Verse 16
God also saw that there was no human being who could mediate between Himself and His people, who could appeal effectively to Him for them (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1). Aaron and Phinehas had done this for Israel in the past (Numbers 17:12-13; Numbers 25:7). So God Himself acted in power to deliver them, in faithfulness to His promises.
"In saying that God was astonished the prophet does not mean that God had been ignorant of the situation until He saw it and then this sight brought astonishment to Him. Rather, the language speaks of a genuine astonishment, which would express itself in displeasure and yet in compassion for His own to such an extent that He Himself acts." [Note: Young, 3:438.]
"Man’s failure to avail himself of God’s gracious provision to have a share in the restraint of wickedness and the promotion of righteousness through the ministery [sic] of intercession is a definite cause for divine astonishment." [Note: D. Edmond Hiebert, Working with God: Scriptural Studies in Intercession, p. 89.]
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