The watchman prophet stands on the wall and sounds the alarm when the enemy approaches. The warrior intercessor stands in the gap and pleads the Lord to have mercy and deliver the city. We must heed the voice of the prophets and we must respond to the Lord’s call for intercessors (Ezek. 22:30), but the Lord is also looking for those who will “go up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.”(Ezek. 13:5). He calls these Repairers of the Breach (Is. 58:12).
How can the Church be ready for battle on the day of the Lord? In the last article I talked about doing all to stand on the evil day (Eph. 6:13). There is coming a time of “great tribulation such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt. 24:21). We must first realize that this evil day is not coming because the enemy is too strong for God to hold back. No, it is so that we may have the final victory. The nation of Israel took the promised land by battling the nations that came against them. We must prepare for this evil day. It will be a necessary time of refining and overcoming. How can we prepare? By rebuilding the wall of the City. In ancient times, the wall of the city was for protection.
The Church is the New Jerusalem. Like the Jews returning from the captivity, the New Testament Church has rebuilt the temple, but the wall of the City is still broken down. We have obtained mercy, but our enemies still oppress us. This is the report Nehemiah heard about Jerusalem after the temple had been rebuilt: “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” (Neh. 1:3). Nehemiah was so disturbed by this news that he fasted and prayed until God sent him to rebuild the wall of the city. What was his strategy? First, he surveyed the wall for himself (Neh. 2:12-16). Then he called together the leaders and told them what God was calling them to do (Neh. 2:17-18). Together they rebuilt the wall and the gates, while resisting the opposition of their enemies.
Let us look more closely at Isaiah Chapter 58 to gain an understanding of the spiritual meaning of rebuilding the wall. The people say: “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen?” (vs. 3). The Lord responds that even as they fast, they seek their own pleasures and act wickedly. He tells them that the kind of fast He desires is to free the oppressed and to help the poor (vs. 6 – 10). The result of them doing these good works will allow them to obtain the Lord’s guidance and provision (vs. 11). They are to turn from seeking their own pleasures, and to delight themselves in the Lord (vs. 13-14). He tells them that if they do this, they will enjoy a time of restoration (vs. 12). What is to be restored? “Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” (vs.12). To repair the gaps in the wall is to restore the streets (or paths) to dwell in. To repair the breach is to restore the ancient paths (Jer. 18:15). If our actions are evil, the enemy will accuse us before the throne of God (Rev. 12:10). If our actions are good, we will prosper, and the enemy will have no opportunity to harm us. “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword” (Isa. 1:19).
What are these ancient paths that need to be restored? “If you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.” (Deut. 11:22-25) If we love the Lord, hold fast to Him, and walk in all His ways, we will not only protect the temple with a fortified wall, but we will go out of the gates and establish His kingdom in the land. The temple represents our worship where the glory of God is manifested. True worship, in Spirit and in truth, must be established, then it must be maintained by walking in these ancient paths. When we fail to repair the breaches, our worship becomes compromised. Worldliness sets in. Then we go out of the city to evangelize, but there is no power because the presence of the Lord is not with us. But when the Lord is with us, we can as Isaiah says, “Go through! Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up the banner for the people!” (Isa. 62:10). Revival in the Church will result in salvation for the world.
How can we be Repairers of the Breach? When we walk in the ways of the Lord and teach others to do the same, we repair the breaches in the wall. Repairers of the Breach are those who have been healed and set free to become priests of the Lord, servants of God. This is described in Isaiah Chapter 61 which Jesus quoted for His ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me…” After the people have heard the good news, been healed and set free, they become trees of righteousness (Isa. 61:1-3). Then they rebuild, raise up, repair the ruined cities (Isa. 61:4). They become servants of God.
Some of the breaches in the wall are easy to recognize. Only obedience in faith is required. Other breaches are hidden from view. For this reason, we need watchmen and intercessors. They alert us to the tactics of the enemy, and they call upon God for mercy, as the ministers of God instruct the people in the ways of righteousness. The breach is repaired when the people in the city walk in the ancient paths of the Lord.
Highway in the Wilderness 