I BOARDED THE TRAIN in Richmond, VA. with some friends I’d gotten to know better on our bus trip up from Atlanta. The car was packed with men—but some had brought sons and daughters. At one point, a man with a powerful voice began to sing hymns, and everyone joined the chorus.
The energy in the air rivaled any championship event I have experienced. After a tour of the countryside, we emerged at the Metro station on that sunny Oct. 4, 1997 morning near the Mall in Washington, D.C. There we were met by more people than I’ve ever seen before or since. We’d come to “Stand in the Gap” for ourselves, our families, and our nation.
To understand the meaning of "Stand in the Gap," please reference Ezekiel 22. God says through the prophet that he would have spared the destruction of the city and the people if only one had stood and called upon him for forgiveness of what they were doing. But not even one bothered to give him a thought. So he delivered his justice. To me it is the saddest verse in the Bible. One that we certainly do not wish to replicate either for this country or personally. Using that as a backdrop, about two million men, et al. met on the Mall in the United States Capitol to "stand in the gap" for America. Verses 30-31, God speaking, “I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone. Not one. So I’ll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they’ve done. Decree of God, the Master.”
As the festivities began, we were told that this was the first sacred assembly of men since the time of Moses. And it happened to fall in the middle of the ten days of awe on the Jewish calendar! I felt so small. But when the shofars blew the fourth and final blast, about two million men shouted for victory to the Lord. I wept as I was overcome with joy!
Soon the mood turned somber as we all fell on our faces before God, praying for our sins and those of our nation. Suddenly, there was only the sound of a gentle breeze. I never imagined a huge crowd of men could be that quiet. Curious, I lifted myself and watched thousands of yellow butterfly chains silently meander just above the sea of prostrate humans as far as I could see in any direction. I envisioned them as angels gathering all the prayers.
We worked hard as the day grew hot. I was exhausted near the end, yet never had so much energy after any job before. Who knew that we would be stunned to watch on TV the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon only four years later. Evidently, we should have REMAINED standing in the gap.
I came upon this old poster today, and I wondered what had become of all that time spent in repentance and prayer. Had we just droned our humble to the proud and then assumed God would be impressed? Back at home, had we resumed our lives where we left off a couple of days before without really changing our hearts? Or was something worse than 911 headed our way that this prayer session averted?
How is it that our country has continued to spiral downward? How we need virtuous leaders. Do you think we have them in the various branches of our local, county, state, and federal governments? People of prayer? We are a government of the people, right? How many of the people consistently pray for our leaders and our country?
When we knelt in D.C., one hundred ninety-nine years to the month had passed since one of the U.S. founders, John Adams, addressed the officers of the Massachusetts militia. Mr. Adams’ focus that day wasn’t on the right to bear arms or any other right. His message was about the importance of VIRTUE—particularly among leaders.
Many of the early founders echoed the need for one indispensable seed Americans must continuously plant to make and keep our constitutional republic alive. I believe voting is a form of planting seeds. Even though America wasn’t perfect when it was born, our founders warned about what we will need to sustain our country and three things that will surely bring us down. Unfortunately, Adams’ message is mostly shouted down in our streets, public forums, courts, and halls of government today.
The message: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, Ambition, and Revenge or Gallantry would break the strongest cords of our constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Sound familiar?
Is it too late for us? If history is any indicator, I believe we would not care to live in captivity. Real oppression. Freedoms lost. Our religion becoming illegal to practice. The warning signs are clearly visible. Build the wall God requires: Stand in the Gap. Pray. Without. Ceasing.
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