Standing in the Breach

During Lent this year I have been reading, and re-reading, Psalms. One of the things – among many – that have leapt off the pages of these ancient hymns and prayers is the importance the psalms place on remembering. In particular, Psalms 78, 105, 106, 135 and 136 focus on remembering the mighty acts of God in Israel’s history. It is almost as though the various authors of these psalms are saying, “Stop. Take a deep breath. Remember.”

Reading these psalms forces you to think about God in ways that we sometimes fail to do so. One might need to take a refresher course in God’s sovereignty by reading Romans 9 – 11 to better grasp the depth of God’s love for His people. After all, Paul reminds us that “God has mercy on whom he want to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (Romans 9:18) 

God’s sovereignty is a topic that is much bigger than the capacity of my mind to work through. I’m a little suspicious of people who are sure they have it all figured out. But one thing that I think I do understand is that God would still be the just and righteous God that the Bible says He is had He chosen to destroy the human race at the time of Noah’s flood. Yet despite that, the Bible is filled with example after example after example of His desire to show love, expressed in grace and mercy. Paul ends Romans 10 by quoting Isaiah 65, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” 

While reading this morning I was struck by a few lines in Psalm 106:

At Horeb they made a calf

and worshipped an idol cast from metal.

They exchanged their Glory

for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

They forgot the God who saved them

who had done great things in Egypt,

miracles in the land of Ham

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

So he said he would destroy them –

had not Moses, his chosen one,

stood in the breach before him

to keep his wrath from destroying them.

(Psalm 106:19-23, NIV)

That little phrase, “stood in the breach before him,” used to describe the role that Moses played in the life of Israel and their relationship with God, grabbed my attention this morning. In ancient Hebrew, the term was a military term, used in warfare. A soldier, for example, standing in a hole in the city walls created by the enemy, might be described as “standing in the breach” to keep the enemies from invading.  All things considered, it appears to be a pretty intense phrase.

God of course is the enemy of evil and Israel is certainly guilty of allowing pagan gods and their idols to create a huge hole in the wall that surrounded them as the people of God. God is, at least it appears, ready to invade and destroy – except that Moses “stood in the breach.” That doesn’t mean that Moses thought their behavior was acceptable and that he was asking God to excuse them. It can’t possibly mean that Moses had no intention of insisting on more faithfulness to God. But he “stood in the breach” anyway, seeking another opportunity for them with God.

Psalm 106, like the previous psalm, is one that remembers Israel’s history. The primary idea in Psalm 106 is to remind Israel of their consistent disobedience and unfaithfulness to God – despite the fact that it is God who saved them out of Egypt, did miracles in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea, to borrow language from the Psalm itself.

Remembering is a powerful gift given to humans by God. It is especially powerful when used to remember God’s good deeds in our lives – which is more the focus of Psalm 105. When I think about my own life, I can remember some people who, like Moses, “stood in the breach” for me. Perhaps they prayed that God would not give up on me yet. Or maybe they simply asked God for more time to help me become the person He has called me to be. But I know I wouldn’t be who I am were it not for some godly folks who were willing to “stand in the breach” on my behalf.

You can go to a typical bookstore and find dozens of books on leadership. Even in a more general focused bookstore, you probably can find some so-called “Christian books on leadership.” Visit your nearby Christian bookstore and you find leadership books by the dozens as well. There is a lot of talk in our culture about leadership!

Read those books and you discover that leaders should be vision casters, decision makers, capable of hiring the right kind of people, hard workers, organizers, people oriented, and the list goes on and on. The Christian oriented books tend to throw the word servant around pretty heavily when it comes to leadership.

But what if, in addition to things like those noted above, churches started asking potential ministry hires “How willing are you to stand in the breach before God for us?” Or, instead of noting how awful the world seems to be, what if churches worked to gain a reputation for “standing in the breach” for the world around us – the very world we are told that God loved so much He gave His only Son as a sacrifice that we might find eternal life?

We live in a difficult time in the history of the world. There’s an awful lot that needs fixing. I don’t know, however, that our world is any worse than a world where the people of God made a calf and worshipped it, forgetting the God who had saved them from Egypt. Not to assume I know too much about God, but I think there may be times when He thinks “This is it, my wrath will come and destroy.” Sadly more than a few people I know seem to want God to do just that.

But not Moses, he stood in the breach. I think I want to be a little more like Moses!