And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God. -Ezekiel 22: 24-31
How sad. Let’s bring this into New Testament terminology and where we are at today. Can God find a man or a women who will stand in the gap today? Can God find someone who cares enough to intercede? Intercession is standing in behalf of someone else in prayer. In the Scriptures above you can see that God could not find anyone anywhere.
So God had to permit judgment to come upon His people because He could not find someone to stand in the gap. What the body of Christ is facing, and I know this is not popular, but it is still in the Bible – is judgment. Now, I’m not saying every person in the Body of Christ is. Not every person in the United States is facing judgment, but the nation as a whole is. The United States is facing judgment unless somebody will get a hold of the horns of the altar, stand in the gap, and stop this thing. Someone must make up the hedge and stand in the gap.
In fact, the nation cannot change until the church changes. The nation cannot turn itself around until the church turns itself around. It will never do it. It can’t.
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
If God wanted to stay judgment why didn’t He just do it? Why does He have to use a man? Why does He have to use a woman? God is God isn’t He? Why doesn’t He just stay judgment? You know He didn’t want judgment to come because he was looking for somebody to stop it. He was looking for someone to stand in the gap.
The answer is found in the book of Genesis. Doesn’t the Bible say that God gave Adam dominion over all the works of his hand? Adam became the ruler of this world. He didn’t become God. We are not saying that. God turned the dominion of this earth over to Adam, so he became the ruler of this world. He was in charge. He had the final say so of what went on in this earth.
But then Adam turned over that dominion to satan when he sinned in the Garden of Eden. Jesus took that dominion back from Satan when he died on the cross and rose from the grave. Jesus gave that dominion back to the human race when he ascended into heaven.
So why didn’t God stay judgment on Israel back in Ezekiel 22? Because He couldn’t. God cannot do anything on this earth without man’s permission. Remember that John Wesley said, “It seems as if God can do nothing for humanity unless someone in the earth ask Him.”
God is looking for someone today to stand in the gap for the United States of America. God is looking for someone to stand in the gap to stay judgment for the United States. God is looking for someone to make up a hedge around the United States. He’s not looking to the world to do this. He’s looking for the church to do this. He’s looking for the Christians to do this.
Unless the church stands in the gap it is not going to get done. The world is not going to do it. It is not the world’s job to do it. It is the church’s job. I encourage you today to stand in the gap for the church. I encourage you to stand in the gap for our nation. Remember, intersession is standing in the gap for someone or something in prayer. So today I encourage you to intercede, stand in the gap for our nation. God is with us.
