Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

The prophet Ezekiel lived at the same time as Jeremiah. He was exiled to Babylon in the first round of deportations, along with King Jehoiachin and much of upper class Judah. So while Jeremiah was prophesying in Jerusalem, Ezekiel was prophesying in Babylon.

Ezekiel is responsible for the famous prayer metaphor, “stand in the gap”.  He quotes God by saying, “I looked for someone . . . who would build up the wall and stand . . . 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” (Eze. 22:30 – 31).

This raises two questions:
First, what does it mean to stand in the gap?
And second, it seems to me that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were busy standing in the gap, so why couldn’t God find anyone to do the job?

First, what it means. Imagine a fortified wall, like the Great Wall of China or the wall Israel built against Palestine or the one President Trump wants along the Mexican border. Wherever there is a door or a gap in the wall, you need guards to keep out the undesirables. So the guards stand in the gap to protect the mother country.

One example of standing in the gap occurred during the exodus from Egypt. When God became angry at the Israelites for making a golden calf and calling it their god, Moses intervened. Psalm 106 tells the story this way:
    So [the Lord] said he would destroy them –
       had not Moses, his chosen one,
    stood in the breach before him
       to keep his wrath from destroying them (Ps 106:23).

Moses faced down God’s anger. He advised God that it was a bad idea to destroy the unfaithful people, and he persuaded God to change his mind.

Today, websites such as “Guardians of the Gap” and International House of Prayer in Kansas City are created by people who want to stand in the gap for their nation. A quick study of modern movements shows that they change the vision Moses and Ezekiel created in these ways:

1. They assign God’s interest to all nations of the world, not just to his special people Israel in Old Testament times. So they encourage “standing in the gap” for your nation, wherever it is in the world, even if the nation doesn’t have a contract with God like Israel did.
2. They don’t say much about facing down God’s anger and advising him not to act on it. God’s anger is a topic that gets lots of publicity in the Old Testament, but not much today.
3. They suggest a broader application than just standing in the gap to prevent national disasters like the exile. They stand in the gap for people they know, for churches, for parachurch ministries, and of course for various countries. Ezekiel might be surprised, but probably not opposed, to see how his turn of phrase has become a standing metaphor for Christian prayer two and a half millennia later. I’m pretty sure that two and a half millennia from today, my turns of phrase will be long forgotten.

Let’s pray.

Our father, the people of Israel didn’t create just a gap with the golden calf, they pretty much demolished their relationship with you. But when Moses argued on their behalf, you changed your mind and did not destroy them. Jeremiah and Ezekiel stood in the gap for Judah, watching the people violate their contract with you. But these prophets were unable to avert your fierce anger, and Babylon destroyed the city, the temple, and the political system.

Our father, are you angry with our western civilization as you were with Judah and Jerusalem?  Are you angry with modern Israel for their sins against you and their neighbours? If we stand in the gap, confessing the sins of our country, asking you to lose your anger and spare us from judgment, will you do it? In our time, are you willing to preserve our nation — our civil society and our national security and our way of life? Where does your kingdom fit into our world of 21st century nations?

Our father, shelter us under your wings of mercy. Help us keep faith with Christ in our living and our dying. Be our God and our Saviour in the preservation of our civilization or in its judgment and destruction.

Amen.  

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

The book of Jeremiah is the longest book in the Bible. It is mostly a collection of long prophetic poems that
– denounce Judah’s sins,
– predict the downfall of Jerusalem, and
– declare judgment on surrounding nations.

Occasional breaks in this monotonous prophetic material tell bits of Jeremiah’s story.

He was a prophet who was unhappy with his jobIt was no fun telling the Jerusalem establishment that God was angry with them, and that their political system, their temple, and their city would soon be destroyed. While Jeremiah preached sin and destruction, other more optimistic prophets were saying to the people, “Don’t listen to Jeremiah. God is not against us. He is for us. He will bring us lasting peace.” Little wonder Jeremiah was often embroiled in conflicts with these prophets.

After many years of predicting the fall of Jerusalem, it finally happened. The Babylonians invaded and conquered. Jeremiah lived through the Babylonian siege, he witnessed the destruction of city and temple, and he watched the forced exile of many Israelites.  For him, the only thing sadder than prophesying the disaster was living through it. That’s why Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet.

