And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
God searches Jerusalem for one person who will repair the broken wall and stand between Him and the coming ruin. He finds no one. Why does God look for a man before He judges? And what does it mean that He found none?
Why the Search Comes at This Point
The verse closes a long list of crimes by princes, priests, prophets and people. One writer notes that God waits until the evil is undeniable:
Numerical Bible NotesAs has been said elsewhere, God does not judge until the corruption is plain for all to see. He lets evil come to its full height before He strikes it. He will be shown right in His judgment, and clear when men judge Him. So what we read here is no longer history. It is not even the sins of the fathers showing up in the children. It is the state of things right now — the causes that made the coming judgment necessary.
The most alarming part of the list is who stands in it — the men who were meant to teach and guard the nation:
Numerical Bible NotesThe last word turns back once more to the corruption itself. It runs through every class of people, and the prophets and priests are named in this dark list too. When they are corrupt, hope is gone. Among all of them not one man was left ("and I sought for such," says the Lord) who could build up a fence to keep out the coming ruin, or stand in the breach before Him, so that He would not destroy the land.
God's Tenderness Before the Blow
The search itself shows God's heart. He is not eager to strike. One writer hears in it a note Jesus sounded later:
W. T. P. WolstonJudgment must have its way, but one cannot help noticing God's tenderness toward His people before the blow fell. It is a striking reminder of the blessed Lord's words at a later date: "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!"
The Gap, and the Window That Closes
To stand in the gap is to pray for people under God's anger. Jeremiah did this — until God told him to stop:
J. N. DarbyLet us remember that the Lord is "slow to anger." Jeremiah faced outrageous provocation, and much of it was aimed at him — the insults meant for the Lord fell on him. Yet poor Jeremiah could appeal to God, and tell Him how he had stood in the gap to turn away His anger from the people. Then the Lord said to him, "Do not pray for this people," and the anger took its course. For intercession is always the place for the one who has the mind of God. It is how he makes a way for God's love, until the place for intercession is closed.
The Man Who Once Filled the Breach
Israel had known such a man before. That memory makes the empty search here sadder — and the writer leaves something for those who feel unequal to the task:
G. C. WillisIn days of old God said that He would destroy Israel "had not Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them" (Ps. 106:23)… How sad this is! The Lord is seeking for one man to be true to Him, one man to stand in the breach like Moses or Paul, but He found him not. Perhaps our day seems like this, as we see the enemy coming in like a flood (Isa. 59:19). And though we may not have the faith or courage to follow these noble servants of old, we may at least "be grieved for the breach" that we see all around us today. In Ezekiel 9:4 we see that the Lord puts His special mark on those who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done.
The Man at God's Right Hand
Isaiah records the same search, with the same result — and then God acts Himself. That changes everything for today:
H. J. Vine"He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought Him salvation" (Isa. 59:16)… We cannot now say, "there is no man," for there is a Man at the right hand of God, who is the Head of the assembly… We cannot now say, "there is no intercessor." Christ died for us, God raised Him up again, and He is now "at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us" (Rom. 8:34)… He is able to save His own completely, and He "always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).
Summary
- Searched. God does not strike while the evil is in doubt. He lets it come out into the open. Then He looks for one person to stand between Him and the ruin.
- Sought. The search itself is mercy — the same heart that later said, "How often would I have gathered your children."
- Standing. To stand in the gap is to intercede — to make a way for God's love. Moses did it. Jeremiah did it, until God closed the door on his praying.
- Silence. When prophets and priests are corrupt, hope is gone. No one is left to build up the fence.
- Supplied. What Ezekiel could not find, God provided in Himself. There is now a Man at God's right hand who always lives to intercede.