Who stands in the gap?

Nothing new.
I read Ezekiel 22 today. I was amazed at how, when God describes to the prophet, all the things that he disdains about the practices of Jerusalem, how much it sounds like what is going on in our “modern” society.

He says that this is what was going on in Jerusalem:
They treat father and mother with contempt (v. 7)
They mistreat the fatherless and the widow (v. 7)
They despise my holy things and desecrate my Sabbaths (v. 8)
They are slanderous men bent on shedding blood (v. 9)
They commit lewd acts (v. 9)
They dishonor their fathers' bed (v. 10)
They violate women (v. 10)
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 (v. 11)
They accept bribes to shed blood (v. 12)
They take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from their neighbors by extortion (v. 12)
They devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows (v. 25)
The priests do violence to my law (v. 26)
The officials are like wolves tearing their prey (v.27)
They shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain (v. 27)
The prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. (v. 28)
They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'-when the LORD has not spoken. (v. 28)
The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery (v. 29)
They oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice (v. 29)

Something new.
The Lord says a lot of interesting things in this chapter. I love the following verse:

When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD (v. 16)

It seems that He is saying that after all the abuse that Jerusalem takes, then, they will finally “know that I am the Lord.” It made me think of the fountain of Zechariah 13:1 and the looking and mourning of Revelation 1:7.

The chapter ends this way:

I looked for a man 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 none. 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. (Ezekiel 22:29-31)

Isn’t that sad that there was no one to “stand in the gap?” The ultimate gap filler is the Messiah. Some day they will see who He really is. I am so excited for this. But for now …

… you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD. (v. 12)

the END