On January 12, I was heavy of heart and prayed for God to send me a sign through whatever Bible passage I would read in order to give me peace.
I first opened it to a random page, but saw that it was one I had already recently read and bookmarked, so I turned it to another random page and started reading. It was in Ezekiel 22, and was about God deciding to allow Israel's destruction for its sins. I was starting to get even heavier of heart, thinking "Maybe it's a sign that this country is about to be handed over to its enemies like Israel was in Ezekiel's day." But then I got to verse 30:
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.
The verse struck me. Something about the idea of one man being able to hold off the destruction of a nation by standing before God on its behalf resonated with me. I looked the verse up on the Internet and saw to my shock that in most translations, the terminology used explicitly refers to building a wall (the "hedge" terminology in the KJV threw me off the track). Examples:
English Standard Version 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.
Berean Study Bible I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
Literal Standard Version And I seek from them a man making a wall, "" And standing in the breach before Me, "" In behalf of the land—not to destroy it, "" And I have found none.
NET Bible "I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.
New Heart English Bible "And I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
World English Bible I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
Young's Literal Translation And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land -- not to destroy it, And I have not found.
I also found this article:
Question: "What does it mean to stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30)?"
Answer: In Ezekiel 22:30 the Lord says, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” The word picture painted in this verse is that of a wall with a hole or a gap in it. A wall was the best means of protection in ancient times. A breach in the wall would let the enemy through. If there was a breach in the wall, defenders would have to swarm to that location and hold the breach. The gap would need to be repaired as soon as possible. If a breach was left unattended or unrepaired, the city would fall.
Ezekiel 22 summarizes the sins and abuses of the nation. As punishment for Israel’s sins, God says He will disperse them among the nations. He says in verses 30–31, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 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.” The “gap” here represents the danger facing Jerusalem: God’s wrath is about to break through in judgment on the sinful city. Was there no one who would, in righteousness, intercede on behalf of the city and seek God’s mercy? God searched for such a defender, but He could find none. It seems that, if someone had been willing to “stand in the gap,” the destruction of Jerusalem could have been avoided. Since no one was available or willing to defend the breach and rebuild the wall, judgment fell.
Similar wording is found in Psalm 106:23. This psalm summarizes the sins of Israel in the wilderness, primarily concerning the golden calf. Verse 23 explains, “So [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 petition on their behalf. In standing in the gap, he “stepped between the LORD and the people” (Psalm 106:23, NLT). Moses had been chosen for that very purpose.
The original story of Moses standing in the gap is found in Exodus 32:9–14: “‘I have seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘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,’ he said, ‘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.” To stand in the gap is to intercede and plead for God’s mercy.
In Ezekiel 22:30, God uses language that reminds the people of Moses’ actions centuries before. At Moses’ intercession, God had relented of His wrath in the wilderness. In Ezekiel’s day, there was no Moses. No one interceded for Israel. No one understood the danger God’s people were in. With no intercessor to stand in the gap, the destruction of Israel would be carried out.
To make matters worse, in Ezekiel 13, the false prophets in Israel are 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.
Besides Moses, there are several who have had the courage and insight to “stand in the gap” and intercede for others. In Genesis 18 Abraham intercedes for Sodom. Stephen prayed for those stoning him (Acts 7:60). Paul prayed for Israel’s salvation (Romans 10:1). And of course, the Lord Jesus 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).
In the New Testament, we are told to pray for others (1 Timothy 2:1). In God’s wisdom and sovereignty, He has chosen to use the prayers of people to accomplish His will. He still seeks those who will stand in the gap for friends and family, for people groups and nations. Like Abraham and Moses, we should be willing to stand in the gap, asking God to spare and to save.
https://www.gotquestions.org/stand-in-the-gap.html
The day that this happened was Tuesday, January 12, 2021 - the day that President Trump went to the town of Alamo, Texas to visit the border wall (he even autographed it that day).