Let’s consider three of Jeremiah’s prayers. At one point he prays,
    “You deceived me, Lord . . .
       you overpowered me and prevailed.
    I am ridiculed all day long;
       everyone mocks me.
    Whenever I speak, I cry out
       proclaiming violence and destruction.
    Your word has brought me
       insult and reproach all day long.
    But if I say, ‘I will not mention your word
       or speak anymore in your name,’
    your word is like fire in my heart,
       a fire shut up in my bones.
    I am weary of holding it in;
       indeed, I cannot.”  (Jeremiah 7:7-9, paraphrased)

That’s Jeremiah’s prayer. “God, you tricked me into this prophetic ministry. All I get from it is ridicule and insults. But if I try to shut up, your word burns like fire in my bones. You’ve made me a volcano, spewing fire and brimstone whenever your word erupts. I’m tired of it, God, what am I to do?”

In another prayer he says,
Although our sins testify against us,
       do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.
For we have often rebelled;
     we have sinned against you.
    You who are the hope of Israel,
       its Savior in times of distress,
    why are you like a stranger in the land,
       like a traveler who stays only a night?
    Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
       like a warrior powerless to save?
    You are among us, Lord,
       and we bear your name;
       do not forsake us! (Jer. 14:7-9)

Jeremiah knew the pain of unanswered prayer, the feeling that God should show and do something, instead of letting the situation grew worse and worse.  

And a third prayer:
    Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
       it is not for them to direct their steps.
    Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
       not in your anger,
       or you will reduce me to nothing. (Jer. 10:23-24)

What a beautiful picture of life in God’s care. Our lives are not our own, we don’t direct our steps, we cannot control our fate. Discipline us, Lord. Teach us what we need to know, take us where we need to go. But do it gently, Lord, for we are fragile. If you are angry with us, you will destroy us.

Let’s pray.
Our father, like Jeremiah we often find your word embarrassing, out of touch with the thinking and values of our culture, and personally confusing. What is the right path for our present and future? Our lives our not our own, they are yours. Direct our steps Lord, discipline us gently. Do not destroy us, but save us.
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

When Isaiah was writing about the return of exiles to Israel, he included non-Israelites, saying:
    Foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord . . .
        these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
        for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.’ (Isa 56:6-7).

When Jesus drove the foreign exchange traders and merchandisers out of the temple, he quoted Isaiah saying, “‘‘Is it not written: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”? But you have made it “a den of robbers”.’” (Mark 11:17)

So what is this place Isaiah and Jesus call “a house of prayer”? It seems to be the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon built the original temple around 950 BCE, which the Babylonians destroyed about 400 years later in 587. About 70 years after that, some exiles returned from Babylon and built a second temple on the same spot, finishing it in 515 BCE. Five hundred years later, before and during the life of Jesus, Herod the Great did major renovations and additions to this second temple. Then about 40 years after Jesus’ death, the Romans destroyed it, and much of Jerusalem with it.

During Jesus’ life, the temple proper had three sections, one for priests, one for Israelite men, and one for Israelite women. Outside these exclusive areas was a general purpose area, the Court of the Gentiles, where  foreign exchange merchants set up their stalls and others sold animals and souvenirs.

Jesus’ anger at them seems odd to me.  Perhaps instead of getting angry and turning over tables, he could have invited some ecumenical dialogue about the problem. If I had been there I might have suggested that  there was room for everybody in the court of the Gentiles. Perhaps Jesus could build a small prayer chapel in one corner instead of overturning the whole operation.

Jesus, however, was decidedly NOT ecumenical. He was angry. The Jews said to him, “What authority do you have to do this?” Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days” (John 2:19). The Jews were stunned and dismissive of Jesus’ claim that he could build the temple on a three-day weekend. After all, Herod’s renovations had been in progress for 46 years. But John gets round this by explaining that Jesus was talking about the temple of his body, not the temple of Herod.

Here are some observations.

1. Jesus chose not to defend his anger or his authority for his actions in the temple. Instead, he mysteriously switched the meaning of “temple” from “this place Herod is renovating” to “my body.” That was a weird and confusing direction to steer the conversation.

2. Despite its history of being built and destroyed, Jesus had a deep respect for the temple, including the outer court. Places were important to Jesus: he fasted in the desert, he was baptized in the river, he wept over Jerusalem, he met Moses and Elijah on the mountain, he cleansed the temple. We too live our lives in places that impact us spiritually. A temple or a church is not “just a building” — it is a place with a history, a place with meaning and memories, a place where we might pray or meet God.

3. Finally, today, two thousand years after Jesus spoke and almost two thousand years after the temple was destroyed, we still resonate with Jesus’ words, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Where is that house today?

Let’s pray.
Our father, your house is a house of prayer for all nations. Help us participate in your project. Help us build a house of prayer in the temple of our bodies. Help us build a house of prayer in the cathedral of creation. Help us build a house of prayer in the cities of human civilization.
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel Pray with Me.