Ezekiel 12:21-23 – “Again a message came to me from the Lord: ‘Son of man, you’ve heard that proverb they quote in Israel: ‘Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing.’ Tell the people, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will put an end to this proverb, and you will soon stop quoting it.’ Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one: ‘The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!’”
God’s timing can be confusing. Prophecy can be confusing. In times of waiting for God to fulfill his promises, his followers can lose hope. Will God really bring destruction? I don’t see it. Will God really bring a Savior? I don’t see him. These were the troubling times of the Old Testament, and we still struggle with these same doubts today. Is Jesus really going to come back again? Does God really want to restore to me things that have been taken by this life?
Today’s highlighted verses remind us to watch out for complacency. God does what he says he will do. Our timeline and God’s are not the same, because God is continually aware of all of eternity and we are not. God will bring either destruction or salvation — those are his promises. Evil and all that participate in it will be destroyed. Those who follow Jesus will be led into eternal safety.
Here’s your freedom for today:
You can trust God’s words.
The Bible contains a lot of promises and prophecies. Sometimes prophecies are fulfilled multiple ways at multiple times. Jesus fulfilled a large amount of Old Testament prophecy, and said so during his time on earth. What is the direction of your doubt today? Are you doubting that God will really destroy evil, so you don’t have to worry too much about following his words? Or are you on the other side, worrying that you haven’t done enough to make God happy with you? Maybe God won’t save you or fulfill his promises to you because you’ve messed it all up. There is good news and freedom for you today: none of it depends on you. God will fulfill his promises no matter what, whether you deserve it or not. The only choice you have to make is whether you will trust him enough to follow.