ICS Daily Devotions
Will You Stand in the Gap?
Job 1:10 (NKJV) Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
God builds a hedge of protection around His people, because He is a loving, gracious, merciful and faithful God who watches over His covenant people. There is no evil or darkness in Him at all.
It was revealed in the Book of Job that the devil could not make any inroad to attack Job because God had made a hedge around Job, his family and possessions. God was pleased with Job because he was a blameless and upright man, who feared God and shunned evil (Job 2:3), though the same could not be said of his children and his wife.
Isaiah 5:5 (NKJV) And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
In this instance, the people of Israel had gone into bigotry, idolatry and practised injustice despite God’s abundant love and care. Therefore, God permitted the pagan invaders to trample over the nation when the hedge of protection and the walls were removed. If the people of Israel had walked and abided in the laws and statues of God, the curses and the attacks of the enemies wouldn’t have happened. We need to understand that because God is just, righteous and holy, man’s act of sin or rebelliousness will inevitably cause a hole or a gap to appear in the hedge, and this gap will enable the devil to make inroads to steal, kill and destroy us.
Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV) So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
According to this Scripture, God in His mercy, was looking for someone to make a wall, and stand in the gap before Him on behalf of the land, that He wouldn’t have to destroy it. Unfortunately He found no one. This implies that if we stood in the gap and interceded on behalf of someone or a country, there could possibly be a change of action or intervention by God. In the Old Testament or the New Testament alike, God is always searching for people to intercede or stand in the gap. Therefore, we must be willing to sacrifice our time to do so when we are called so that He can extend His mercy and grace to the people or the situation.
Sermon Series: I Have You Covered
