I’ve entitled our message this morning, “Standing in the Gap,” and I want to begin with a testimony by a woman from North Dakota: “The Sheyenne River, which flows past our backyard, went from its normal five feet to a major flood level . . . We felt overwhelmed with the preparations and thought of what would happen if the water breached our house. We prayed and waited for answers. For us, the answer arrived when we came home one evening to find that some sandbag angels had been to our house to shore up our backyard against the rising waters. That was such an act of kindness and self-sacrifice that touched our hearts so deeply.”(1)
“I thought about how one tiny little grain of sand by itself, seems so small and insignificant, and yet when together with millions of other grains, will fill a sandbag. And that sandbag, put together with hundreds of other bags, will be enough to make a wall strong enough to keep the floodwaters at bay. We often think of ourselves in that way – so insignificant. Yet God realizes the potential of every single one of us. He knows our weaknesses and our strengths. He can take them and blend them with the weakness and strength of others, to accomplish so much more than we can on our own.”(2)
This morning, we’re going to look at how God calls believers to step up, one-by-one, and unite in order to form a wall against the flood of immorality that threatens to wash way our nation.
The Sins of Jerusalem (vv. 23-29)
23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24 Son of man, say to her: “You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation. 25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. 28 Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD had not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.”
Ezekiel prophesied to a common problem in Israel – how they worshipped foreign gods and idols and lived rebelliously – and they incurred the Lord’s wrath as a result. The Jews were proud of Jerusalem and Mount Zion, and claimed that God loved Zion more than any other place. We read in Psalm 87:2-3, “The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God!” “But now, the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be invaded by ‘unclean Gentiles’ who were brought there by the Lord. Why would the Lord destroy His own beloved city and temple? Because His people had sinned and broken covenant, and they were beyond remedy (cf. 2 Chronicles 26:16). Ezekiel described the true character of the ‘beautiful city’ and named some of the sins that the people in Jerusalem were committing even while he spoke.”(3)
Because of their sin, the land was suffering from a drought; which Ezekiel, like many others both before and since, have interpreted as punishment for the religious infidelity of its inhabitants.(4) Jeremiah, who was preaching at the same time as Ezekiel, spoke about the drought. He said this: “Judah mourns, and her gates languish; they mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. Their nobles have sent their lads for water; they went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads. Because the ground is parched, for there was no rain in the land, the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their heads” (Jeremiah 14:1-4).
Ezekiel pointed the finger of accusation for Israel’s moral decline at the false prophets, the priests, the princes, and the people of the land; and each segment of society was found guilty.(5) Let’s first take a look at the false prophets mentioned in verses 25 and 28; and I want to begin here by discussing the role of a prophet. “Telling the future was not the major role of the Old Testament prophets . . . The primary role of the prophets in the Bible was to speak with the people about the words and will of God in their specific situations. The prophets served as God’s megaphones, declaring whatever God commanded them to say,”(6) even if it was difficult for people to hear and consider. The Lord shared a message by speaking directly to the prophets, who in turn relayed His message to the people of Israel.
Today, the Lord speaks to men of God – and to all of us – primarily through the Bible. Hebrews 1:1 says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,” and in the book of John we learn that the Son of God and the Word of God are actually one and the same (John 1:1, 14); thus, God also speaks through the Word, or through the Holy Bible. God’s message to His people today is inspired by the words of the Bible speaking to current events, specific contexts and certain life situations. A false prophet is someone who will disregard what the Bible has to say, and instead speak his own opinion and share his own corrupt ideology. He’s also afraid to proclaim any message that is challenging to the people.
