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"I HAVE PARDONED ACCORDING TO THY WORD" "And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:" (Numbers 14:20)The children of Israel were doing that which they were good at back in those days: complaining and whining like a bunch of unbelievers who had never witnessed the Power of God at work. As usual, Moses and Aaron were the primary targets of their murmurings. If that wasn't enough, they had the audacity to bellyache about God's protective care for them from day 1 when He had brought them out of Egypt. And it wasn't just a handful of folks who had a bone to pick. That's a No with a capital N. Verse 2 of this same chapter tells us that the whole congregation lifted up their voices singing that old worn-out song of theirs, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness!"The Lord was ready to do away with these naysayers, but Moses interceded for them. Because of the fact that God knows the future, I personally believe that the Lord was not as desirous to destroy them as much as He wanted to hear the heart of Moses interceding for them. It's interesting to notice that Moses interceded with God according to the character of God that had been revealed to him. Now, after the Lord had spoken to Moses in verse 12 saying, "I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.", Moses felt that if there was ever a time to pray for these folks, that time was now! We would do well to read that prayer of Moses in verses 13-19. I try to picture in my mind Moses talking with the Lord that day saying something like, "Lord, You told me You were long suffering and abounding in mercy and forgiveness. Yes, You are just, but then, there is that wonderful side of You that is full of mercy. I beg of You to exercise that mercy now and forgive these people."You know folks, when we plead with God according to His wonderful attributes, we are standing on a sure footing from which to pray! We can indeed make a case that is a legitimate one because we are praying in accordance with what God has already said about Himself in His Word. To be sure, the people would be punished; but at the same time, God would exercise His great love and mercy. Did God hear and answer that prayer that Moses prayed? You bet your life He did! For we see in the verse I posted above, "And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:" Friends, if we desire to do business with God for those standing in the need of prayer, then read those first 20 verses of Numbers, chapter 14 carefully and see how Moses left us an example of how we should prayerfully consider others.