prayers of His faithful people. We know that faith works with love to have results.
Moses, the servant of God, could have considered the intention of God to remove the rebellious Israelites and raise another nation. However, Moses did what God expects from His people by doing for others where there is no gain other than the potential of saving the lost. He begs God on behalf of the Israelites to help them by not destroying them.