Intercession

Exodus 32:10-14 is one of the boldest intercessory prayers in Scripture. After the golden calf, YHWH says to Moses: "Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you." YHWH makes a space for Moses to intercede, "let me alone" implies that Moses's intercession can restrain the divine judgment. Moses does not let him alone. He intercedes on three grounds: (1) YHWH's own reputation among the nations ("Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out'?"); (2) the Abrahamic covenant ("Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, 'I will multiply your offspring'"); and (3) YHWH's own stated purpose.

The result: "And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people" (32:14). Psalm 106:23 reflects on this: "Therefore he said he would destroy them, had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them." The intercessor stands in the breach between YHWH's wrath and the people.

Abraham at Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33): Abraham intercedes for the righteous within Sodom, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?", and negotiates YHWH down from fifty righteous to ten. The intercession does not save Sodom (fewer than ten righteous are found), but the intercession demonstrates the structure: the covenant person standing before YHWH on behalf of others, appealing to YHWH's own justice as the ground.

Daniel 9 is one of the richest intercessory prayers in the Old Testament. Triggered by Daniel's reading of Jeremiah's prophecy that Jerusalem's desolation would last seventy years (9:2, citing Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10), Daniel "turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes" (9:3). The prayer (9:4-19) is corporate confession: "we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules" (9:5). Daniel identifies himself with the sins of his people despite his personal integrity: "To us belongs open shame... because we have sinned against you" (9:8).

The prayer's appeal is not to Israel's merit but to YHWH's character: "We do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name" (9:18-19). The basis of the intercession is YHWH's own name and reputation.

Nehemiah 1:4-11 is similar: upon hearing that Jerusalem's walls lie broken, Nehemiah "sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven." His prayer confesses the sins of Israel, claims the Mosaic promise (Deuteronomy 30:4, YHWH will gather his scattered people if they return to him), and appeals to YHWH's covenant loyalty. The intercessor's tears precede the work, prayer is the first act of rebuilding.

John 17 is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus, often called the High Priestly Prayer because Jesus prays as the Great High Priest for his people on the eve of his sacrifice. The prayer moves through three concentric circles: Jesus prays for himself (17:1-5), for the eleven disciples present (17:6-19), and for all future believers (17:20-26).

For himself: "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you" (17:1). The glorification Jesus asks for is the cross-and-resurrection, the Father glorifying the Son through the very thing that looks like defeat.

For the disciples: "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one... Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (17:15, 17). The prayer is not for extraction but for preservation, the disciples remain in the world, kept by the Father.

For all believers: "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (17:20-21). The unity of the church is the purpose and the means of the world's belief, the Father-Son union is the pattern for the community's unity. The prayer for unity reaches to every generation of believers, including the present.

"Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding (entunchanei, present tense: is presently interceding) for us" (Romans 8:34). The risen Christ is currently, perpetually, making intercession. His intercession is the ground of the confidence that "nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (8:38-39).

Hebrews 7:25: "Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost (eis to panteles, to the full extent, completely) those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them." The "always lives to make intercession" is the explanation of "to the uttermost", the completeness of his saving is grounded in the perpetuity of his intercession. The Aaronic priests died and were replaced; Jesus "holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever" (7:24). His intercession never sleeps.

Romans 8:26-27: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." The Spirit within the believer and the Son at the right hand of the Father, both interceding simultaneously. The Christian is prayed for from within (the Spirit) and from above (the Son).

The Sanctum holds intercession as a defining posture of the covenant people, standing in the breach between YHWH's purposes and the need of others, appealing not to personal merit but to YHWH's own character, covenant, and name. The ground of all Christian intercession is the perpetual intercession of the Son (Hebrews 7:25) and the Spirit-within (Romans 8:26-27). The human intercessor joins what is already happening: the trinitarian intercession that never ceases.