Ezekiel 12:21-28 – God’s Timing is Perfect

Read Ezekiel 12:21-28

The message that rings out in this reading is that we shouldn’t question God’s timing. It’s easy for us to point fingers and say those Israelites were not in touch with reality, believing God’s messages were not for them. Even though the LORD was clear time and time again. We can be just as guilty of believing we are immune to problems, God’s judgment, or even death.

It’s true that we have a Savior who laid down his life for us. It’s true that God loved us that much he sent his son to die. But it’s also true God loved his people, Israel, and sent countless course corrections to them which they ignored.

What did you think when you read they had even come up with a “proverb” discounting all of God’s warnings? They thought they had more time. The calamities, if they came at all, would be in a distant future they were not likely to see.

The truth is none of us know how much time we have on this earth. None of us know when God is going to move in our lives. When we trust God with our lives, we know that his timing is perfect.

I’ve talked to many people who tell of how they thought they had their lives all figured out, only to have God intervene and send something even better. Can you relate and think of something in your life that you wanted but didn’t get only to be given something even more spectacular?

In the case of the Israelites, they weren’t focusing on God or listening to the prophecies he was sending their way. Ezekiel wasn’t the only prophet used by God to help these wayward people. Ezekiel was already in exile himself, yet God used him to declare it was time. God’s wrath was no future possibility, it was a present reality. Ezekiel was living proof!

I got the sense from these visions that God was angry. Even if he was planning to wait a bit longer, God is now putting the plan of destruction into play. God had lost patience with his children. As a parent and now grandparent, I can relate to that. Sometimes I think children push the limit, testing our resolve to respond and take control. Is that what the Israelites were doing?

As I read through the prophecies of old, I see so many nuggets of wisdom we can glean from. The LORD reveals himself and his character to us, even if the prophecies were originally delivered to another generation. We can see God wants our devotion, and his timing is perfect. We shouldn’t question God’s timing or think we are immune to God’s discipline. If God deems our behavior inappropriate, he will respond accordingly.

How do we respond to that?

Let’s pray. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Your ways and your timing are perfect. Forgive me if I ever question why things happen the way they do. I am grateful for the course corrections you have made in my life, even when they were painful. Help me to never anger you like the Israelites did. I don’t want to take you for granted or be distracted by false idols. Set my feet on your firm foundation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.