Standing In The Gap

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.