Intercessory Jealousy
Numbers 25:1-13
June 2, 2024
Tonight we’re going to hold off on our study of Isaiah.
We are about to hit a wonderful segment of Scripture that deals with “the arm of the LORD”.
• The next segment is Isaiah 51:9 – 52:12 and really goes even into chapter 53.
• And I am hesitant to start such a segment knowing that we would not finish it and then I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks to Africa.
So instead I’m going to give you tonight a text that I recently preached at the Men’s Retreat several of the guys from our church went to.
So I apologize (a little) to Tommy, and Max, and Chris, and Willie because they’ve already heard this and I know they committed it to memory.
But it never hurts to look at it again.
Obviously though since we’re not a men’s retreat here tonight
We’re going to look at it a little differently.
Tonight I’m calling this sermon “Intercessory Jealousy”
After reading the text you at least understand the “jealousy” part.
But why the intercession?
What does that mean?
Often times when we think of intercession,
• We think of exclusively in the arena of prayer.
• We have all heard of “intercessory prayer”.
• We think of Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father and “intercedes for us”.
And so we almost exclusively think of intercession as prayer.
But tonight we’re going to stretch our understanding
Of what it means to intercede
And perhaps what it even means to be a priest at all.
It is Carrie’s favorite Bible character.
This is her Old Testament hero.
It is Phinehas and he demonstrates “Intercessory Jealousy”
Now we are going to look at Numbers 25, but before we go there:
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 22:17-31
• Obviously in verses 17-22 we begin with God’s disdain for the nation.
• They are seen as an impure people and those whom God is about to pass through the fire.
If you want to see their problems more specifically
• (25) – Conspiring Prophets
• (26) – Complacent Priests
• (27) – Corrupt Princes
• (28) – Compromising Preachers
• (29) – Cruel People
Sounds like a familiar society.
And then we get to THE POINT to be made.
(30) “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”
What does God mean there by “stand in the gap”?
Obviously, in the context, He was looking for someone who would
Stand against those prophets, priests, princes, preachers, and people.
• He was looking for someone who was willing to call sin, sin.
• He was looking for someone who would stand against the culture.
• He was looking for someone who would fight the noble battle.
BUT AS IT WERE, NO ONE WAS WILLING.
And the result?
(31) “Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.”
We can agree that it was a problem that
No one would fight the battles that needed to be fought.
NOW, LET’S GO TO OUR TONIGHT
(Numbers 25:1-13)
I’ll give you an outline, but most of our focus will be on the third point.
#1 THE SCENE
Numbers 25:1-5
We simply read here that “the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.”
This story actually began back in chapter 22
• When the Moabite king, Balak tried to hire the prophet Balaam to curse the children of Israel. (You remember the talking donkey story).
• God would not permit Balaam to curse Israel and so Balak was looking for ways to break the union between God and His people.
We don’t see it here, but later in Numbers we find out that
The plan hatched here was actually the plan of Balaam.
Numbers 31:13-16 “Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.”
• The sons of Israel were supposed to take full vengeance on Midian and kill everyone.
• They did kill the men and they even killed Balaam, but they spared some of the women, and Moses was upset.
And there we find that the incident we are studying here in chapter 25
Was the plan of Balaam.
God was determined to bless His people
So Balaam’s counsel was to lead the children of Israel
Into behavior that would cause God to punish them.
The plan was to use the Moabite women to tempt the men of Israel.
• So paint up your eyelids…
• Put on a red dress…
• Make your hair real big and poofy…
• And go waive at those Israelite boys and invite them to your pagan worship.
It involved sexual immorality, it involved gluttonous feasting.
And the men of Israel fell right into the trap.
“the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.”
“Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor”
It was a carnal and idolatrous scene.
Moses writes that, “the LORD was angry against Israel.”
And thus God commanded for judgment to fall
Upon those who sinned in such a way.
(4-5) “The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”
Obviously the point was to make a point.
The King James translates it, “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun.”
So it may have been even more than just a public execution in broad daylight,
It may have even been that their bodies were hung on display for all the congregation to see.
Now, when you look at a scene like that, what do you learn about God?
He hates idolatry.
There is no way that anyone in the camp of Israel
Could have been confused at that moment
As to where God stood on the issue.
Down in verse 9 we find
• That in addition to the executions that were taking place
• God had also unleashed a plague on the nation.
• By the time the plague is checked 24,000 will have died from it.
So are we clear as to God’s thoughts on the matter?
Are we clear how serious this is to God?
There is no confusion as to right and wrong here.
That’s the scene
#2 THE STAND
Numbers 25:6-9
Here the scene develops a little further.
We have a congregation that is weeping.
• Weeping partly for their dead.
