When someone you love disobeys you, it’s hurtful. Enter, God’s relationship with the Israelites. These were people that He called His own, He Loved them and yet in Ezekiel’s day, they were unfaithful to Him. 

The people were accepting bribes at the cost of another person’s life, they were charging interest on the poor, disrespecting their neighbours, and defiling the marriage bed. All of these added up to the Israelites ignoring God in their lives. 

God says in Ezekiel 22:30, “I looked for someone among them [the Israelities] who would build the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” It is important to point out here that God is not saying that there was absolutely no one who was faithful to him, of course there were godly prophets, some like Moses who had stood in the gap between God and the people well. But this couldn’t last. 

And so the next thing God says is he must pour out his wrath. Aren’t you thankful that today when you’re unfaithful to God, you have someone who has filled this gap perfectly and bore God’s wrath for you. He took the justice that was intended for you and offered mercy.