“I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone. Not one. So I’ll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they’ve done. Decree of God, the Master.”

Ezekiel 22:30, 31

I’m done “momming” by 8 p.m. every day. By that time of day my reserves of patience are empty, kaput, finito! The kids know this, and they know better than to come to me with anything less than an emergency after that time. The hour leading up to that is sometimes fraught with frantic energy to complete tasks they’ve had all day to complete. Don’t come at me with excuses, bro. Just get those chores done! “Let the Hulk smash,” has been uttered under many breaths during such times. Ha!

Is it a stretch to think that God took the same approach with Israel in Ezekiel 22? His people had ignored the prophets for decades about what was going to happen if they didn’t change their ways, and in the “last hour” the prophet Ezekiel had some harsh, and deserved, words for Israel. 

As a parent I never seek out ways I can punish my children for the pleasure of it, and I don’t nitpick ways they fall short for the sake of making them miserable. I want them to obey me the first time, because I want them to become the kind of people who obey God the first time.  I want them to learn how to do a job well, because a job well done represents who God is. 

God doesn’t seek out ways he can smite us when we fall short, and He doesn’t delight in our failings. He’s a loving Father who wants His children to obey and succeed. What’s a loving and just parent to do when his or her children refuse to listen and obey? In Ezekiel 22 God looked for someone to approach him with a contrite heart (v30) and the will to work to fix the problem(s), but He found none. The quickest way to disarm Hulk Mom is an interaction with contrite children who acknowledge they should have done x, y, z earlier in the day, and then quietly go about the business of completing the task without argument or attitude. 

God isn’t a tired, frustrated, and worn-out parent, nor is He on something of a hair-trigger like “Hulk Mom.” In Ezekiel he sought mediators. He sought and still seeks those who would rebuild boundaries between His people and idolatry and injustice. Modern day America isn’t exactly like Israel, but who God is and what God is looking for hasn’t changed. How can you stand in the gap and begin rebuilding right boundaries today?