God appointed Ezekiel to serve as a watchman, but many Christians are not aware the role of the watchman is an ongoing responsibility, as Ezekiel reminds us: “ Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say… ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people…take a man…and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come…he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning;…his blood shall be upon his own head….But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman…blow not the trumpet and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person…his blood will I require at the watchman’s” (Ezekiel 33:2-6, KJV).
In the New Testament there were many who stood in the gap and served as watchmen. John the Baptist denounced wicked king Herod, for which he was beheaded. Jesus Christ cried out against the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, who sought to kill Him, but He continued to urge them to repent. Enoch and Noah stood in the gap in the pre-flood world, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did so during the patriarchal age. Deborah, a prophetess and judge of Israel stood in the gap along with Barak and defeated the king of Canaan, freeing Israel from oppression. Gideon believed God and along with 300 men delivered Israel from the Midianites. Moses stood in the gap and led Israel out of Egypt, and David fought Goliath. Elijah confronted the wicked priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, and Esther stood in the gap when her people faced extinction at the hands of Haman.
The Apostles faced continual persecution. Although they were threatened, beaten, thrown into prison, and even killed, they continued to proclaim the Gospel message with boldness and courage. They rejoiced in being counted worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5:41). In chapter 13 Ezekiel warns: Thus says the Lord God; “Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! …Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord” (Ezekiel 13:3-5). He goes on to describe their deceitful practices in crying peace when there is no peace.
We are now living in that period of time in which the prophet Isaiah described “evil is called good; and good is called evil” (Isaiah 5:20). He describes a time in which “truth is fallen into the street” and there is no judgment in the land. Those who would stand in the gap and cry out against the evil are made a prey (Isaiah 59:14-15), becoming the object of scorn and ridicule. Yet God still urges Isaiah to write, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1).
We must obey God rather than give in to being influenced to ignore God and His way of life and decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. Christians have been called to come out of this world, and the time will come when those who stand in the gap will be hated (Matthew 24:9) because they have revealed Satan’s approach for what it really is.
There is no middle ground with God. Jesus declares, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30, NKJV). We are commanded to: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). We must stand in the gap and like the Apostle Paul, “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