Verse 25 mentions “the conspiracy of her prophets,” which commentator Matthew Poole says was “a contrivance or framing among themselves [of] a design to speak all alike flattering, smooth words, and give out promises of peace and safety when there was no peace.”(7) The prophets conspired within their own heart and with one another to speak that which was not from God, and that which simply wasn’t true. They agreed to share fake news, and they gave people false hope when the nation was already under God’s judgement. Commentator Warren Wiersbe says, “The false prophets supported the evil political regime and encouraged the common people with lies. Instead of exposing sin, they whitewashed it . . . The false prophets manufactured lies and the people gladly believed them.”(8)
We read in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” This sounds like the time in which we live today. For example, if a godless political regime comes to power and a pastor speaks out against it, then his congregation might be inclined to fire him and get someone else who will sing the praises of the evil regime. And let me add that pastors who preach on sin are often pushed to the wayside, while those who preach watered-down, feel-good messages are elevated. There are false prophets today who preach wealth, blessing and security while our nation is under judgement.
Let’s now take a look at the priests mentioned in verse 26. The priests were ordained by God to offer sacrifices, they were to teach the Law, and they determined whether a person was sick or healthy.(9) Similar to how we hear from God today, the priests obtained their messages to the people directly from the Law of Moses, or what we would call the Word of God. The Law of Moses, or the Torah, is included in the Christian Bible. The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament. Malachi 2:7 says, “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the Law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.” He is the messenger through his teachings from the Law.
In the “Parable of the Good Samaritan,” Jesus said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:30-31). The priests were supposed to model holiness and other godly virtues, but not all of them did. Wiersbe says the priests “were given the sacred calling of explaining God’s holy Law so that the people could live holy lives . . . But instead of teaching the Law, the priests violated the Law; and when others broke the Law, the priests looked the other way.”(10)
There are pastors today who have failed to distinguish between the holy and unholy by neglecting the holy altogether. They are afraid to preach anything that might offend the sensibilities of the unchurched, especially if it’s a moral issue addressed by the Bible that just happens to be unpopular in modern society and politics. A pastor once approached the evangelist Mario Murillo and said, “You used to preach the gospel, but now all you do is talk about politics. You’ve become a politician.” Murillo asked him, “When was the last time you preached on abortion or homosexuality?” The pastor replied, “I can’t do that! People will leave my church!” Murillo looked at him sternly and said, “Now who’s the politician!”
Look at verse 27, which mentions the princes. In the Bible, “the title [prince] generally applied to the chief men of the state. The ‘princes of the provinces’ (1 Kings 20:14) were the governors or lord-lieutenants of the provinces. So also, the ‘princes’ mentioned in Daniel were the officers who administered the affairs of the provinces; the ‘satraps’ as rendered in the Revised Standard Version.”(11) “The princes were acting like animals, lions and wolves, hungry for their prey . . . These men abused their power and destroyed innocent people just to acquire more wealth.”(12)
Today, we can equate the princes with government leaders and local officials such as the president, congressmen and women, governors, mayors, councilmen, sheriffs, school board members, etc. What an apt description of many of today’s politicians! “They shed blood and destroy people’s lives to get dishonest gain.” Think about it. The annual salary of a senator is $174,000, yet many men and women serving in congress are multimillionaires. And if you expose their shady dealings, then more blood will be spilt and many more lives will be destroyed.
Take a look at verse 29, which mentions the people of the land. These “were the prominent land-owning citizens, often officers in the army, and they fell right in line with the princes and the priests. They oppressed the poor when they should have aided them, and took advantage of the strangers instead of welcoming them and helping them.”(13) They were the elites of society who subscribed to the notion of “rules for thee, but not for me.”
After the American Revolution, the federal government awarded land grants to soldiers for services rendered,(14) ranging from 100 acres for a soldier or sailor, to 15,000 acres for a Major General.(15) If you owned land either in ancient Israel or colonial America as a result of your military service, you were considered wealthy. So, the people of the land could be equated with today’s military leaders who are afforded special privileges, or they could simply be the aristocrats – those with homes in places like Martha’s Vineyard. Put in today’s context, both the princes and the people of the land would be found living in the same upscale neighborhoods.
The sins and crimes committed by the false prophets, the priests, the princes, and the people of the land are happening in America today! I mean, we basically have these same bad actors in our own time and in our own nation! We are no different than ancient Israel. God chose Israel as a light to the nations, just as He did America; and like Israel, we have tried to erase God from both the public arena and our own personal lives. Israel was invaded by a foreign nation as punishment; and the same thing could happen to us unless we repent!
