Standing in the Gap
GENESIS 14:8
8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale (valley – lowland) of Siddim;
These five cities were commonly known as the “cities of the plain”, and these cities (Sodom, Gomorrah, Bela (which was also known as Zoar), Admah and Zeboiim were the 5 cities that were to come under the judgement of the destruction by fire and brimstone directly after God revealed Himself to Abraham in the form of a man.
Destruction on these cities followed directly after the sign of the revealing of the secret of Sarah’s heart had been performed by God in the form of human flesh – and we have seen this same sign repeat again in this day.
DEUTERONOMY 29:23
23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
Notice how that in this passage of scripture, it only refers to four cities as actually being destroyed by God: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim.
So why wasn’t Zoar destroyed along with the other cities, especially when Zoar’s location was situated right in the middle of these other cities, and it was just as sinful as the others, yet it was spared by God?
EZEKIEL 22:27-31
27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. (Human trafficking for monetary profit)
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. (This is all showing us a condition of this world that we live in now)
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Standing in the Gap
Brother Branham preached this message called “Standing in the Gap” in Jeffersonville at the Branham Tabernacle on the Sunday morning of the 23rd of June 1963 just 3 short months after the opening of the seven seals.
*And so we want to try to introduce this subject with an overview of some of the truths the lay beneath this subject of “Standing in the Gap”.
*Firstly, it is important for us to note how that God chose to show us the revelation of this truth by certain experiences that were placed in the life of Brother Branham directly after the seals were opened in March 1963. It is important to understand the timing of certain events in the prophet’s life.
*God often conveys the truth of His word though the experiences and the events of people lives – in fact much of the bible is written in this way of where truth is conveyed by the events of people’s lives – like the book of Ruth and Esther, the mystery of God is hidden in the events of their life stories. It is the same with your life also – but it takes God to break the seals off of those events to show His great truth of the mystery of His word.
All the events of your life have a purpose.
*We know that the opening of the seven seals was the direct message of a prophet of God to a people on earth.
*So when we take this experience of brother Branham and take it back into the bible to try to find a scriptural match, we find this same experience in the book of Esther where directly after the message of Mordecai was first made known to Esther, she expressed a condition of having no feeling for her people – the Jews. So we notice that this was her condition directly after the sounding of Mordecai’s message had been made known to her, and this was also brother Branham’s condition shortly after the seals were made known – he had lost his feeling for the people.
***And so for the story to go on into victory for Esther, she had to first have a change of heart in order to be able to stand in the gap for her people because God needed someone to stand in the gap in the time of judgement, and that is exactly the change of heart that Brother Branham knew that he had to have within himself also before he could go on with a message that would deliver a people in this day and at this time of judgement.
STANDING.IN.THE.GAP_ JEFF.IN V-6 N-7 SUNDAY_ 63-0623M
161 Moses lost the feeling of his people because they wouldn't listen to him. And, Brother Roy, you see your dream? And now I cannot go, with a ministry like that, until I feel different in my heart about it, no matter if God did tell me. But that is that change that Brother Roy... that seen coming. Something's got to change me, because I, in my heart, if I go out there feeling the way I do now; I still feel that they ought to have heard that Message, they ought to a-done it. And I don't have the feeling for the people that I should have. Until I can get that feeling, there is no need in me going, because I'd be a hypocrite.
*Esther couldn’t go on until she had first had a change of feeling in her heart. She couldn’t do any good for her people until she had had a something change in her of her feeling for her people. **So this is showing us something of what can often be the cause of why we are not able to seemingly advance in our maturity with the word – God is showing us a key here that we can use to unlock a door that will allow the story of our life to continue to advance in the channel of the expression of His word in our lives.
*So we can take the experience of Brother Branham directly after the opening of the seals and place it in the bible and let the bible interpret the experience because modern events are made clear by the prophecy of the scriptures, because this story of Esther is a prophecy for this end time hour, and that is why we can also do that with our own lives also.
**You are to interpret the mystery of your own life by the opening of the mysteries of the word that has been opened in this hour.
*We know that Moses stood in the gap between a stiff-necked people and an angry God in Exodus 32 and Numbers 16.
*Abraham stood in the gap for Lot in Genesis 18
*Judah (a type of Christ) stood in the gap for Benjamin in Genesis 44 when the stolen cup was discovered in Benjamin’s sack, this was just before Joseph (also a type of Christ) revealed himself to his brothers.
*So this event unfolded itself just before Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. It was the drama of Judah standing in the Gap for his lost and fallen brother, this is showing us of the same event and the condition of heart that has to be manifested for this day also, because we are in this same period of time right now just before Christ is about to reveal himself to His Jewish brothers.
GENESIS 44:33
33 Now therefore, I pray thee (this is Judah speaking to Joseph), let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
Judah stood in the gap for his condemned brother Benjamin. In other words – let me take his judgement on myself, I put myself in his place.
And when Joseph saw how that the heart condition of Judah and his brothers had changed, then he could no longer hold himself back from revealing himself to them.
***Sometimes God is waiting for our heart condition to change also in order to reveal himself to us in a greater way. David cried out to God to “Change my heart” – this needs to be our sincere prayer also.
**So the bible is showing us something of importance here concerning this time right now of the spirit and of the heart condition that is to be manifested in an end time people in these last days in order for the story to go on to a resurrection of life and for Christ to reveal Himself to His Jewish brothers.
*We know that Jonah (a prophet to a gentile people) stood in the gap for the doomed sailors on the sailing ship in Jonah 1.
And we see how that there was a spirit in the heart of Jonah that was willing to sacrifice his life in order to bring salvation to the sailors – we know that this was the spirit of Christ in Jonah, because Christ was the ultimate one who would stand in the gap in order to bring salvation to the whole world by His sacrifice on the cross.
**So this subject is all through the bible, and it is showing us something of the condition of how we are to be in this age of our heart condition and spiritual maturity, just like what we saw with Abraham directly before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as the other cities.
GENESIS 18:23-32
23 ¶ And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
(Notice of how he is speaking of a whole city being spared by simply having righteous people in that city – Abraham knows something of this subject that we are speaking on)
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. (All the people would be spared for just 50 righteous people living in Sodom – this is now giving us a clue as to why the city of Zoah was spared. God literally spared the entire population of Zoah for just one righteous person (Lot) who just so happen to be passing by and was actually present in that city for a short time of when the judgment of God fell – He in effect brought on a resurrection for those people of Zoah)
27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
So we want to (by the help of the Lord) try to look a little deeper into this subject of Standing in the Gap, because dimensions of truth unlock greater as you go on in your growth with the revelation of this hour
JEREMIAH 5:1
1 ¶ Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.