A Man in the Gap

Ezekiel 22:30 KJV

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.

For years I have heard this preached pleading for Christians to stand in the gap. But a thought came to me today:

• Isn't Jesus that man?
• Doesn't Christ stand between God and the ruin of man?
• Isn't it true that all, in any history of time, would have found grace through Christ if only they had believed?

And then there is the question, "What about the prophets?" In the text Ezekiel has been transported back in time to before the captivity. In those days there were prophets like Jeremiah and good men like Daniel. But Jeremiah had been commanded not to pray for them.

And here is, I think the key to the passage; not that there was no man at all, but that God's judgment was already determined upon them. It was too late for an intermediary. If they would repent of their own accord there could have been mercy, but it had to have been their of their own. They have, in a fashion, gotten down to Abraham's ten righteous in the city. Abraham had done what he could do. It was of their account to repent now. Like Jonah in Nineveh, the judgment was pronounced. God sent Jonah to preach one more time and in his case, they did repent. Not so Israel.

And so it is in our day. The prayers, the pleading and the preaching of the godly will only extend the grace of God so far. Judgment will come if there isn't personal repentance. Christ stands ready to forgive, but there must be the personal trusting upon him.

May God grant that men and women will be serious concerning sin and turn to Christ.