Someone to Stop the Breach (vv. 30-31)
30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord GOD.
In the ancient world, cities had defense walls around them to protect against outside invaders. Through Ezekiel, the Lord delivered the message that He sought for some brave soul among the people who would construct a wall. Now, Jerusalem already had a literal wall, so this was a figurative wall. God sought for someone who would project a spiritual covering over the people by interceding on their behalf. This intercession would have been through prayer and by faithfully proclaiming the prophetic message from the Lord. The literal wall of Jerusalem would eventually have a gap torn in it as a troop of invaders breached the wall and flooded the city; but figuratively, the Lord sought for someone who would serve as a stop-gap to the flood of immorality and godlessness that was washing over the land.
Let’s first look at prayer. When God was angry with Abimelech, the Lord told him that Abraham “is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live” (Genesis 20:7). When the Israelites made a golden calf and God wanted to destroy His people, the Scripture says that “Moses pleaded with the LORD his God . . . So, the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people” (cf. Exodus 32:9-14); and when God sent a plague on Israel after David took a census, the Bible says, “Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, ‘Surely, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done?’ . . . So, the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel” (2 Samuel 24:17, 25). Remember, “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).
Let’s now look at proclaiming the prophetic message from the Lord. Allow me to share an illustration: On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther approached the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and nailed a piece of paper to it containing 95 theses. In it, “Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of asking payment – called ‘indulgences’ – for the forgiveness of sins.” His 95 Theses were “translated from Latin into German and distributed widely. A copy made its way to Rome, and efforts began to convince Luther to change his tune. He refused to keep silent, however, and in 1521 . . . the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V of Germany, issued the famous Edict of Worms declaring Luther an outlaw and a heretic, giving permission for anyone to kill him without consequence.”(16)
“Protected by Prince Frederick, Luther began working on a German translation of the Bible, a task that took ten years to complete . . . A number of princes and other supporters of Luther issued a protest, declaring that their allegiance to God trumped their allegiance to the emperor. They became known to their opponents as Protestants; gradually this name came to apply to all who believed the Church should be reformed, even those outside Germany. By the time Luther died of natural causes in 1546, his revolutionary beliefs had formed the basis for the Protestant Reformation, which would over the next three centuries revolutionize Western civilization.”(17)
Wiersbe says, “God searched among His people for one person in authority who would stand in the gap so that the enemy wouldn’t penetrate the wall and invade the city, but He found none. Of course, the prophet Jeremiah was in Jerusalem, but he was a man with no authority who was rejected by the politicians, priests and false prophets. Jeremiah himself had scoured the city, looking for a godly man (Jeremiah 5:1-6), but his quest was a failure. The prophet Isaiah failed in a similar search (Isaiah 51:18; 59:16). The Lord promised to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if He found ten righteous men in the city (Genesis 18:23-33), and He would have spared Jerusalem for one righteous man.”(18)
When Wiersbe said that “God searched among His people for one person in authority who would stand in the gap,” he meant someone with high rank and status in society; someone whom people will listen to. Martin Luther is a good example of someone in authority who stood in the gap for the people of Germany. We need some people today with authority and high standing – people with wealth and people in politics – who are willing to take a stand and risk it all for the Law of God and boldly speak prophetic truth.
You see, “the Lord is still seeking men and women who will take their stand for the moral Law of God, stand in the gap at the wall, and confront the enemy with God’s help. As you read history, you meet godly men and women who had the courage to resist the popular evils of their day and dare to expose the breaks in the wall and seek to mend them. The Lord is [still] looking for intercessors who will cry out to God for mercy and for a return to holiness.”(19)
From an earlier time, the prophet Isaiah told Israel, “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then . . . you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach” (Isaiah 58:9-10, 12).
