TIME TO STAND IN THE GAP

It is time to stand in the gap for your Nation. Standing in the gap is a form of intercessory prayer where our prayers bridge the gap between God and people who are cut off from God’s presence. When we stand in the gap in prayer, we pray for God’s help, mercy, intervention and forgiveness on the behalf of individuals, groups of people or nations. I have entitled this message Time to Stand in the Gap, after the often-quoted scripture of Ezekiel 22:30.

Ezekiel was on duty during a precarious time. In Ezekiel 3:17-21, God speaks to Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.”

The people had sinned and failed to call on their God and were exiled in Babylon. We find in Ezekiel 13 that the false prophets in Israel were condemned because they had not repaired the breach in the wall. Instead of standing in the gap, they simply denied that judgment was going to come. God is livid with His people. No one understood the danger they really faced. The situation parallels in many ways what we face today with such moral depravity and a society seeking to remove God from everything in its life and inserting the evil agenda of Satin.

We know better and God has given us complete revelation, and authority to go with it. Yet we turn a blind eye to sin or say it is not our job. When we read the account in Ezekiel it sounds like “danger close” which is military terminology used when the enemy is about to over run your position and artillery is called in almost on top of your position. But Saints, this is our God that is so angry that He is ready to destroy His people because no one would appeal to Him for mercy and help. It would be far worse today if some of us were not standing in the gap for our nations interceding for mercy and grace. A hardened heart today places you on a fast track to hell. Redemption is still possible, but you are really rolling the dice to not repent today because you may not see tomorrow.

So, let’s examine Ezekiel 22. God is extremely unhappy with Israel and her sins. They are spiritually bankrupt and are falling farther and farther away from their God. This is no different from the spiritual deficiency and moral depravity of the nations of the world today. Through Ezekiel, God calls attention to many of Israel’s issues and failures and states that they need not be destroyed if someone would step up to build the wall and stand in the gap. In Ezekiel 22:24-31, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, saying, “Son of man, say to her: You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation. 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. 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. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get 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 of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. 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. 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.

God found in Daniel, a contemporary of Ezekiel, one that would stand in the gap for his people in Babylonian captivity. Daniel was in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace and Ezekiel with the people. In Daniel’s intercession God sends the Angel Gabriel to give him skill and understanding. God reveals to Daniel the coming Messiah, Tribulation and Millennium as well as confirmation of covenant. The Book of Daniel holds the key to understanding the entire end times. Daniel’s dreams and visions are prophetic to the Gentiles as well as his own people the Jews. He unseals the eschatology of the end times and the time of the Gentiles. The Gentiles had the Holy City of Jerusalem for 2553 years until the 6 Day War of 1967 when the Jewish nation was reborn in one day and the countdown to the millennial reign of Christ began. The prophetic significance of this important time is that Jerusalem must be in Jewish hands for Armageddon to commence.

The accounts of Ezekiel and Daniel are not an isolated event but rather a Kingdom concept that is requisite to moving the arm of God to bring light that parts the darkness. In Genesis 18 we find Abraham standing in the gap for Sodom. In Exodus 32:9-14 we find the account of Moses standing in the gap. The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God.  “Lord, why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, it was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” Psalm 106 summarizes the sins of Israel in the wilderness, primarily concerning the golden calf. Can you fathom the sheer audacity of the priest and people creating an idol while Moses is risking his life on their behalf to enter the very presence of God? In verse 23 God said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. Moses stood in the gap and saved the people of Israel with his intercession on their behalf. In standing in the gap, he “stepped between the LORD and the people” Moses had been chosen for that purpose, for, to stand in the gap is to intercede and plead for God’s mercy.

Satan never rests and will never give up, even though delusional about his chances of achieving his desire. We know that when all is said and done that we will rule and reign as Kingdom coinheritors with our Lord Jesus, who is the master of standing in the gap, praying from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34), and continuing to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25). Even though Jesus the Godman sealed the deal when He handed Satan his future fate via His cross and resurrection – even though He took His Blood to the throne room of Father God and placed it on the mercy seat – even though He intercedes for us 24/7 never ceasing, we are not relieved of our responsibility to stand in the gap. The reason why is easy to grasp in that we hold the keys, therefore we are in the breach. A day is as a thousand years in eternal time. God has the overall blueprint and a breadth of patience and mercy that we will never fully comprehend. He watches and chuckles at our often-futile attempts to do His bidding here on the earth. Nevertheless, we must fight through the present darkness. We can’t rest on our laurels believing we are almost there. We must fight for the harvest we have been assigned. The first century disciples of Jesus really believed that the Lord would return in their day but did the work anyway. They modeled Ecclesia and no matter how badly following generations failed to hit the mark our assurance of eternity exists because men and women stood in the gap. Though the Father’s plan has always been in motion, consider that you and I have heard the Gospel because somewhere the fervent prayer of a righteous soul ensured that we would have the opportunity. We are indebted to assure the same for our families and those that we encounter during our sojourn here. I believe we are on the precipice of the great and final harvest to bring in the Millennium, but only Father knows. The intensity of evil and Biblical clues would surely indicate and facilitate this view. At present I witness an unraveling of my nation that I never would have thought possible but is happening before our very eyes. But my hope is in God, and I am therefore able to retain my sanity and by faith decree it is not over and we win. We win because God has a special covenant cut with this nation and the nation of Israel. Why does Islam refer to these two nations as the infidels that must be destroyed? Obvious, isn’t it?  All the nations are the inheritance of Jesus, and we are joint inheritors with Him. Though my heart aches to get back to my beloved Africa, my assigned apostolic metron, my primary focus must be my forerunner nation and Israel. Though I never wanted to return to Jacksonville, Florida, the place of my birth, it was Divinely orchestrated. What happened in this region was that a group of French Huguenots stood in the gap for this great nation and their martyrdom established the hallowed ground near my residence as the “tip of the spear.” I don’t have time to get into that here (if interested read my book Jacksonville – The Tip of the Spear) but suffice it to say God has heard the blood of the martyrs crying out for redemption and vindication. He has heard the current cry of intercessors and decrees of the regional Ecclesia. He has shown the prophets and apostles what He wants to emanate from this region, that being a mighty move of God to restore our nation. Four of us, now three as one has attained his eternal reward, have stood in the gap giving one day a week in corporate prayer for over four years toward this crucial task. We in great faith are moving Father’s arm. Prior to this alliance the saint that passed and his friend stood in the gap for Florida traveling to and interceding in all 67 counties to ensure that Florida, a key state, would vote for the President that would change the playing field in this nation’s struggle against evil. I iterate this to show the value and significance of just one or several willing to stand in the gap and pray the will of God.

We win because many including myself are standing in the gap. Until we intercede our efforts are in vain because we can’t move the arm of God without this action. Remember as Psalm 1 tells us that He is ever with us and will never forsake us – that is covenant and God will never go contrary to his word. The Psalm says we are set apart from the wicked and we will see them perish. When we stand in the gap, we change the playing field through intercession that invokes the intervention of God and His angels. We can stand unshakable in our most Holy Faith and witness the miraculous of the Almighty fight our battles. When you put these truths into perspective, with attainment of faith, you reach that peace that defies the world’s understanding, and you are able to stand through whatever befalls you. If you will really let these truths speak to you, it will embolden you as well as bring that peace that surpasses all understanding. May you be blessed and prosper today and always in Jesus name. Amen and amen.