Ezekiel 22
Stand in the Gap
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, June 27.
Ezekiel 22 has three distinct discourses devoted to indicting Jerusalem and all of Judah for their rebellion against God. While in exile, the Hebrews were making idols, murdering one another, and committing a multitude of heinous crimes (1-12). At their time of greatest need, the people, to include their priests, prophets, and princes, turned their collective back on God, so He promised to refine them like silver and remove the dross (18-22). In verses 30-31, God described how He had made a comprehensive search for a righteous person to stand in the gap for His beloved nation, “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads.”
What does it look like to stand in the gap? In 1997, 1.4 million men gathered in Washington D.C. to call upon the name of Jesus Christ, confessing their personal and collective sins as a nation, and, in repentance, presenting themselves as one body poised for personal and national revival. I was deployed with my military unit to the Joint Readiness Training Center when this Promise Keepers event happened, but I will never forget that it was called, “Stand in the Gap.” We stand in the gap by humbling ourselves before the Lord, getting right with our God, and committing ourselves to the good works of faith, hope, and love. It begins when individuals and communities join in prayer to get right with God and one another (Romans 15:30).
Seize the moment and stand in the gap for our nation by humbling yourself, praying, and seeking God’s will for your life and community (2 Chronicles 7:14).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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