Standing in the gap

STANDING IN THE GAP

Ezekiel 22:30-31; “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

Reading the 22nd chapter of Ezekiel is like reading about our own country. Let’s look at a few verses.

4. You have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughing-stock to ill the countries.

7. In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and ill-treated the fatherless and the widow.

8. You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.

9. In you are slanderous men bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.

11. In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.

12. In you men accept bribes to shed blood; you take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.

25. There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.

26. Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

27. Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.

28. Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says’ -­when the LORD has not spoken.

29. The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and ill-treat the alien, denying them justice.

GOD was speaking of the Nation of Israel in the Book of Ezekiel, but doesn’t all of this sound familiar? If GOD did not spare the Nation of Israel, how can we expect to be saved from His wrath? Are there men and women willing to build up the wall and stand in the gap? You ask what wall? Open your eyes and look around. Our spiritual fortress is in a shamble. The walls are down and in desperate need of repair. Our country is dying spiritually and morally. What are you doing about it? You can’t have it both ways. You can’t live like the world during the week and repent on Sunday. Now is the time to BE a Christian ALL of the time. Use what GOD has given you to make a difference. Stand up and be counted. We are running Out of time. CAN you, WILL you, come to the wall and stand in the gap on behalf of the land?

Bud Simmons © 2005