Time of Reflection
In the New Testament we learn about another dangerous gap. In the “Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31), we read how the rich man wound up in hell, while Lazarus was in heaven. The rich man cried out for Lazarus to “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (v. 24); but the rich man was told how this wasn’t possible, for “between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot” (v. 26). You see, there is another gap to be concerned about; one which cannot be spanned by any ordinary human being – the chasm between heaven and hell. According to the Bible, we are all separated from God by our sin (Isaiah 59:2), and sin leads to spiritual death (Romans 6:23). So, what are we to do?
In verse 30, the Lord said, “I sought for a man among them who would . . . stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land . . . but I found no one.” Commentator David Guzik says, “Here is the tragedy. God hoped for one who would lead and pray to avert the judgment, but there was none. There were godly people to be sure (such as Jeremiah), but none to fill this role at that time . . . Fortunately, God did find a Man to stand in the gap. This is a powerful description of Jesus and His work for His people. He is the wall of strength, stability, and security for God’s people. He is the one who ever lives to pray for His people (Hebrews 7:25). God found no one in Ezekiel’s day, but in Jesus Christ [He] has provided this ultimate . . . Man in the gap.”(20)
Jesus is the bridge to cross the great divide and connect us to God. He is no ordinary person. He is the very Son of God, perfect without spot or blemish; and He made a way for us when He died on the cross for our sins. And we too are bridge builders when we introduce people to faith in Jesus. In Job chapter 33, we read, “Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, and his life to the executioners. If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His uprightness, then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’” (Job 33:22-24). If we will become a messenger to the lost, sharing about faith in Christ, and serve as a mediator by praying for the lost; then sooner or later, the ones we have interceded for will receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.
This morning, I serve as one who stands in the gap. I stand here to warn of judgement should America fail to repent; and to warn of spiritual judgement should you fail to confess Jesus as Savior and Lord. But I not only stand before you with a word of warning; I stand before you with the Good News! You see, Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death,” but it goes on to say, “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That’s the Good News! I serve as the messenger of Good News and as a mediator to pray with you to receive Jesus into your heart and life; and I want to extend an opportunity for you during our invitation, to come forward and confess Jesus as Savior and Lord today.
NOTES
(1) Carol Elaine Loperena, “Grains of Sand,” Joyful Soul: https://joysoul.com/Cloud/ChurchConnections/InTheCommunity/CommunityInreach/GrainsOfSand (Accessed September 11, 2021).
(2) Ibid.
(3) Warren Wiersbe, “The Complete Old Testament,” The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 1309.
(4) William A. Irwin, The Problem of Ezekiel: An Inductive Study (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1943), p. 144
(5) Wiersbe, p. 1310.
(6) Sam O’Neal, “Defining the Role of Prophets in the Bible,” Learn Religions: https://www.learnreligions.com/defining-the-role-of-prophets-in-the-bible-363345 (Accessed September 9, 2021).
(7) Matthew Poole, “Matthew Poole’s Commentary,” Power Bible CD (Bronson, MI: Online Publishing, Inc., 2007).
(8) Wiersbe, p. 1310-1311.
(9) “What Was the Role of a Priest in the Bible?” Bible Resources: https://bibleresources.info/what-was-the-role-of-a-priest-in-the-bible/ (Accessed September 9, 2021).
(10) Wiersbe, p. 1310.
(11) “Prince,” Easton’s Bible Dictionary: https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/prince/ (Accessed September 9, 2021).
(12) Wiersbe, p. 1310.
(13) Ibid., p. 1310.
(14) “Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants,” Ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/49315/ (Accessed September 9, 2021).
(15) “Revolutionary War Bounty Land Claims,” Library of Virginia: https://lva-virginia.libguides.com/bounty-claims (Accessed September 10, 2021).
(16) “Martin Luther Posts 95 Theses,” History.com: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-posts-95-theses (Accessed September 11, 2021).
(17) Ibid.
(18) Wiersbe, p. 1311.
(19) Ibid., p. 1311.
(20) David Guzik, The Enduring Word Bible Commentary: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/ezekiel-22/ (Accessed September 9, 2021).
