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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
so when all the Israel of God prevail, it is because the Mighty One
undertakes their case and fights their battles for them. Moses did
not ask or believe that God would overcome their foes while Israel
remained inactive. He marshals all his forces and sends them out as
well prepared as their facilities can make them, and then he takes the
whole matter to God in prayer. Moses on the mount is pleading with
the Lord, while Joshua with his brave followers is below, doing his
best to meet and repulse the enemies of Israel and of God.
That prayer which comes forth from an earnest, believing heart is
the effectual, fervent prayer that availeth much. God does not always
answer our prayers as we expect, for we may not ask what would be
for our highest good; but in His infinite love and wisdom He will give
us those things which we most need. Happy the minister who has
a faithful Aaron and Hur to strengthen his hands when they become
weary and to hold them up by faith and prayer. Such a support is a
powerful aid to the servant of Christ in his work and will often make
the cause of truth to triumph gloriously.
After the transgression of Israel in making the golden calf, Moses
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again goes to plead with God in behalf of his people. He has some
knowledge of those who have been placed under his care; he knows the
perversity of the human heart and realizes the difficulties with which
he must contend. But he has learned from experience that in order
to have an influence with the people he must first have power with
God. The Lord reads the sincerity and unselfish purpose of the heart
of His servant and condescends to commune with this feeble mortal,
face to face, as a man speaks with a friend. Moses casts himself and
all his burdens fully upon God and freely pours out his soul before
Him. The Lord does not reprove His servant, but stoops to listen to his
supplications.
Moses has a deep sense of his unworthiness and his unfitness for
the great work to which God has called him. He pleads with intense
earnestness that the Lord will go with him. The answer comes: “My
presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” But Moses
does not feel that he can stop here. He has gained much, but he longs
to come still nearer to God, to obtain a stronger assurance of His
abiding presence. He has carried the burden of Israel; he has borne
an overwhelming weight of responsibility; when the people sinned,
he suffered keen remorse, as though he himself were guilty; and now