Today’s reading: Ezekiel 21-22.

“You mean there was no one in the whole country who cared enough to ask God for mercy?”

There was a rich tradition of Hebrews standing in the gap before God.

• Abraham interceded for Abimelech and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
• Moses asked for forgiveness for the children of Israel when they angered God
• Aaron stood “between the living and the dead” when a plague threatened to kill all the Israelites
• Esther stood between the King and the destruction of her people
• Job prayed for his three friends

Yet that tradition failed completely in the final days of Jerusalem. God told Jeremiah, “If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.” No one was found. Jeremiah was even forbidden to pray for the people. Then, as the final destruction of the city drew near, God told Ezekiel a…