Daily Devotional-Exodus 32:7–14 Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Daily Devotional (Transcript)
Exodus 32:7–14
Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Speaker: Pastor John Chen
Transcribed & Edited by: Joseph Wang(Yufan)

Peace to you, dear brothers and sisters.

By the grace of God, we come to a new day to study our daily devotional. Today’s passage is Exodus 32:7–14.

Opening Prayer

O God, You love us. You teach us how to pray. We ask that You would place within us a heart of intercession, that we may know how to pray on behalf of others. Be gracious to us and lead us.

In the name of Christ, Amen.

Moses’ Intercession and the Heart of a Mediator

Today we consider Moses’ prayer of intercession and the lessons we are meant to learn from it.

While the people were sinning at the foot of the mountain, the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.” Notice the language God uses here: “your people.” This is significant. In the New Testament we are told that Israel was baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They were, in a covenantal sense, Moses’ people.

God declares that they have corrupted themselves, turning aside quickly from His commandments and making for themselves a golden calf. They have broken the covenant they affirmed in Exodus 24. Covenant-breaking, by necessity, brings judgment—and the judgment declared here is death.

God says to Moses that He has seen this stiff-necked people and that His wrath burns hot against them. He proposes to destroy them and to make of Moses a great nation.

Here we must pause. This is not an empty statement. God truly has the power to do this. Moses himself is a descendant of Abraham. If God were to destroy Israel and raise up a nation from Moses, the Abrahamic promise would not be nullified—it would simply take a different historical path.

This places Moses in an extraordinary trial. Before him lies a temptation of the highest order: the opportunity to become, like Abraham, the father of a great nation. Earthly honor of the highest kind is placed before him.

Moses Chooses God’s Glory over His Own

How does Moses respond?

Instead of accepting this offer, Moses pleads with the LORD. He appeals first to God’s name: “Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did He bring them out, to kill them in the mountains’?” Moses is concerned that God’s glory would be dishonored among the nations.

Second, Moses appeals to God’s covenant promise, reminding Him of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom God swore by Himself to multiply their offspring and give them the land.

Moses is not arguing that God lacks power. He is pleading for God’s mercy for the sake of God’s own name and covenant faithfulness.

Parallel passages in Deuteronomy make this even clearer: Moses’ intercession is entirely motivated by the glory of God.

Thus Moses refuses the temptation. He rejects personal elevation in order that God’s name might not be dishonored. He stands between God’s wrath and a rebellious people.

Moses as a Type of Christ

Here the text points unmistakably to Christ.

Just as Moses interceded for a sinful people—at great personal cost—so Christ intercedes for us. Moses refused the greatest earthly honor. Christ bore the greatest possible suffering.

If Moses had remained silent, he would have gained glory.
If Christ had not interceded, He would not have had to humble Himself, take on flesh, and endure the cross.

Intercession is costly.
Intercession means bearing loss.
Intercession means choosing God’s glory over personal gain.

Christ bore the wrath of God Himself so that the wrath would not fall on His people. In doing so, God’s justice and mercy were both perfectly glorified.

What Intercession Teaches Us

This passage teaches us three things about true intercession:

1. The object of intercession – not only friends, but enemies.

2. The cost of intercession – the surrender of personal advantage, comfort, or honor.

3. The goal of intercession – the glory of God’s name.

This confronts us deeply. When we are wronged, insulted, or harmed, what is our response? Retaliation? Self-justification? Gathering others to stand against our enemy?

Or do we pray?
Do we intercede?
Do we seek reconciliation and spiritual good, even at personal cost?

Our response to those who oppose us reveals much about whether we truly understand the gospel.

Living Out Gospel-Shaped Intercession

Moses’ example—and Christ’s even more—calls us to a radically different way of living.

To forgive those who wound us.
To pray for those who oppose us.
To seek God’s glory rather than our own vindication.

This does not mean ignoring injustice or refusing correction, but it does mean rejecting vengeance and pride. It means asking, “Does my response glorify God?”

If we say we follow Christ, this is where our faith is tested.

May God grant us repentance, humility, and hearts shaped by the intercession of Christ Himself. May our lives display a glory that is not our own, but His.

That is all for today. Thank you.