The Time is Now!
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Ezekiel 12 and Psalm 143 (NIV)
(Ng Su-Ran, Precept Facilitator)
READ:
Ezekiel 12 (NIV)
Ezekiel was told by God to bring a message to King Zedekiah and the other Israelites in Jerusalem that they would be taken into captivity and scattered among the nations, and that their cities would be laid waste and the land desolated.
God would cause these events to happen so that the Israelites and the nations would know that He is the Lord.
OBSERVE:
The tribes in the Northern Kingdom had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians about 100 years before in 733 and 722 BC.
The Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar had attacked the Southern Kingdom and taken two groups into exile to Babylon – Daniel and his friends in 605 BC and Ezekiel and 10,000 captives in 597 BC.
Ezekiel was now warning those in Jerusalem of a forthcoming third attack.
They had not heeded the warnings of the prophets. They even had a proverb “The days are long and every vision fails” (v22), believing that the prophecies were for a time far in the future and might not even happen.
But we know from later chapters that in 589 BC Jerusalem was attacked, the temple was destroyed and more Israelites were taken into captivity and exile.
APPLY:
We are told in the Bible that Christ will come again, bringing judgement.
It has been 2,000 years since Christ came. Are we also lulled into thinking that “the days are long”, that there is still a lot of time, not in my lifetime? That there is time later to learn more about God, to worship Him, to walk in His ways, to do His will?
But God told Ezekiel to tell the Israelites, “whatever word I speak will be performed” (v25).
It has been 2,000 years. Perhaps the time is sooner than we think. We who have eyes to see need to see, and ears to hear need to hear.
DO:
I need to recognise the urgency of Christ’s return, to intentionally draw nearer to God, to do what God calls me to do now and not wait for a later time when I retire, when I have fewer responsibilities, when I have more free time.
PRAY:
Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times when I have been busy with my own interests and pushed You aside. Let me put You first now and draw closer to You, to walk in Your ways and to do Your will. Amen.
