God’s timing

No More Delay

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21 And the word of the Lord came to me: 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’? 23 Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision. 24 For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the Lord; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.”

26 And the word of the Lord came to me: 27 “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 12:21-28 ESV

Ezekiel was just one more prophet among many who were each tasked with warning the people of Israel about God’s pending judgment. There had been a number of prophets whom God had sent to the northern kingdom of Judah before it fell to the Assyrians. And there were prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah whom God had sent to warn the southern kingdom of Judah that they faced a similar fate if they did abandon their idolatrous ways and return to Him in repentance.

For hundreds of years, God had been calling His rebellious people to repent or face certain judgment. The Jews living as exiles in Babylon knew from firsthand experience just how real God’s judgment could be. They had been deported after Nebuchadnezzar had made his first incursion into Judah and ransacked the city of Jerusalem. It was Ezekiel’s responsibility to carry God’s message to these displaced Jews and warn them that their compatriots back home were about to experience more of the same.

But God points out that, back in Judah, there were two prevalent attitudes concerning His judgment. First, there were those who believed that the prophets of God were all talk, not action. In other words, they talked a good game but nothing they prophesied ever came to fruition. Their dire warnings never amounted to much. This perspective had even become a popular proverb.

“Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing.” – Ezekiel 12:21 NLT

For centuries, God had been warning about the fall of Jerusalem, but the city still stood. Nothing had changed. So, people began to view the prophets as overreactive naysayers whose pessimistic pronouncements never materialized. It was like the story of the boy who cried wolf.

As the story goes, a young shepherd boy found himself bored with his job, so to add a little excitement to his day, he ran into town crying, “Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!” The townspeople ran to his aid, only to find the flock grazing peacefully. Irritated with the boy’s antics, they warned him, “Don’t cry ‘wolf’, shepherd boy when there’s no wolf!”

As they made their way back to town, grumbling as they went, they once again heard the excited cries of the boy. “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” To his delight, the shepherd boy watched as the villagers ran back up the hill to confront the wolf that threatened their flocks. But, as before, there was no wolf.

Then one day, the unexpected happened. A real wolf showed up. But when the villagers heard the boy’s excited cries for help, they assumed it was just another trick, so they remained in the village. The next morning they found the shepherd boy weeping in the fields where his flocks once grazed. When they asked him what happened, he said, “There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, “Wolf!” Why didn’t you come?”

The people of Judah, like the villagers in the story, had begun to believe that the prophets’ cries of danger were not to be believed. They had been listening to these doomsayers for generations and nothing they predicted ever came true. So, they began to write off everything these men said.

From their perspective, not much had changed in Jerusalem. Even the arrival of the Babylonians had done little to change their way of life. Sure, there had been some adjustments to make after the first siege and the initial deportation of some of their friends and neighbors. But, for the most part, life went on as before. And those who remained behind in Jerusalem became increasingly complacent and callous to the message of the prophets. They wrongly assumed that God was not going to act. Nothing was going to happen. In their estimation, the prophets were all bark and no bite. Or were they?

God had a different perspective and commanded Ezekiel to replace their proverb with a new one.

“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!’” – Ezekiel 12:23 NLT

Time was running out. The lack of measurable activity on God’s part was not to be mistaken for inaction or indifference. Time may have passed but God’s wrath had not abated. He had not forgotten their past sins and was not oblivious to their current moral condition. He had simply been waiting for the perfect moment to unleash His divinely timed plan for Jerusalem’s destruction.

How easy it is to discount the warnings of God because they don’t ever seem to come true. These Old Testament stories become little more than moral fairy tales that portray God as short-tempered and lacking in love. He comes across as overly judgmental and harsh and we discount this image of God as incompatible with the one portrayed in the New Testament. We prefer the God of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love. But we fail to recognize that God is unchanging. He still hates sin. He still warns His people about the dangers of unfaithfulness and idolatry. He constantly reminds us that there are consequences for our sins. But when we sin and nothing happens, we wrongly assume that we can get away with our indiscretions and infidelity. As a result, we stop listening to His calls to confess our sins.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. – 1 John 1:8-10 NLT

But there was a second problem in Judah. While some were claiming that the warnings of the prophets would never come true, there were others who admitted that the warnings were true but would not take place in their lifetimes. They claimed, “He’s talking about the distant future. His visions won’t come true for a long, long time” (Ezekiel 12:27 NLT). While the words of the prophets were true and the judgments of God were inevitable, they had nothing to worry about because they would fall upon a future generation. For the time being, they were safe and sound.

But God wanted them to know that their assumption was deadly wrong. The long delay was over and it was their generation that would have to live through the final destruction of Jerusalem.

