Justice, Mercy, and the Role of Intercession (Part 2)

Dominion and Authority
Man holds an important responsibility given to him by God. To some degree, we have been given authority over the earth. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth’” (Genesis 1:26). One of my favorite teachers suggests that one way that we are created in the image of God is that, just like Him, we are creators as well. God has given us the paint, but we create the painting. God has given us a mind and a body, but God has given us the freedom to make choices, or rather to create our choice. He has created the earth but puts us in charge of it with the freedom to choose to care for or neglect it. We have been given authority over our own choices and are mandated to operate in love and stewardship of God’s creation. Knowing God’s desire and purpose for us to rule over the earth, a heart yielded to Him can result in a beautiful cooperation in which we get to partake in the governing of the world. In combination with a heart enslaved to sin, however, authority can be a very dangerous thing. God honors the authority structures he sets in place, and as such, our abuse of our authority hurts ourselves, others, and ultimately God.
After their deliverance from Egypt, Moses is meeting with God on Mt. Sinai, but the Israelites below have built a golden calf as an idol to worship (Exodus 32). God tells Moses that he is going to destroy them, and start over a new nation through Moses. But then Moses intercedes on Israel’s behalf, remembering God’s promises and desires for them as a nation. Because of his intercession, God has mercy on Israel. Moses has submitted his life and heart to God. He has yielded the authority he’s been given on the earth to the heart of God. God can use a heart like that to lead and to change a nation. When the authority God has given to man is submitted back to be in line with His will, He can freely move and work on the earth and still honor the authority structures he set up. God can work with and through Moses to lead Israel back into His plans and purposes. But there hasn’t always been such submission in the history of Israel.
In Ezekiel 22:23-31, God presents a case against Israel, listing the offenses of their rebellion. Because of God’s great love for the world and his plans for Israel, He cannot allow them to continue on in sin and rebellion. His justice cannot let it go on. But unlike the golden calf incident, this time there is no intercession. “I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one. So I have poured out my indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their actions down on their own heads” (vs. 30, 31). If only someone would have submitted the authority given to them back to God, maybe He wouldn’t have had to bring his judgment. Maybe God could’ve worked with them and through them to mercifully restore his plans and purposes for Israel.
This is the heart of intercession. When our lives are yielded to the heart of God and the authority He has given to us is laid back at his feet, God’s plans to work with and through us in the governance of the earth can be fulfilled. The beauty of relationship manifests between the heavens and the earth, and we create along with God the fulfillment of His dreams. Intercession is not just the words in a prayer, it is a yielded heart. And this is my desire, that whatever authority God has given me may be submitted back at his feet, and He can use me for whatever means He sees fit to call forth His purposes on the earth. It’s no wonder that prayer is so powerful, and that Jesus says to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Let the dreams of God live through your yielded heart.