What are the statistical odds that the passage that I would randomly read after asking for a sign, during a predicament in which this nation stands at the brink of essentially being handed over to its enemies, would be one referring to God only allowing a country's destruction because He didn't find a man to build a wall and "stand in the gap" (convince Him that the nation still has the potential to repent and should be spared), and on that same day, a man known largely for having a wall built and who has been trying his best to prove that America can be "made great again" (a slogan which implies that the country has fallen and needs redemption - something the false prophets of Ezekiel's day never acknowledged) would be standing beside the wall that he had ordered built?
Maybe we now have what Israel didn't have in Ezekiel's day: a man who builds a wall and stands in the gap. Maybe, because of him, America won't be handed into the hands of its enemies. I hope and pray so.
I love this thank you for sharing!
I've been thinking a lot about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot keeps asking God what if there are 50 righteous men.... will you still destroy the city? And God says no. What if there are 20 men? 10 men? 5 men? 1 man?
And God says if there was even 1 righteous man he would not destroy the city. But alas there were none.
Well there aren't none in America. Is there wickedness here? Yes. But there are so many righteous people in this nation. Righteous people fighting back against the evil before us. But we need some help. I pray that God reigns down on the evil and the corruption and it is a great beautiful awakening and revival.
I'm already hearing of so many people here on the .win communities that are coming to know the Lord. They can feel the spiritual war going on right now. There are bigger things going on here than we can see. This is why everyone is on edge. We can all feel the invisible war going on.
That’s exactly my thoughts, too. Every time I wonder if this is it, I’m reminded that God won’t abandon his people and throughout this last year, I have been so encouraged to see so many Christians emboldened in their faith or being converted. So there are many more than 50 people of faith here. I still pray for revival daily, though.
Mmmm. Good work Anon. I felt your message. God is so good. Ezekiel was an interesting prophet because got would use him as a message of his actions, instead of words. God had him perform various tasks as metaphors/analogies.
I became a little troubled too when all the traitors were showing their true colors. I have a moment of feeling defeated. I very much became reminded of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
Elijah had just performed a wonderful miracle and cleansed the wicked prophets but still heard that Ahab was angry at him. Depressed and Suicidal in the Desert he called out to God. And God told him that there was still “7,000” who did not kneel or bow to Baal.
Elisha and his apprentice were outnumbered. In the midst of certain defeat the apprentice cowered. Elisha comforted him and had God reveal the true number of their Allies in the heavens. Then the heaves revealed vast numbers of warriors ready for battle.
We can’t see all. There are much more faithful than we can see. There are more sent by the Lord than we can see.
He has the whole world in his hands. Amen.
Wow. The one who stands in the gap of the wall, the trump of God. Donald means world ruler. He is the true world ruler, the elected President, a representative of God and his nation, not Biden/atheist China/NWO. I believe God is at work right this moment.
I did once what you did here. I prayed a heartfelt prayer and opened the bible randomly, to see if God speaks to me. And it was amazing, because what I read fit the occasion of my prayer perfectly. I pray that what happened here is revelation!
Like a bridge over troubled water, there is definitely mercy reaching to fill that gap. Great read! The Holy Spirit is truly with you!
Beautiful write-up! Trump is literally a one-man army standing in the wall breach, taking on all the slings and arrows of the enemy for our nation. I can't even begin to imagine what this man had to endure for past four years. Re-reading this Trump quote brought me to tears:
God bless our president!
I need to watch the video again. Wasn't there a gap in the wall behind Trump?
This is amazing that prophecy lines up so well with it if I am recalling correctly.
Yep, gap centered directly behind him.
https://youtu.be/_czjiN1wEhg
Interesting read. I think Isreal is on thin ice too. Maybe Trump "is that man for them too". Lots of bad "jewish" actors in this movie and tensions with Iran at an all time high
Great post thank you.
Many compare Trump to Cyrus, but I don't see it except for recognizing Jerusalem. Cyrus furnished gold and let the Israelites go, but after that they were on their own. Nehemiah is more likely, the wall around Jerusalem was broken and Nehemiah got all the tribes organized and working together to rebuild. Or Jehu, who killed Ahab.