• Weeping probably for fear that they would be next.
• God’s judgment had been poured out on this congregation and it was bad.
People have just been taught by God that sexual immorality mixed with idolatry is an unacceptable behavior for His people.
And it is then that we see perhaps the most
Defiant, bold, and arrogant sin depicted in the Old Testament.
(6) “Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.”
• Not only that, but verse 8 indicates that he took this woman into his tent.
Not only is this a terrible lack of compassion
But it is perhaps the most bold-faced sin we can imagine.
This man is sticking his finger right in God’s eye.
He is following his flesh and he’s proud of it.
• He does it in front of his relatives.
• He does it in front of Moses.
• This is a “Midianite Pride Parade”.
With no concern whatsoever for the desires of God
Or the pain of the people
This man is going to continue on in his sin.
And then we see: THE STAND
(as in one willing to stand in the gap)
• Remember, right and wrong is not in question.
• God’s will for the perpetrators has also already been revealed.
• Now we are just talking about the courage to do what God says is right.
(7-9) “When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. Those who died by the plague were 24,000.”
This man “Phinehas”, the grandson of Aaron
Was so enraged at what he saw that
He took a spear, entered the tent and killed them both.
• He would not have it.
• He was angry.
• And in a moment of zealous rage, he put an end to their sin.
And we see something remarkable.
“So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked.”
I don’t know your initial thoughts on the behavior of Phinehas,
(I SUPPOSE MANY THINK IT TO BE EXTREME)
But one remarkable thing we immediately see is that
God’s plague stopped when Phinehas did that.
#3 THE SERMON
Numbers 25:10-13
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying…”
• Now we are going to get God’s thoughts on the matter.
• Now we are going to get God’s explanation as to why the plague stopped.
God gives Phinehas a glowing review!
(11-13) “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. “Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”
WOW!
God was really pleased with what Phinehas did.
“Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood”
Think on that for a moment:
That God gave Phinehas “a covenant of a perpetual priesthood”
We learn a great deal about what God looks for in a priest.
When God saw what Phinehas did, it is as though God said, “That’s what I’m talking about!”
When I talk about someone who stands before God
On behalf of man, that’s it!
GOD SAID, “This is the bloodline! This is the guy who gets priesthood! This is the guy who understands true intercession! I’m going to make priests out of him!”
That should take our understanding of intercession to a whole new level.
It should also redefine our understanding of Christ as our High Priest.
This is not some passive, lazy, meek, ministry.
• When God thinks of someone who will stand between God and men…
• When God thinks of someone who will go before Him to propitiate His wrath
on sinners…
• When God thinks of someone who will stand in the gap (which is what an
intercessor does),
He thinks of a man like Phinehas.
Do you want to function as an intercessor for your family?
Do you want to function as an intercessor for the body of Christ?
Take a page from the book of Phinehas.
It’s not just praying and asking God to forgive someone.
It is also confronting and warring against the sin.
He is a picture of Christ our high priest in this role.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.
Do you want to see another place where God honored Phinehas?
Psalms 106:28-31 “They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, To all generations forever.”
Did you catch that one?
“it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to all generations forever.”
Where have you seen that type of language before?
When Abraham “believed God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness”.
Here we have the jealousy of Phinehas
Accomplishing the same thing as the faith of Abraham.
WHAT THAT MEANS IS that the actions of Phinehas here
Reveal the heart of a man who has genuine faith.
Abraham’s faith was proved when he offered up his only son to God.
• And we saw a picture of the kind of faith that brings justification.
Phinehas’ faith was proved when he stabbed these two through to the ground.
• And we again saw a picture of the kind of faith that brings justification.
Can we say a faith without zeal is saving faith?
After reading about Phinehas we’d be hard pressed to say “yes”.
Perhaps we should examine this a little more closely.
That’s what we’re going to do here.
1) WHAT WAS HIS RESPONSE?
(13) “he was jealous”
• Jealous for what?
• Jealous for who?
Today, people would say, “Well he obviously loved that girl and was jealous because she was with another man and he went and killed them.”
Well, no, that wasn’t it.
There is only one Person he could have been jealous for: GOD
The objective of Phinehas becomes obvious, it is the glory of God.
• That’s NOT TO SAY he had no concern about the plague.
• That’s NOT TO SAY he was unaffected by the weeping mourners.
• But what he was after on that day was that God would be glorified.
Not only did we have the leaders of Israel engaged in sexual immorality.
But we had them actually bowing down and worshiping foreign gods.
When God revealed His displeasure that His glory be given to another,
This man and woman sought to make a mockery of that.
God was being openly and blatantly blasphemed.
PHINEHAS WOULD NOT TOLERATE IT.
