“I looked for someone among them [to] stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not destroy it.” Ezekiel 22:30

If you’ve traveled to London and ridden The Tube, you’ve heard that robotic voice warn, every time the doors open, Mind The Gap! It’s a serious warning for our protection - the gap between the platform and subway is often substantial. No one wants to fall into that. We need a warning since being aware and exercising caution will save us from harm. 

With some of their countrymen captive in Babylon, those remaining in Jerusalem feel confident they’ve been spared. They still have their city and Temple, after all. But this “security” will be short-lived. From Babylon, Ezekiel voices God’s warnings against priests, officials, prophets, and ordinary citizens for their continued “detestable practices” (16:2; 22:25-29). They have completely failed to mind the gap between how God commanded them to live and the sin and idolatry into which they’ve fallen. That gap is quickly closing; they’re becoming more like their captors; another exile is coming; God is ready to dispense judgment (22:31). 

But He makes one final plea for someone to not just warn against the gap but to “stand in the gap before Him on behalf of the people” (22:30). It’s as if the Tube voice materialized into a person and stood there for those whose vision has been so clouded that they ignore the gap and walk straight into it. God has warned so often and so long, but the Israelites still haven’t heeded the voice to mind the gap! that should be keeping them culturally and religiously separate. Is there no Moses, Abraham, or Esther who sees the danger coming, who is willing to stand in that gap, to intercede with God for the Israelites?

What gaps do we as Christians need to mind between what we’ve been taught and what we do, between what we say we believe and how we act? What gaps do churches need to mind between what they preach and what they perform in their communities? Our nation, founded on Christian principles, has obvious gaps. Left unattended, gaps get breached by our enemy, and we grow less attuned to God’s warnings. Who will not only voice the warning about the gap but also stand in the gap, to intercede with God for us, for our churches, for our country?

God wants to bless, not condemn, and as He calls out, mind the gap!, we need to pay attention to the danger ahead and then pray, not casually but with passion, not only individually but corporately, pleading for God’s mercy and redemption. 

As we approach July 4, may we be especially willing to plead for our country, naming those gaps specifically, aiming to deflect God’s judgment in favor of His blessing.