“No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’” – Ezekiel 12:28 NLT

They could go on denying the veracity of the prophecies and live as if God’s judgment was never coming. They could even convince themselves the prophecies were true but did not pose an immediate threat. But they would soon discover just how wrong they were. And this tendency to doubt, deny, or delay God’s warnings of judgment is still a problem. Even after the incarnation, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, the apostle Peter warned of the danger of denying or ignoring the reality of His ultimate return. In his second letter, he provided the first-century believers with a sobering reminder.

I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. – 2 Peter 3:2 NLT

The Old Testament Scriptures are filled with prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming, but they also predict His return at the end of the age. But more than 2,000 years have passed since Peter penned his letter, and we still await the second coming of Christ. In his day, there were those who had already begun to doubt whether Christ was ever coming back.

I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” – 2 Peter 3:3-4 NLT

Delay had caused doubt. Christ’s apparent failure to return had led the first-century Christians to have second thoughts. But Peter reminded them that God, who made the universe in eternity past, stands outside of time. To Him, “a day is like a thousand years…and a thousand years is like a day” (2 Peter 3:8 NLT). God does not grow impatient. What appears to be a delay to us is actually the perfectly timed plan of God.

Peter didn’t want his readers to mistake God’s delay as inaction or indifference. It was actually evidence of His patience and love.

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. – 2 Peter 3:9 NLT

But that doesn’t mean we should abuse God’s loving patience by living as if we have all the time in the world. Peter assures his readers that God’s judgment will come.

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. – 2 Peter 3:10 NLT

And that judgment will come with the return of the Lord. When He comes the second time, it will not be as Savior but as judge of all the earth. And, “on that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames” (2 Peter 3:12 NLT). And Peter reminds his readers to live with that thought in mind.

Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. – 2 Peter 3:11-12 NLT

The inevitable judgment of God should cause His people to live soberly and circumspectly. We should pursue godly and holy lives that reflect our status as His children and our citizenship in His Kingdom. We should avoid the perspective that plagued the people of Judah. Rather than live in keeping with God’s will and in fear of His judgment, they lived in a state of denial or simply viewed God’s judgment as so distant that it posed no threat to their way of life.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Good News and Bad News.

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So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. – Genesis 40:9-23 ESV

Two men. Two dreams. Two diametrically opposite interpretations. The cupbearer to the king receives good news. His dream is a prophetic vision that he will be restored to his original position in the royal court. How did Joseph know this? As he stated earlier, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8 ESV). God had somehow shown Joseph the meaning of the cupbearer’s cryptic dream. And God also gave Joseph the interpretation of the baker’s dream. But in this case, the news was anything but good. The baker was going to lose his head! His dream was going to turn into a nightmare that would end up with him being executed by order of the Pharaoh. Joseph does not provide a reason for this outcome. We are not told what crime the baker may have committed, but according to Joseph’s interpretation, the outcome of his dream is less-than-ideal.

But back to the cupbearer. The important thing to note in this passage is Joseph’s request that the cupbearer not forget about him when he gets restored to his position in Pharaoh’s court. All Joseph asks is that he remember what he has done. Like the cupbearer, Joseph is innocent and has been unjustly imprisoned. He simply wants an opportunity to explain his situation and appeal his sentence before Pharaoh himself. So he begs the cupbearer:

”Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.” – Genesis 40:14-15 ESV

But once again, Joseph’s hopes get dashed. The cupbearer gets restored to his position, just as Joseph predicted. But this chapter ends with a sad statement: “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him” (Genesis 40:23 ESV). This seems to sum up Joseph’s life. By now, his brothers had forgotten all about him. His father had most likely stopped mourning over him and gone on with his life. Potiphar probably hired someone else to run his household. Potiphar’s wife most likely turned her immoral attention to some other young man. And Joseph was all alone again. Or was he?

Up until this point, we have seen that everywhere Joseph went, God was with him. And while this chapter ends on a somber note, it does not mean that God had abandoned Joseph. In fact, everything that has happened so far has been the direct result of the sovereign hand of God. Nothing has been a coincidence. Nothing has happened as a result of fate. God has been directing Joseph’s life every step of the way. And all that has happened so far has been according to God’s timing. Joseph had been forgotten by the cupbearer, but not by God. Joseph remained in prison, but he was completely within the will of God. Even the cupbearer’s poor memory was part of God’s plan for Joseph’s life.

We will see in the next chapter that Joseph remains in prison for two full years. He will stay in his less-than-ideal circumstances as God works out the exact timing of His will concerning Joseph’s life. We are not told anything about Joseph’s life during that two year time period. We are given no details about his life in prison. Only that he waited. But while he waited, God was at work. Joseph was confined, but his God was not. Joseph was under all kinds of limitations, but not God. Our circumstances are never limiting to God. Our predicaments are never a problem for God. It would have been easy for Joseph to assume that he had been forgotten, not only by the cupbearer, but by God Himself. He probably had nights of despair. He more than likely had moments of doubt. We can easily assume he became angry at times and wondered what he had done to deserve such a fate. But regardless of Joseph’s moods or even the state of his faith in God, his heavenly Father was still at work. He had not forsaken or forgotten Joseph. Joseph was about to see his bad news transformed into really good news.

