Deuteronomy 9

18–19 Moses, fearing that the Lord would completely destroy His chosen people (verses 13–14), went back up the mountain for another forty days and nights (verse 18), and pleaded with the Lord to forgive the people’s sin (Exodus 32:30–32). And the of the LORD listened (verse 19); He spared most people and then told Moses to lead them on to Canaan³⁰ (Exodus 32:33–34).

20–21 Moses also prayed for Aaron, and the Lord forgave him too. Moses then crushed the golden calf to powder, threw the powder into a stream and made the people drink the water (Exodus 32:20).

22 Moses then told of three other occasions when the people had made the Lord angry: at Taberah (Numbers 11:1–3), at Massah (Exodus 17:1–7), and at Kibroth Hattaavah (Numbers 11:4–34).

23–24 Moses then added a fourth example of the Israelites’ rebellious behavior: their refusal to enter the promised land when they first arrived at Kadesh Barnea (see Numbers 13:26–33; 14:1–35 and comments).

25–29 Then Moses described how he prayed on behalf of the Israelites during his second forty days and nights before the Lord on Mount Sinai. He had also offered a similar prayer at the end of his first forty days and nights on the mountain, when he had first heard about the golden calf (see Exodus 32:11–14 and comment).

This second time, Moses reminded God that Israel was His own inheritance—His own possession that He had redeemed from Egypt (verse 26). How could it be to the Lord’s advantage to destroy His own inheritance?

Then Moses asked the Lord to remember His promises to the patriarchs and to overlook the sins of their descendants. Moses was asking the Lord to honor His promises even though the Israelites had not honored theirs. Overlook . . . their sin (verse 27). God is sovereign; although He ordinarily punishes sin without delay, in His grace He sometimes “overlooks” it for a time and delays the punishment (Acts 17:40).

Finally, Moses appealed to God’s honor (verse 28): What would the Egyptians (and other nations) say if after delivering the Israelites from Egypt God just left them to die in the desert? (Exodus 32:12; Numbers 14:10–16). They would say that God didn’t have enough love for His people or that He didn’t have enough power to fulfill His promises to them: either way, God’s honor would be diminished in the eyes of other nations.

Moses’ intercession on behalf of Israel surely was instrumental in preventing the destruction of the nation, because God listened (verse 19), He relented and did not bring disaster upon His people (see Exodus 32:14 and comment). Moses’ prayers are a model for all intercessory prayer; Moses was even willing to be blotted out of the book of life—to die, to be separated from God’s covenant—if thereby he could save his people (Exodus 32:31–32; Romans 9:3). Moses was willing to give up his own life that others might live; in this he was a true forerunner of Jesus Christ, who did give up His life that we might have ETERNAL LIFE with God in heaven.