For Your Name's Sake

“Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?  Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.”     Exodus 32:12

Read Exodus 32:7-14

The most notable of all the great intercessory prayers in the Bible is where Moses stood between God and the children of Israel after their sin with the golden calf.  God had told Moses to "Let Me alone!" and expressed His plan to destroy the Israeli’s and instead make Moses into the nation he intended for Israel to become.  Moses refused to back down (consider his brazen boldness!) and his main argument for mercy on the fallen Israelis was based on God's reputation.  The Psalmist put it this way in Psalms 79:9,10 

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;
And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake.
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

God heard Moses’ prayer and “for His name’s sake” relented on the judgment He had planned for Israel.

The summer of the year 2000 my wife's mother took all her children, their spouses and her grandchildren on an Alaskan cruise up the Inland passage.  On the ship most of the workers were from Third World countries.  It was fun to talk to them and I had a couple of good conversations with a man named Juan from Costa Rica who cleaned a bank of rooms next to ours.  Juan was a Christian and he made the statement that everyone knows that America is the Christian nation in the world.  I argued with him about that, but my point here is that regardless of what we Americans perceive as reality, the rest of the world sees America as the Christian nation. 

This becomes significant when you consider that since the attacks of September 11, 2001 there have been no more successful terrorist attacks.  Why?  It has been well proven that it isn’t because of our impenetrable security. 

You see, my friend Juan was correct, in spite of my objections.  America is a Christian nation, in spite of our idolatrous sins.  America was founded on Biblical values and principles and it is easy, when viewing our history, to see God's hand on our nation.  No other nation on earth presents such a perfect parallel (not a replacement, mind you) to Ancient Israel as a nation that was built by God on godly principals.  Yet, like Israel we Americans have constructed golden calves to worship in place of God and partied before them in gross lasciviousness.

God's reply to Moses' intercession was, "All right, I'll relent -- but I am going to deal with this!"  Over the centuries Israel continued to turn from God to idolatry and eventually their society reached the point that "for His name sake" God had to carry through with the consequences He had told them would come.  The nation of Israel was destroyed.

We in America are in great danger!  Everywhere we turn evil things are called good and good things are called evil.  Regardless of whether or not we see America as Christian, the world does see us as God's nation and – "for His name's sake" – He must deal with us accordingly.  The attacks of September 11, 2001 were a wake-up call to His people to "turn from their wicked ways" and repent.  (2 Chronicles 7:14).  He has shown us mercy by protecting us since that time, but soon we will reach the point that He will have to move "for His namesake"!

Christians of America, repent!