His goal and objective was the glory of God.
And God’s people ought to be jealous for God’s glory.
Listen to Paul when Peter distorted the gospel:
Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Listen to Paul when the Corinthians flirted with idolatry:
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”
Listen to Paul when the Galatians pondered abandoning Christ:
Galatians 1:6 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;”
Galatians 5:7-12 “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.”
Such passion!
• Where is the one who cares that God is glorified?
• Where is the one who cares if the gospel is distorted?
• Where is the one who cares if Christ is misrepresented?
• Where is the one who is jealous for the glory of God?
PHINEHAS WAS JEALOUS.
2) WHAT WAS HIS MOTIVE?
Now, ordinarily we are forbidden from judging the motives
Because have no idea what a person’s motives might be.
However, in this case,
God, who sees the heart, reveals to us the motives of Phinehas.
“he was jealous with My jealousy among them”
Certainly we know this about God.
Exodus 34:14 “for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”
• We often times, and for the most part rightly so, view jealousy as a sin.
• After all, Scripture repeatedly forbids us from being jealous and calls it a sin
when we do it.
And yet, we also find that God is a jealous God.
In fact, He says that His name is “Jealous”.
What in the world do we do with that?
Well God’s jealousy is right and true because
God is jealous for that which is rightly His, namely glory.
AND HERE we find that Phinehas “was jealous with My jealousy”
And now we also know
What caused Phinehas to take such drastic measures.
It was the Holy Spirit of jealousy.
That was God’s Spirit that caused that jealousy in Phinehas.
And there is a gospel distinctive here.
What is it that takes a timid man and makes him zealous for God’s glory?
It is nothing short of the Spirit of God.
In Adam, we have only failure.
In Adam, we have transgression.
In our own flesh we have weakness.
But it is the Spirit of God that grants boldness and zeal and courage
To defend the glory of God.
What were the disciples before the Spirit of God indwelled them?
What did they become after Pentecost?
We remember Paul writing to Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
• It was based upon this reality that Paul could call Timothy to stand in the gap.
Giving him commands like:
1 Timothy 1:18 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,”
Timothy was called to stand against the false teachers who abused the Law.
• He was called to stand against Hymenaeus and Alexander who were
blasphemers.
• He was called to stand against Hymenaeus and Philetus who said the
resurrection already occurred and upset people’s faith.
• He was called to stand against the worldly men of chapter 3 who captivate
weak willed women weighed down with sins.
Where was Timothy to get the strength to lead the church?
Where was He to get the strength to be the pillar and support of the truth?
Only from the Spirit of God who would give Him the necessary boldness.
THIS IS WHAT WE SEE IN PHINEHAS.
And it reminds us that apart from the Spirit of God we are nothing.
Your flesh cannot and will not rightly confront error.
We are not looking for
• Some vigilante “Batman” like figure who goes around getting even.
• Some “Redneck Patriot” type person who can fight, bully and force his way.
• Some “Outspoken Loud-Mouthed Diva” who can argue her point.
We are looking for people who are filled with the Spirit of God
And a holy jealousy and zeal for the glory of God.
PHINEHAS HAD THAT.
3) WHAT EFFECT DID HIS ACTIONS HAVE?
We saw in verse 11, Phinehas “has turned away My wrath…so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy.”
That’s huge!
But look at that last line of verse 13, “he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.”
Wait a second! WHAT?
Phinehas “made atonement”?
You only see this type of response to a man standing in the gap
One other place in the Old Testament.
It is when the children of Israel began to question Moses
And a plague broke out among the people.
Numbers 16:46-48 “Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!” Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.”
That is a little easier to understand since Aaron was actually high priest.
• Aaron there took some of the fire from the altar.
• This was used for burning incense
• It was to make a veil of smoke to hide Aaron on the Day of Atonement when he
went inside the Holy of Holies.
So Aaron at least took an element used in sacrifice
To stand before God for atonement.
We kind of understand that one.
BUT HERE,
We have a man who was not a priest, even if he was of the priestly line.
He did not offer a sacrificial animal or a sacrificial element.
He killed two sinners and God said he “made atonement”
Well certainly killing those two sinners
Wasn’t a holy sacrifice that God accepted as atonement,
(He had already killed 24,000 sinners and that hadn’t done it.)
What do we make of this?
EVERY ACT OF ATONEMENT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
IS A PICTURE THAT POINTS TO CHRIST’S ATONEMENT.
IT HAS TO BE.
• There is no other atonement.
• There is salvation in no one else.
Phinehas is a PROPHETIC TYPE of Christ.
You say, “That can’t be!”
• Christ sacrificed Himself, Phinehas actually killed sinners.
