165 th e request of th e people and pleased them ra th e r th a n God. He knew he was acting con trary to God’s will bu t lacked th e streng th of character to say so. How often we fail ju s t because we do no t boldly tak e our stand for w hat we know to be righ t! Have you ever been persuaded to do w hat you know is displeasing to God ju st because you were afraid of w hat you friend^ would th in k or say? When Moses retu rn ed and saw what had been done, he boldly destroyed the idol, standing out against the whole nation, hu t he had God on his side. Moses had ju s t come from communion w ith God and th a t was th e secret of his boldness. Our only safeguard against tem ptation is a close touch w ith Him who alone can give us help in tim e of need. The Intercession of Moses. Moses prayer for his people. He was w illing to die if th a t would save th e nation. P aul had th is same sp irit when he spoke his w illingness to give his life, if by giving it, his b reth ren m ight be saved. (Rom. 9 :3 ). The lives of the m issionaries give evidence th a t they too are w illing to give th e ir lives th a t others m ight be saved. Go'd did not accept Moses’ offer for He never accepts the death of an innocent man for a guilty one. Moses could find nothing in Isra el’s actions upon which to base his plea. He found it all in God him self. He pleads th a t th e Children of Israel belong to God, th a t th e ir destruc tion would b ring discredit upon God’s nam e and th a t God h ad covenanted w ith Abraham , Isaac and Jacob. God listened to Moses and tu rn ed away the punishm ent which th e people deserved. God loves to forgive his children and resto re them when th ey rep en t and forsake sin. (1 John 1 :9 ). One of th e Christian’s first duties is to pray for others yet how often we neglect to do this. More things are w rough t by prayer th a n th e world dream s of, for prayer surely changes things. Some-
T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S I hope all you girls are praying girls. I do no t mean th a t you ju s t say your prayers, b u t th a t you really pray. You know most everybody says prayers at some tim e or MY CLASS other, and some OP GIRLS pray once in a Miss C lara Silliman while and some often; some pray for themselves only, and some pray for others, b u t I am wondering how many of you know th e rea l joy th a t comes from praying for others. This lesson gives one of th e most beau tifu l exam ples of prayer for others, and so earn est is th e one who offers it, th a t he is w illing to suffer th e loss of everything if only the people m ight be saved from th e ir sin. How many of us would be w illing to give our ALL to save some people from th e ir sin? T h at is w h at Jesus Christ did for us, is it not? He gave His life on the Cross for you and me in order th a t we m ight be saved from sin. The B roken Covenant. Moses had gone up Mt. Sinai to learn from God th e way to organize th e Peo ple of Israel into a nation. The people became restless and afraid. They were alone in th e w ilderness, they could no t see God w ith whom they had made a covenant and they were tire d of waiting for Moses to retu rn . They called upon Aaron, who was in charge, to make them gods. They imagined a calf which they could see, was b etter th a n God, who, though unseen is everywhere p res ent. We condemn th e Israelites for forsaking God for an idol, yet people today are doing th e very same tiling. It need no t be a golden calf; th e re are many things of like character which may crowd God ou t of our h earts. P leasure, money, popularity, position, and a g reat num ber of o ther things of th a t so rt are tak ing th e place once given to God in th e lives of people today. Have you searched your h e a rt to see if God has first place? Aaron listened to
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