God Is Still Looking For Men To Stand In The Gap
By Rev. Gregory E. Singleton
Ezekiel 22:23, 29-30
23 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
29 The people of the land have used oppression, exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
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.
Put simply, we live in perilous times, maybe even unprecedented times. The devil is unleashing fury on the earth as we have never seen before. From the havoc the weather is causing worldwide to the strain that the pandemic has placed on individuals, families, and businesses to the seeming freedom for some groups to voice their negative (hear: segregationist) opinions and actions. And please know I have yet to mention wars and rumors of wars and the growing revelation of just how many mentally ill persons are among us and mentally ill persons with guns and knives running from school to school, mall to mall, home to home, even from church to church. Add to the previously mentioned issues the attacks on civil rights (including voting rights), especially people of color and those trying to immigrate to our county.
I previously stated that we live in unprecedented times, but as we know, the Bible says there’s nothing new under the sun. Such a time that is at least equal to our times is illustrated in the 22nd Chapter of Ezekiel. God uses Ezekiel’s mouth to list the sins of Jerusalem that would lead to God’s judgment and punishment. The princes in power used their power to shed blood and ignore fathers and mothers, whom they treated with contempt. They cheated and mistreated undocumented Hispanics, orphans, and widows. God’s Holy things were being despised, and God’s Sabbath used to go to the game – I’m sorry, God’s Sabbath was misused. They were making trips to the mountains and committing all sorts of lewdness. They did not care who they slept with (even committing incest) or even when women were in the midst of their cycle. Performing murder for hire (accepting bribes to shed blood) and operating check cashing joints, I mean cheating poor people by charging outrageous interest. And worse of all, they forgot about the Lord. Doesn’t that sound just like today?Instead of leaders and ministers keeping the people accountable for their actions, we are out there with them. Make no mistake, God’s eyes are upon us – when the sons of God were taking the daughters of men and having children with them, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that EVERY imagination of his heart was only evil continually. The Bible says it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at His heart – And the Lord said I will destroy man… But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord – God is Still Looking for Men to Stand in the Gap. In Luke the 5th Chapter, Luke describes how when the friends of a paralyzed man found they could not get in the door where Jesus was, they tore through the roof and let him down right in front of Jesus – Jesus saw the faith of his friends and healed him and forgave his sins – God is still Looking for men to Stand in the Gap!
In The Gap:
Boys need mentors and father figures – not groomers!
Girls need father figures – Men that act like men, not players, low-rate pimps, and gangsters!
Women need men to lead them to God and not men that try to take them to the hotel – they need men they can lean on!
Men need mentors that don’t judge – just Pray!
God is looking for men to stand when so many fall for every trick the devil throws.
God is looking for men to stand praying because prayer still works!
God is looking for men to stand Believing – Believing with their hearts and not their eyes!
Men to stand as Soldiers with clean lips and hearts; Soldiers dressed in the armor of God: righteousness, peace; faith; salvation, and sword!
God is still asking, “Who will go for us?” Can you say:
Here I am, Lord, send me!
Rev. Gregory E. Singleton is the pastor of Pine Grove African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hodges, South Carolina, in the Seventh Episcopal District.
