"And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”
So why was God seeking a man who could rebuild the wall:::: let's look at Ezekiel 22 and see if we draw comparisons to the US today....
22 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst ( abortion and haresting body parts)and defiles herself by making idols,( greed, power, self seeking, so many) 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.
6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. (our government's agenda to support abortion) 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; )This item has huge implications in Malachi... will discuss in future) for now let us remember the chaos in schools and communities where youths are fighting all forms of authority, police, teachers, principals, community gang activities) in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.( God's holy covenant has been desecrated with the marriage amendment) 9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. 10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. Immorality is rampant and good is evil and evil good if you watch the television which brings filth into our homes and pornography is prolific 12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord. (We have not only forgotten Him but He is pushed out!)
Verses 13-29 continue to explain how God's wrath with come on the people.... He sent Ezekiel to warn the people and then God looked to see if there was one righteous who would rebuild the wall before him and come before the people in intercession.... But there was none! Verse 31 continues
31 "So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
One of my favorite Bible Scholars is Derek Prince (1915-2003) You can find much of his teaching on youtube and he authored hundreds of books.... I gleaned much of the next information from his book, Will You Intercede? He shows us that there were at least 4 great interceders in the Old Testament and he points out several main features that an necessary for an intercessor as witnessed through these great heroes who plead for God to relent and turn His wrath from the people:
- intimacy with God~ men like Abraham and Moses who walked with and talked with God
- boldness~ Abraham and Moses both actually challenged God
- conviction of God's absolute justice~ Abraham and Daniel both were completely convinced that the God's judgment was just due to the sin of the people
- desire for God's glory to be manifest and not for personal gain~ here we can think of Moses how God wanted to make of him a great nation and Moses didn't want the glory but for God to be lifted higher
- Conviction of the cause even at the risk of personal life~ Daniel and Esther
- Identifying with those for whom they were interceding~ Daniel and Esther
Then we look again Isaiah 59:15 the people were so wicked and backsliddened , there was so much corruption and violence, " Truth cannot be found anywhere. And people who refuse to do evil are attacked. The Lord looked and could not find any justice. And he was displeased."
Some versions say God was appalled! When not one faithful, and true believer couldt not be found you might say the case was hopeless..
In Ezekiel, God said ,"Again a message came to me from the LORD: 24“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain" Scholars look at the word " rain " and it can be construed as the lack of rain of the Holy Spirit on the people...
Princes Book asks us to continue with Ezekiel 22 to find out who is guilty of bringing the land under God's just judgment:
Princes: government and it's rulers
Prophets and priests: spiritual leaders
People: us
what was their aim in every case.... personal interests... they failed the nation through their self seeking and corrupt, wayward ways,,,, they were a crooked people who had forgotten God....
So the "walls of the city" had crumbled God's protective hand.... God sought even one person who would rebuild the line of communication with Him but there was not one...
Let's get more personal now....shall we?
What about our community... city... nation??My husband and I attend our local Intercessors for America group in our fair town.... only one such group in a city and county of nearly 200,000. people and an area of dozens of churches. We meet in a living room of a home every first Friday of the month to intercede for the nation, society, the church , and Israel. On any given meeting night I have never seen over a dozen .. and always the same dedicated ones.... I suppose there is but a remnant of folks in our city who care enough to think about pleading for the nation.... I don't mean to sound judgmental, but I do think it very sad knowing how very far our nation has fallen away from God, and so few who are willing to give up a couple of hours a month to seek God's face! Knowing the deep darkness that is spreading over our own community... drugs, human trafficking, violence, even known witchcraft in our area. Our city needs transformation. We need the cleansing rains of the Holy Spirit to wash us anew... but again.. it can not happen until floods of God';s people decide to remove the basket from their light and become God's salt in the earth...Where are the intercessors, the image bearers, the ones through their daily living attract the world to the Lover of our souls to the dying world...
