Stand in the Gap
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Last time, we talked about Ezekiel’s vision of a valley full of dry bones,
God showing Ezekiel that, although Israel still existed, it was spiritually long dead.
Today, I want to look at another place in Ezekiel and ask the question, what can be done to restore our dry and weary land?
Wicked Leaders
Wicked Leaders
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’
There has been no rain in Israel,
Like a car or picnic table left out in a drought, those in Israel have become dusty, dirty, unwashed.
Why?
Because Israel had abandoned God to walk their own way.
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Just as we have in America today, Israel had three “branches” of government,
Prophets, Priests, and Kings.
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.
Prophets were men who spoke for God.
God’s representatives on earth.
They were to listen to what God said, then tell the people God wanted them to.
They were to communicated God’s law to the people.
Rather than helping the people, the prophets of Ezekiel’s day used their position for their own gain.
Like a lion who tears apart their prey, these prophets have torn apart the people.
Taking and devouring their resources.
Taking their treasures.
Not only depriving them of their wordly goods, but of God’s Word as well.
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.
The priests were there to do the work of the Temple,
They studied the law in order to rightly decide the issues that came before them.
Their job was not only to stand before God in His temple, but to distinguish between right and wrong based on the law.
The word translated “violated” literally means “done violence to”.
How had the priests done violence to God’s law?
By not distinguishing between the holy and the unholy.
By not rightly telling the people the difference between clean and unclean.
By ignoring God’s Sabbath’s,
Desecrating God before the people.
Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.
The ruling class, the princes, were not protecting the people, they were destroying them.
Tearing them apart for dishonest gain.
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.
The people sought guidance from the prophets,
What has God said?
What does God want us to do?
Yet these prophets used false visions and lies.
Claiming that God has told them, when He has not spoken.
Like covering a wall with plaster that has not been properly prepared,
Everything may look good on the outside, but the rot is still there,
And sooner or later, the covering will come crumbling down.
Sound Familiar
Sound Familiar
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
There are those who claim to be prophets, who’s main purpose appears to be to profit only themselves.
Who make boasts and great claims, if only you will send them your money.
There are those who stand in pulpits and violate God’s Law.
They cannot seem to distinguish between what God has said and what man has said.
They do not differentiate between what is clean and what is unclean.
What is holy and what is profane.
And those in power who show more interest in taking from others to benefit themselves.
Who use laws, rules, and regulations to benefit themselves while the wolves tear the people apart.
People claiming that “God told me” something in direct contradiction to His Word.
That God made me this way.
Or that God loves me, so He doesn’t want me to change.
Or people claiming there are many ways to heaven.
I guess today is not that much different than 600 B.C. after all.
The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.
We have used oppression to get our way.
We have robbed both God and man.
We mistreat the poor and needy,
And yes, we have wrongfully oppressed the stranger.
This was the situation 25 years ago, October 4, 1997, when a group of men, seeing the state of both this nation and our churches, took the Ezekiel’s words to heart.
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.
We recognized the dire situation we were in.
The American people had been lied to from their pulpits,
Attacked by their political leaders,
We had failed to distinguish between the clean and unclean, the holy and unholy.
And the wrath of God was rightly due.
So we met in Washington, D.C.
To build that wall of prayer,
And stand in the gap before God that He should not destroy our families and our nation.
And we failed.
Yes, I was there.
I heard the prayers, the cries, and the calling of men to stand in the gap.
I heard their cries of Amen echo off the buildings on the national mall.
I joined them in the promise to stand for God in the face of all opposition.
And just like the rest of them.
I failed.
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.
Why has God poured our His indignation on us?
Why has the fire of God consumed us?
Simple, because God merely gave us what was due us for our actions.
Last time, we talked about why the bones of society today seem so dry and brittle.
In large part because anyone who tried to stand in the gap was attacked,
Not only by the enemy, but in many cases by the church as well.
So we fell back, and committed to build a wall, and stand in the gap for our families.
How well is that working?
Sure, some families are well protected, while others are not.
Men, how many of you have built a wall on behalf of your families?
What is it made of?
Will it survive?
How many of you stand in the gap, to protect your families?
What will it take you to move from there?