Monday, February 25, 2008

Sinner's Prayer from Torah

Exodus 34:8-9
ח וַיְמַהֵר, מֹשֶׁה; וַיִּקֹּד אַרְצָה, וַיִּשְׁתָּחוּ.
8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
ט וַיֹּאמֶר אִם-נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ, אֲדֹנָי, יֵלֶךְ-נָא אֲדֹנָי, בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ: כִּי עַם-קְשֵׁה-עֹרֶף הוּא, וְסָלַחְתָּ לַעֲו‍ֹנֵנוּ וּלְחַטָּאתֵנוּ וּנְחַלְתָּנוּ.
9 And he said: 'If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray Thee, go in the midst of us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.'


Something has always left me perplexed having attended a small Baptist church and been around “invitations”: where does the Bible speak of the sinner’s prayer? We see it done every Sunday in churches across America. Heck, I have even lead people into a prayer similarly motivated. Why? Because that was what everyone was doing to come into relationship with Yeshua. Basically, I didn’t know any better.

Since that time, I have had a bad taste in my mouth for such “invitations” and seeming “salvation by prayer” sessions. I think my view may be a little too far to one side, but as God always does, He teaches us His ways if we are humble enough and do not harden our hearts to His word. One of those teaching moments came last Friday night as we celebrated Shabbat in our family and listened to Torah teaching by Lion and Lamb ministries. Who would have guessed that the sinner’s prayer could be found in the Torah?

The prayer that Moses prays is different than the one we have heard said in today’s congregations, but Moses’ is indeed the true sinner’s prayer and churches would do well to heed the Torah and change their ways to a way that more honors Elohim. Let’s look at Moses’ response to God and His prayer of salvation.

First we need context. God has just declared that He will not go with Israel into the Promised land because they have worshipped the golden calf and He will wipe them out in His anger if He has to endure their adultery:

Exodus 32:9-10
9 The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.
10 "Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation."

God will not tolerate sin and it cannot be in His presence or the shear weight of His angered countenance will destroy those responsible. See why Yeshua had to die for us? We could not have withstood Elohim’s fierce wrath.

So Moses intercedes for the people of Israel and basically says that they are not going to go one step forward without the LORD. God is willing to still drive out their enemies and put them into the Promised Land, but He will not be present with them for they have sinned.

Exodus 33:4-8
4 When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments.
5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the sons of Israel, 'You are an obstinate people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.'"
6 So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting and everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
8 And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent.

Notice the response of the people: They are sad and repentant, they wait at their tent doors longing to know what God is saying to Moses, and wanting to make things right with the LORD. Moses, as the priest, intercedes for the people and asks God to go with them for it would be pointless to go without Him. Please do not miss the lesson here; heaven (the Promised Land) would be pointless without the presence of the LORD. Hear what Moses says:

Exodus 33:15-16
15 Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.
16 "For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?"

So now, after some beautiful truth from God’s word, we will look at Moses’ prayer and how it gives us a biblical model for any sinner’s prayer we might use. Moses wants to know God intimately, so He asks the LORD to show him His glory.

Exodus 33:
..18 Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"
19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."
20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"
21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
23 "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

Exodus34:
…4 So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand.
5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD.
6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."


After God passes by Moses, proclaims His name, and defines who He is, then Moses responds with the sinner’s prayer. God always initiates salvation. He spoke first to Abraham and He first loves all whom He saves. What is Moses’ response to this experience?

Exodus 34:8-9
8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.
9 He said, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession."


Moses “makes haste to bow low”. He responds physically with reverence and adoration. It never says that he leaves this posture as he speaks to God. He then accepts Christ as Lord and Savior?!?! NO! He asks God if he can have relationship with Him. Notice the structure of his prayer:

Low posture to recognize his position before the LORD
Humility in speech as he asks God to grant relationship
Repentance for their iniquity and sin
Recognition and longing to be a bondservant or owned and possessed of God

We are foolish to approach God as if we are accepting the work of His Son. Was He a choice among many? Now, why did Moses ask for relationship? Why did Moses beseech God for relationship, why did he ask for mercy and compassion? Because he knew how God operates because God had told him:

Exodus 33:19
19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."


Paul understood and taught the Torah:

Romans 9:15-16
15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION."
16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.


Salvation is from the LORD and not from man:

Psalm 37:39
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble.


It does not matter what man wills or how he runs, but God is the one who shows mercy, extends grace, and has compassion on the lost. What is our part you might ask? When God passes His glory before, we respond in the only way possible; Exodus 34:8-9.

With a reverent posture and heart
In humility honoring God with our speech
Recognizing our position under God
Repentant of our iniquity and sin
And willing to become enslaved and possessed of God

Shalom,

Jason G. Brown

About me

i am a man changed from day to day as i willingly surrender to God's call. God has shown me many things since He called me to be a child of light, but as of recent months He has destroyed my foundation so that my life would be built on the truth of His word and not what i had always been doing or been taught. Truth is all about where it comes from and truth that comes from the Bible is to be stood on and proclaimed. Nothing else matters, but God's opinion. His word is what will stand the test of time. Never rest on the words of men, but test all things by God's word and make sure that what you do daily is what God requires and not what is contrary to His desires.