 

God Has Seen. He Will Redeem.

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You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause. You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me. – Lamentations 3:56-58 ESV

Jeremiah had been through a lot. He had been a prophet for God, delivering a message of repentance and warning of future judgment if that message was ignored. Not only was his message unaccepted, his own people persecuted, rejected and even physically attacked him for his efforts. And eventually, Jeremiah had to stand by and watch as the city of Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. He had to witness the destruction of the temple of God. He had a front row seat to the deportation of the people as they were shipped out as captives of the Babylonian king and his conquering army. And while Jeremiah was allowed to remain in the land of Judah along with a remnant of the people, he fared no better than before. He was still despised. He was blamed for all that had happened. He had no friends, only enemies. There were even times when he felt alienated and abandoned by God. “He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy;  though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked” (Lamentations 3:7-9 ESV). Jeremiah found himself in a dark place emotionally and spiritually. He confessed, “my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord’” (Lamentations 3:17-18 ESV). But as we saw in yesterday’s post, Jeremiah had one thing he continued to hang on to during his dark days of despair. “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV).

The love and faithfulness of God. That is what kept Jeremiah going. And for Jeremiah, it was not some nebulous, bible-verse-on-a-plaque concept. It was real and he had experienced it in his own life. God had been loving and faithful to him in the past, so he knew that it was possible for God to be that way even under his current circumstances. God had taken up Jeremiah’s cause before. He had redeemed Jeremiah’s life on more than one occasion over the years. So why couldn’t He and why wouldn’t He do so now? Jeremiah knew that God was fully aware of what was going on. He had seen it all. He wasn’t not blind or oblivious to Jeremiah’s difficulties. Jeremiah’s God was compassionate and fully cognizant of his circumstances. After all, God had been the one to orchestrate all that had happened. There was nothing Jeremiah said in chapter three that God was not aware of already or for which He had a failed to prepare a plan of action. The question wasn’t whether God would redeem, but simply when and how. Jeremiah had no way of knowing just what God would do. He had no idea when God would do it. But he had hope based on past experience that God WOULD do something. Jeremiah believed, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:25-26 ESV). 

The temptation we face when going through a difficult time like Jeremiah is to lash out, if not at God, at others. We especially want to verbally attach those who are harming us. We want to take revenge and enact vengeance on those who persecuting us. But Jeremiah says it is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It’s hard to keep our mouths shut when those around us are casting dispersions on our character or attacking us with their words. Yet Jeremiah said, “You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts” (Lamentations 3:61-63 ESV). I am sure there was a part of Jeremiah that wanted to lash out and light up his opponents. He wanted to give them a piece of his mind. He would have loved to have been able to defend himself and expose the lies of his enemies. But instead, he was willing to trust God. He sees. He will redeem. In the last three verses of his prayer, Jeremiah states, “You will repay them…”, “you will give them…, “your curse will be on them…”, “you will pursue them….” In other words, God had this handled. He would do what needed to be done. He would redeem. And Jeremiah was content to let God do it His way and according to His timeline. In the meantime, he would quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

We sometimes have a hard time believing that God sees what is going on. We either believe He is indifferent and doesn’t care or is too busy and preoccupied with more significant issues. And because we don’t think God sees, we doubt that He will redeem. That’s when we are tempted to take matters into our own hands. We seem our own vengeance. We attempt to act as our own savior. Rather than quietly wait on God’s salvation, we step in and, sadly, we screw things up. Waiting on God can be difficult. Remaining quiet can be practically impossible. But when we have a long history of having seen God work in our lives, it is far easier to trust Him. His past acts of redemption make future waiting on Him less difficult. That is why Jeremiah said, “You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.” God had proven Himself faithful in the past. He would prove himself faithful in the future. He has seen. He will redeem.  

Exodus 31-32, Mark 13

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Patient Obedience.

Exodus 31-32, Mark 13

But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. – Mark 13:32-33 ESV

It didn’t take long. Moses had been up on the mountain receiving the Law from God. Down below, the people had begun to lose patience, wondering what had become of their leader. Eventually, they took matters into their own hands, appointed for themselves a new leader and demanded that he make them a god like the ones they had worshiped back in Egypt. It is ironic to think that while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, given by God and engraved by the very finger of God, the people were at the base of the mountain preparing to violate the first two commandments. If ever there was proof for the need of the law of God in the lives of men, this is it. God knew mankind well. The laws He was giving Moses were a direct reflection of the sinfulness of man. In spite of all that God had done for them and how He had revealed His power on behalf of them, they demanded that Aaron “make us gods who shall go before us” (Exodus 32:2 ESV). They had grown impatient and dissatisfied with the God of Moses. In their minds, He was a difficult to understand God. He was a demanding and oftentimes harsh God. He was a God who made pleasant-sounding promises about future rewards and blessings, but in the meantime, they found themselves wandering around in the wilderness eating manna and living in temporary shelters. They were unhappy with the way things were going under the rule of Moses’ God. And with Moses out of the way, they decided to make a god of their own choosing.

