Even before Moshe was called to deliver Adonai’s people from Egypt, he had the desire to intercede for his Hebrew brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, he didn’t intercede in a righteous way and he had to flee Egypt fearing for his life (Exodus 2:11-15). When he returned 40 years later after an encounter with Adonai in a burning bush, he had a new vision and purpose –– he embraced the plans of Adonai to deliver the Hebrews.
Tag: prayer
Isaac, the Promised Seed
Isaac made an earnest appeal to Adonai for his wife because she was ‘childless’ or ‘barren.’ This prayer had a two-fold purpose. First, he prayed for his wife because it was his responsibility to uphold her in prayer. The greatest action a husband can do on behalf of his wife is pray for her. A woman’s barrenness may not be for literal children, but to be set free from a spiritual barrenness.
Psalm 17:15 – To See Your Face
The Hebrew word for ‘panim’ is panim and means ‘face, faces of man’ or seeing ‘face to face’ as with meeting God. Face in Hebrew is a plural word because of the many expressions of a ‘face:’ anger, adoration, jealousy, humility.
Prayer – Hebrew: Tefillah
The root of tefillah is palal and has its foundation in the prayer of Pinchas (Phineas) and means ‘to judge’ (Numbers 25). Pinchas was a Levitical high priest who stood against idolatry and ‘judged’ a Midianite woman and Israelite man whose marriage had brought a plague upon the Israelites. This suggests that tefillah is the ‘judging of oneself before a holy God’ through self-examination.