Did a warm up on the circle and headed to the soccer field at St. Michael. Teamed up to do 100 dry docks, 200 squats, and 300 LBCs. One PAX did the exercises while the other ran across the field and back. Then we went to the parking lot at Georgetown Presbyterian. PAX planked up and took turns running to the other side and doing 10 burpees.
The PAX special requested that I put my message up for you all.
Message Title: But I Found None!
Ezekial 22:29-31
“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the immigrant without justice. 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. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath.”
The Context: This was a message of judgement from the Lord to the Jewish people in Jerusalem. Murder, extortion and incest had become a prevalent and accepted part of their culture. God would judge them for the prevailing evil in their society.
The Wall: The wall here is not referring to the physical wall around Jerusalem. The physical wall would protect them against foreign forces but not against God’s judgment. The wall that need repaired and defended in this verse is a spiritual and moral wall protecting their society and culture from the judgment of God. Without a man to fix and defend it, the Jewish people were defenseless against God’s wrath.
The Search: God was looking for a man, not a woman or child. This is because God needed a strong leader to repair the wall. In this case, He was looking for a man to stand up and say NO to the prevailing evil in the culture of Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul may have had Ezekiel 22 in mind when he wrote “Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong.”
One Man: Notice that God did not need an army or a committee. He only needed a single man strong enough to stand up to the evil in the culture and spare the city from God’s wrath. The great and shocking tragedy is that God couldn’t find a single man strong enough to do that. EVEN WHEN YOU STAND ALONE, GOD CAN USE YOU! It only takes one man with the strength to say NO!!! to the popular evil in whatever culture he happens to find himself in. Will you be that man?
The Contrast: Notice the difference between how God through the prophet Ezekial describes a strong and courageous man compared to how our popular culture does. The popular singer Harry Styles recently posed in Vogue magazine wearing various feminine dresses. Newspaper headlines around the western world were quick to give their approval. Harry Styles was declared to be revolutionary and courageous. God sees a strong and courageous man as one willing to oppose the popular injustice in the culture, even when it means standing alone. Our newspapers see a strong and courageous man as one willing to wear a dress. We all live in a culture. All of our cultures have various evils of some kind that are popular and accepted. What kind of man will we choose to be?