Like the pillar of cloud and fire separating the Egyptians from the Israelites at the Red Sea, God has always stood in the breach for us. He had to as we could not, because of sin and selfishness, stand in the breach for ourselves.
I. Ezekiel 22:24-30. At the time of captivity, the nation of Judah had so fallen into sin that God says He searched for one to stand in the breach for them but found no one. That’s mankind’s struggle as no one is righteous and all have fallen short because of sin (Romans 3:9-23). God has always stood in the breach for us (Exodus 14:19-25) through power, but He declares that He will now do so through weakness (Ezekiel 34:11-16) and states that He Himself will be a good shepherd to us.
II. John 10:11-15. Jesus, God in the flesh, is our Good Shepherd, who lays His life down for us. To stand in the breach against the forces of the enemy is a position of sacrifice for all those who He protects within the defensive fortification. Jesus fufills the “Here am I, send me” of Isaiah 6:8 by willingly laying down His life on the cross (Hebrews 10:5-10) and stands in the breach caused by our sin.
III. Ephesians 6:10-18. Through His sacrifice, we are able to love like He has loved us and lay our lives down for others (John 12:23-26; John 13:34-38) and stand in the breach for a lost world (John 15:11-17). Armed with His love as our ultimate weapon, we do not wage war as the world does (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). So, it is time to suit up!
God still stands in the breach for us with His mighty power. It’s just now that through the weakness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25), Jesus has made it possible for His followers to stand in the breach in His mighty power with the same weapons of weakness–and overcome!