WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17
Scripture: Ezekiel 13:1-5

It is certainly interesting that Ezekiel had to stand and prophecy a transition to his nation. And that transition is still amazing to us today because it was extremely dramatic. Ezekiel 13:1-5 says, “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, “Hear the word of the Lord!”’ Thus says the Lord God: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.’” Ezekiel was identifying a point when satan is no longer the biggest problem that believers have in their generation. God had become the biggest problem they had. The reason that transition had arrived was because when the cup of iniquity reached a point where it demanded God’s intervention, He intervened! When the Spirit warns such a transition is beginning, it is the vital job of the prophets and leaders to prepare the people as a wall against evil. The church’s job is to stand in the gap when God’s Judicial Hand begins to manifest. Because once the cup of iniquity begins to fill, God will visit the evil present in the land. His Judicial action is forthcoming! The question from that point on is, can the believers stand in the fire? If we, as leaders, build them into the people they should be, they can stand in that moment and the nation can be restored. But those who have diluted Bible truths, those who have compromised their pulpit with a mixed-seed message, have created a breach that can compromise a nation. Over and over again in Scripture we find Moses having to live out this pattern. Whether it was the leaders in the church who went down alive into hell or a people who died by a plague, this pattern was consistently repeated. The book of Ezekiel warns about seasons like this but we act like everything has changed. Yet, in our present culture, we hear teachings that sin is not a problem because all judgment fell on Jesus. God is the same yesterday, today and forever – He has not changed. His standard of righteousness is the same now as it was then. And while Jesus’ blood bridges that gap, He still judges any contradictory teaching as undeniably mixed-seed. The testimony of the book of Revelation including the testimony of the book of Acts makes it very clear. Ezekiel says the principle of the watchman is as real today as when it was written. Jesus has not changed!