See Ezekiel 22:29-31. The Lord was looking for someone to stand out from the immoral and corrupt crowd to stand in the gap but there was no one and judgment was certain to fall. God wants life dealers. These people want to make a difference where they are and leave things in a better condition than when they arrived. They want to flow out to other people unlike the Dead Sea where rivers only flow in and not out. We can make a difference but we first of all have to be spiritually awake! We should not be like “zombies” or the opportunity will pass by and may never return.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18-19 highlights this as God is angered by the sin of the cities and is determined to take a look and see if it should face his wrath.

1. Abram stands in the gap

Abram gets involved in a trading match with God about the number of righteous people needed to stop God’s judgment. He starts from 50 but stops at 10 for some unknown reason. It is possible that Abram realised that with Lot and his family there that ten was a safe figure. He might not have gone lower because he had the maturity to balance between justice and mercy.

2. The angels could not stand in the gap

The two angels eventually meet with Lot at the gates of the city. Lot offers to put the angels up at his house. He knows that the streets are not safe. The evil men of the city decide that they want to abuse these two visitors. This was not the way to treat strangers. Could the angels step in the gap?  The worldly church would have a solution for the angels which would be to compromise and go along with things. The angels should join the party and then try to bring them around to their way of thinking in time. However, the reason the angels were there was because time was already up! It is difficult to think of anything more inhospitable to strangers than seeking to commit homosexual gang rape! Homosexuality wasn’t the only sin in Sodom and Gomorrah but it seems it was the final straw for God. See Ezekiel 16:49-50 and Jude 7.

3. Lot misses the opportunity to stand in the gap

Lot has a compromise solution that was also crazy – he offers his own daughters to be abused by homosexual men. Things are now so bad that any decent person wouldn’t want to live there but there are so few to be found. This angers the mob and now Lot is being threatened and the angels have to grab Lot into the house and strike all the men with blindness. The angels tell Lot to get out as the city is going to be destroyed. Lot wants to go to a little city rather than the mountains. When Lot and his two daughters get to Zoar the angels destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, Lot’s wife lingers to long and looks back and becomes a pillar of salt.

God is not wanting to destroy and looks for those who will stand in the gap. Where was God’s charity to mankind? See 1 John 4:16. God has a love for all mankind and it is always there. It would have required one person to make a difference. Abram had stopped at ten but in the end much less than that leave alive (three only). It was Lot who had the opportunity. The angel could not do anything until Lot leaves and they can’t touch the place where he going to flee. Lot was in the gap and he doesn’t even know it! Grace was there but it was missed. Lot had missed his calling because he had compromised too much. Abram had already stood in the gap. Lot had been selfish in choosing the best for himself instead of his uncle. He is focused on himself and pitches first of all his tent near Sodom and Gomorrah but is soon in the city. It says in 2 Peter says he was a righteous man who was tormented by the sin of Sodom. He behaved not as a righteous man. You may not behave as righteous but righteousness is something that is implanted.

4. We must stand in the gap

We make a difference whether we realise it or not. How bad would the world be if the church was not here? How bad would work be without you there? Jesus told many parables. The kingdom of God is hidden like in the parable of the pearl. The message is hidden so we are challenged to find it. We need to seek the hard stuff so that we can answer the hard questions. Lot could have stayed and made a difference. What a difference he could have made if he had woken up from his slumber to regain his spiritual life. It could have been a whole different story. It could have been like the story of Jonah who was reluctant but God showed mercy when the people repented. The disciples were miffed that Jesus was rejected in a village and they wanted to bring judgment down like Sodom and Gomorrah! We need to watch and listen and hear God’s voice so we can stand in the gap. Destruction is not automatic as there is often a way of escape. This is the way of God’s grace. It is a way to escape judgment. Lot missed the opportunity to be that agent of life and so death and destruction rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah. See Ephesian 5:15 and Colossians 4:5. We are to make the most of our opportunities as we live in evil times.

Categories: Genesis