Listen! And respond

In 1 Chronicles 21 we see YHWH staying the hand of the angel as if waiting for David to intercede. We also see YHWH lingering after sending off the other “men” to investigate Sodom, waiting to share his plan with Abraham. Repeatedly, we see YHWH giving his intercessors warnings and thus openings for intercession. Amos responds to YHWH’s visions in Amos 7:2, 5, while Moses and Aaron fall on their faces and intercede when warned to move away in Numbers 16.

What these texts model is human initiative, as much as courage, intelligence, verbal agility, and responsibility for others. These intercessors come up with their own speeches, not words already dictated by YHWH.—Forestalling Doom pages 239–40