Like our word from yesterday our word is in Genesis chapter 20 and is also used for the first time in the Bible here in this chapter. פָּלַל to be an arbitrator, intercessor, advocate, pray, pronounce judgment. It is used 84 times in the Old Testament. A good example of our word is found in Numbers 11:1-2 Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he פָּלַל prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. Here we see that because of Moses prayer as an intercessor God’s anger toward the people’s sin of complaining was turned away and satisfied. This pattern will repeat itself later in Numbers 21:7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. פָּלַל Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. A few days ago, we have already looked at how Samuel did this same thing of being an advocate for the people and praying for them when they sinned against God wanting a king like the other nations. 1 Samuel 12:19 The people all said to Samuel, “פָּלַל Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.” We see this same idea when God sets up the temple for the Israelties to pray to God by praying toward the building in 1 Kings 8:28-33. In our chapter today this is what God calls Abraham to do pray as an intermediary for Abimelek. Genesis 20:7, 17 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will פָּלַל pray for you and you will live. Then Abraham פָּלַל prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again.
Jesus has done so many things for us it is hard to take it all in. One of those is the access we have to a holy creator God. Without Jesus we are separated from God because we are a creature and because of our sin but because Jesus became a man and lived a perfect life he became our mediator. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. Wait it gets better he changed the whole prayer thing so that there is no geographical location where we have to go to worship and pray to God. John 4:20-21,23 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem … Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. And John 15:16 Whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. And it gets even better. Are you ready for this? Romans 8:34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Wow what a God who would send his only son not only to died for us but is even now praying for us being our advocate our intercessor. Like I’ve said many times you just can’t lose being in Christ. We have every spiritual benefit being connected to our amazing merciful God through his wonderful son Jesus.
