Numbers 21:7b So Moses prayed for the people. (Because the people were frustrated with what seemed to them an unproductive turn in their journey toward the Promised Land, they had harshly criticized both God and their leader Moses whom God Himself had appointed over them. A picture of true forgiveness, instead of being resentful and trying to hold them accountable himself, instead of making himself their judge, Moses ignores the people's harsh criticism of both God and himself and intercedes for them on their behalf. What a picture for us today of what forgiveness looks like. Not only does Moses not try to hold them accountable or hold them in judgment and resentment, but He actually prays for them. Our forgiveness of others actually sets us free as it did Moses, allowing him to actually intercede for those who had wronged him, a true proof of real forgiveness. Our forgiveness gives us freedom from others' wrongs over us by allowing us to choose not to be bound by what someone else did to us. When others wrong us, when the wrong is even very real and very hurtful, the Lord asks us to forgive them even as He forgives us, freely and generously and repeatedly. He longs to use us and our forgiving spirit to partner with Him through prayer to bring deliverance and forgiveness to those who repent, the same deliverance He offers us when we repent. Our prayerful and forgiving attitude causes real change in both their and our lives.)