What does this passage reveal about God?

One of the things God had been telling Moses up on the mountain was His plans for the construction of the Tabernacle, His dwelling place among the people. Not only had God given Moses exacting, detailed plans for the construction of this “tent of meeting,” He had made it clear that He had prepared the workmen for the task, naming them by name, and assuring Moses that “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!” (Exodus 31:3-5 ESV). God provides for what He commands. He had already Spiritually-enabled those who would do the work of building the Tabernacle and all the elements associated with it. But it was all going to take time. It wouldn’t happen overnight. Things were going to have to be done God’s way and according to God’s exacting standards, but He would bring it about by His divine enablement.

The promises of God would eventually be fulfilled. They would one day find themselves in the land that God had promised to Abraham. But the people were going to have to learn that the journey was just as important as the destination. They were going to have to learn to worship God in the wilderness or they would never worship Him in the land. Patient obedience was one of the things we all must learn when following God. His ways are not our ways. His timing rarely gels with ours. At times He seems to disappear or be distant. He is difficult to see and even harder to comprehend. His commands and expectations can seem too harsh and too demanding. His promises can sometimes come across as empty and unfulfilled in our lives. And it is at those times, we must patiently obey and faithfully wait for Him.

What does this passage reveal about man?

We are a fickle lot. It doesn’t take much to cause our faith to turn into faithlessness. When things don’t quite go our way or turn out to our liking, we can quickly turn on God, just like the Israelites did. In their case, they constructed an actual idol. But we tend to be more sophisticated, placing our hopes, dreams and our constant need for security in things like money, our careers, our own intelligence, other people, science or the philosophies of this world. Either way, we end up making gods out of something we can see or touch. The English word, “idol” comes from the Greek word, eidolon which means “something to be seen.” We tend to put our faith and hope in the visible and the tangible. We struggle with the concept of an invisible, unseen God. We get uncomfortable with His “otherness” or transcendence. We grow impatient with His seeming lack of presence in our lives. We wrongly assume that because we can’t see Him, He is not there. And our impatience can easily turn to impertinence. We grow doubtful of His presence and, ultimately, disobedient to His rule over our lives. God accused the people of Israel of having “corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them” (Exodus 32:7-8 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Patiently obeying God is difficult. There are so many times in my life when I am tempted to give up on God and move on with my life. I take matters into my own hands because I fail to trust the God has them firmly in His own. The promise of heaven is wonderful, but I find myself in this world, surrounded by the problems that come with living in the midst of a fallen creation and among sinful people. Life can be difficult. And I can’t always see what God is doing behind the scenes. So I can find myself growing impatient and impertinent. I can easily turn my doubt and disbelief into disobedience to God’s will. In the 13th chapter of Mark we have recorded for us the words of Jesus to His disciples. It is near the end of His life and He is preparing Himself for His coming death, and them for His eventual departure. They will find themselves alone and on their own. So He warned them about all that was going to happen in the days to come. Much of what He said referred to events that have yet to take place. Jesus was giving them an overview of the end times – all the way from the more immediate days after His death and resurrection to the much more distant events associated with His return. Things were not going to get easy for the disciples. He told them, “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them” (Mark 13:9 ESV). He warned and encouraged them, “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Exodus 13:13 ESV). They were going to have to patiently obey. They were going to have to trust God’s timing. Jesus Himself was not privy to the exact timing of God’s plan. “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32 ESV). So He told them, “Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:33 ESV). Much of what Jesus talked about would not happen in their lifetime. It has yet to take place in ours. But He would tell us the same thing. Stay awake! Be ready. Live patiently obedient. Trust God and don’t bail on Him just because you can’t fully understand or comprehend what He is doing in and around your life. Jesus assures us that the one who endures to the end will be saved. That is a picture of patient obedience, as we do our part and faithfully trust God to do His.

Father, I want to patiently obey. I want to increasingly trust You, regardless of whether I can see You or not. You have given me more than enough reasons to do so. You have always been faithful to me. You have proven Yourself faithful throughout the ages. You have given mankind plenty of evidence of Your power, Your presence, and Your patient endurance of our sin and faithlessness. Help me stay awake, be on guard, and patiently obey to the end. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org