The Gap

Psalm 107:23: “Moses stood in the gap and turned away the wrath of God.” The psalmist recalls the many times that Moses prayed for the people in order to rescue them from the wrath of God. The Israelites were a headstrong, stubborn, sinful people as even a casual reading of Exodus reveals.
Moses, as their spokesman and leader before God, asked God to defer His judgement, giving mercy instead of allowing His wrath to proceed. And, wonderfully, God did.
But to simply have the wrath of God turned away, is not to have it gone. God’s righteous anger at the rebellion of His people still burned. A deadly situation at best for the rebels, all the rebels, including us. Wrath deferred is still wrath existing. A deferment is only temporary; a judgement waiting to be applied, a sentence waiting to be served.
Moses as the lawgiver can only defer the coming, rightful judgement. Is there a way past the wrath of God? Yes, it is the One who took that wrath and did not just stand in the gap and turn it away, He stood in the gap and took, absorbed, endured, the wrath of God. In Romans 3:25-26 we are told: “ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

It is the concept embodied in the word ‘propitiation’ that relieves all rebels, all sinners for all time. Jesus became the propitiation for our sins through his blood which he freely shed when he died on the cross. That blood, of His sacrifice, satisfied the wrath of God. The wrath has been dealt with and is no more for those who put their faith in the blood of Jesus.
Imagine how that must affect you. You were at the edge of the chasm ready, at any time, to be pushed over to certain death; on death row, the footsteps of your guard sounding in the distance, as he came to take you to the electric chair. You knew it was coming, that you deserved it, and there was nothing you could do to help yourself. All you could do was wait. All appeals have been denied. No one believes you are not guilty. No amount of begging, pleading, ignoring, blame-shifting, self-defense helps. While you played your appeals, the wrath was deferred, but now it is time, it has come due.
Then in steps your victim, the One whose law you broke, Whose character you sullied, and He goes in and takes the wrath you deserve, the anger you should receive. He does it because even though you tried to ruin Him, He loves you.
The wrath is gone, the anger dissipated, your future changed, if you want it. Wrath temporarily turned away or gone forever - which is do you want?