Where Are the Courageous Among Us?
“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.” Ezekiel 22:30
The following blog content is taken from notes that I wrote 37 years ago, and the words from the prophet Ezekiel are just as apropos today as they were over 2500 years ago. Not much has changed for sinful men and women. Whether things are worse now or whether it appears so because there are so many more people with the propensity to sin, it is for sure that people are still doing what’s right in their own eyes. The theme of Ezekiel, Chapter 22, is that God will send His judgment on a society that does not worship and obey Him. Many people think that God has no authority over them because they do not follow Him. However, as Christians know, God has, always has, and forever will have authority over all people.
The main subject of Ezekiel’s message is to the people of Jerusalem for their disobedience and idolatry, but the message is just as relevant, if not more so, for today. There were two charges that God raised against the people of Jerusalem. The first one was the shedding of blood, that is, murder and human sacrifice to idols. In addition, the oppression of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow was about as bad because they were deprived of a decent life. Economic advantage was taken over the disenfranchised. Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22 that one didn’t have to kill someone to be in danger of judgment. To be angry with someone without a cause, call him a name, or curse him made the angry person just as guilty as if he had killed the other person. We live in much the same circumstances. Abortion is likely the number one cause of death of infants. Also, folks, particularly the aged, are scammed and taken advantage of on a daily basis.
The second charge against God’s people was idolatry. In ancient days, images and statues were worshiped as if they had some power attached to them. However, an idol is not just a graven image, it is anything that one puts in the place of God. Idolatry is a matter of the heart. The emphasis in Judah was on power, sexual pleasure, and wealth, just as it is in our day. Our society is no freer of idolatry than those folks in Judah were. In Ezekiel 22:5-12, we have the account of a sick society: murder, parents were ignored, foreigners were forced to pay “protection” money, orphans and widows were preyed upon, the things of God were hated, the sabbaths were ignored, prisoners were falsely accused and put to death, idols and lewdness were everywhere, adultery was rampant, hit-men, loan sharks, and extortioners were everywhere, and God was abandoned. This sure is beginning to sound familiar.
It wasn’t just certain classes of people that were involved in this sinful breakdown of society; but every major class of people was corrupted. The leaders, priests, prophets, and the people in general were all guilty. The princes of Judah were the political leaders. The ruling family was supposed to keep justice and righteousness, yet they had become greedy and selfish. We have all seen on television how a lion makes its prey so fearful that it becomes paralyzed and thereby caught. These princes did likewise in intimidating and taking advantage of the commoners to get the best and most they could. Anyone ever heard of “cancel culture”? The religious leaders were just as guilty of violating God’s law. Instead of serving God and setting a good example, they were profaning (making common, treating sacred things with irreverence or contempt) what was holy. They were not keeping the sabbath holy nor teaching the people to keep it holy. Modern day preachers who deny the Virgin Birth and/or the sinlessness of Christ are also making God common instead of glorifying Him. Today, Sunday is just another day to shop, do chores, or go anywhere but church. The Lord’s Day has been made common by the majority of people in our nation. Of course, Sunday is not the sabbath, but, as the Christian day of worship, Sunday should be set aside as a day of relative escape from the demands of business and weekly obligations.
The prophets were guilty because they supported the idolaters. They were “whitewashing” the truth which is also what preachers today are doing when they are tickling the ears of the people rather than preaching hard truth. The common folks were not innocent either. They treated the poor like dirt but would pass the blame for the outcomes onto others. God had no choice but to pass judgment upon them. The destruction of Jerusalem and Judah by the Babylonians was almost total.
But first, God attempted to give them one last chance. Who would step up to build up again the wall of righteousness to protect the land. All the sin and corruption of the people had caused a gap to come into the wall and the only way to repair it was to find someone righteous enough to stand in it and hold society together, one who could lead the people to repentance. Ezekiel had given the warnings and that was all that he could do. Abraham had pleaded for God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he could find ten righteous persons (Genesis 18:23-33). Only one righteous person was needed for Judah, but not even one could be found. Judgment was at hand.
If God didn’t spare Judah, His own people, nor Sodom and Gomorrah, what are the chances that He will spare America, a land founded upon the principles of scripture by people who loved God? I would guess that the chances are slim and none, unless some folks will have the courage to step up and fill the gap and call for repentance, before judgment falls hard and fast.