• That can’t be a picture of Christ’s work.
Perhaps we think incomplete about the atonement of Christ.
• Certainly we see love in Christ’s atonement.
• Certainly we see mercy in Christ’s atonement.
• Certainly we see substitution in Christ’s atonement.
But do you see jealousy in His atonement?
Do you see zeal in His atonement?
YOU SHOULD.
Did Christ not teach us about His zeal as He cleared out the temple?
Did Christ not teach us about His zeal as He confronted the heresy of the Pharisees and Chief priests?
And on the cross what zeal is Christ demonstrating?
A ZEAL TO CRUSH SIN.
Romans 8:1-3 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,”
To see only mercy on the cross and not a zeal to crush sin
Is an incomplete view of the atonement of Jesus.
Isaiah 59:15b-18 “Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense.”
That was prophetic of Christ.
• That was Christ’s mission to come and declare war on sin.
• That was Christ coming to stand in the gap.
• That was Christ coming to defend the glory of God.
And therefore the true gospel man, who is filled with God’s Spirit,
Must understand the same calling.
Phinehas certainly demonstrates that same kind of zeal.
One commentator wrote:
“The excellence of Phinehas was, that he was filled with a zeal which was itself Divine against sin, and that he acted fearlessly and promptly (while others apparently hesitated even when commanded) under the impulse of zeal; in other words, what pleased God so greatly was to see his own hatred of sin, and his own desire to make it to cease, reflected in the mind and expressed in the deed of one who acted upon righteous impulse, not under any command or constraint.”
[The Pulpit Commentary: Leviticus and Numbers; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1950; pg. 346]
NOW HERE IS THE CALL TO US.
No, we don’t go out and kill people with a spear,
Phinehas was under a different covenant and a different system.
But we do war.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
SO LET ME ASK YOU.
• In your house who will have zeal for the glory of God and the destruction of sin?
• In your church who will have zeal for the glory of God and the destruction of sin?
I see it far too often in this world.
• Men who run from the battle.
• Men who ignore the sin around them.
• Men who “are becoming like women” (Jer. 51:30)
• Men who stive to be “non-confrontational”
• Men who want to be seen as tolerant.
• Men who seek the approval of the world.
• Men who will not “stand in the gap”.
THAT IS NOT THE GOSPEL MAN.
The very gospel of Jesus Christ comes to us
From a Savior, who in mighty zeal, crushed sin on the cross.
Jesus didn’t just reject sin in His own life…
Jesus didn’t just preach against sin publicly…
Jesus went to war against it and crushed it forever.
Phinehas is picture of Christ’s zeal.
And God honored him forever for it.
Men, act like men.
• Be filled with God’s Spirit.
• Be jealous for God’s glory.
• Be eager to fight the good fight.
Now tonight, I could add some STORIES OF WOMEN
Who stood in the gap and demonstrated zeal.
Remember Zipporah?
Exodus 4:24-26 “Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—because of the circumcision.”
Let’s call that Intercessory Circumcision.
Remember Abigail when David was going to kill her husband because of his lack of hospitality?
1 Samuel 25:18-19 “Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. She said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.”
David responded:
1 Samuel 25:32-35 “Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. “Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male.” So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.”
We’ll call that Intercessory Hospitality
Remember Rahab hiding the spies? (Intercessory Espionage)
Remember Esther approaching the king? (Intercessory Banquet)
How about this gem of a woman who sought to spare her people from God’s wrath:
• Israel had sinned and God raised up Jabin the King of Canaan to afflict them.
• Jabin’s general was a man named Sisera.
• But when Israel cried out to God promised to give Sisera into their hands.
• God allowed Israel to route Sisera’s army.
• Sisera fled and tried to take shelter among the daughter of the King of the Negev
• If Jael harbored him then her people would be under God’s wrath too.
Do you remember what she did to stand in the gap for her people?
Judges 4:17-22 “Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. He said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’ ” But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.”
Intercessory Temple Piercing
YOU GET THE IDEA OF WHAT WE MEAN BY INTERCEDING
And again, I’m NOT even talking about
The areas that are difficult to discern.
I’m just talking about the obvious stuff.
• Like if you’re going to stand by while your kids pursue homosexuality?
• Like if you’re going to stand by while your kids skip church to play basketball?
• Like if you’re going to stand by while your daughter dresses inappropriately?
• Like if you’re going to stand by while your son embraces laziness or folly?
I’m just talking about the little every day battles
Where someone in your home is required to stand in the gap.
Now certainly MEN are the head and we rightly call upon them to take the lead here and to stand in the gap.
But in this world, we are looking for those who will be jealous for the glory of God and will stand in the gap for Him.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO INTERCEDE.
