“For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.”
– Ezekiel 30:3
This is specifically talking about the day of judgment coming for these specific nations that God has been speaking to in Ezekiel. Specifically here he’s talking about Egypt. For all of Egypt’s sin and idolatry and arrogance and immorality, God’s judgment is coming. Ezekiel is saying, God speaking through Ezekiel, saying, “For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.” A time of doom for all who have turned from God, who have sinned against God, who are not forgiven by God.
The Day of Judgement is Coming
The day of judgment is coming and it will be a day of gloom for those who do not know the Lord. May God help us to live holy and godly lives in light of this reality.
All throughout the Old Testament, we see the day of the Lord, this phrase described like this, as a time of judgment and doom for all who are not trusting in God. And it’s not just the Old Testament. When we get to the New Testament, we see the day of the Lord talked about, ultimately talking about the day of judgment, the day when Jesus returns.
In 2 Peter 3, I think about when Peter is writing about how the day of the Lord will come, and that’s the phrase he uses, and then he writes… Listen to this and think about now how all this affects the way you and I live today. Peter writes, “In view of the day of the Lord, since all these things are thus to be dissolved,”.
In other words, when God’s judgment comes, and the Bible says right before this in Second Peter 3:10, “the heavens will pass away with a roar, the heavenly bodies burned up and dissolved, the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed,” so everything that we put our trust in, that we’ve hoped in in this world, gone, since all these things are thus to be dissolved, “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?”
Ezekiel 30:3 Encourages Living in Holiness and Godliness
Let me say that again. In view of the day of the Lord, what sort of people ought we to be? We ought to live in holiness and godliness as we wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God.
Let’s pray, in light of Ezekiel 30:3, 2 Peter 3, God, help us to realize this day is coming. Help us to realize this day could be today, could be tomorrow when you return. Jesus, help us to live ready, just like we see all throughout your Word, ready, not asleep on the watch, ready, in our lives, our families, our churches, and in relation to the world around us, ready for your coming, telling people about your coming, telling people to turn and trust in you.
God, help us to live lives of holiness and godliness. God, please keep us from thinking this world and all that’s in it, even the best things in it, are what we need to stake our lives on, put our hope or trust in. Oh God, help us not to put our hope or trust in the things, even the best things of this world. God, help us to put our hope and our trust in you, completely in you, to live not to store up treasures on earth, but to store up treasures in heaven.
Ezekiel 30:3 Prays for the Preparation for Judgement Day
God, help us to live wholly set apart, just like Peter encouraged us to live, as sojourners, exiles, strangers, foreigners here. This is not our home. Like Paul says, our citizenship is in heaven. Help us to live like our citizenship is in another country, and we’re waiting for that country and we’re hastening the coming of the day when we’re in that country. God, help us to live with godliness, with holiness, with purity, with integrity, with honesty, and with zeal, with zeal for your glory, with zeal to share the Gospel.
So God, we pray that you would help us to live so that the people around us are prepared for that day. God, I pray that you help me to prepare my family for that day. I pray that you would help and prepare the church I lead for that day. Help me to prepare people around me that you’ve put in my life for that day, friends, co-workers, neighbors, people that I work out with at the gym. God, please help me to prepare people for that day. Help us to do that in all of our lives.
Praying for the Spread of the Gospel
So God, we pray that you would help us to do this for people far from us. God, we pray for the Tigre people of Eritrea, 716,000 Muslims, hardly any, if any, followers of Jesus. So God, we pray. The Tigre of Eritrea are not ready for your coming. God, we pray that you would help us to proclaim the Gospel to them. We pray for the spread of the Gospel to the Tigre of Eritrea and the thousands of other people groups like them. Lord, awaken your church to take the Gospel to the nations, because we know this day is coming. Lord, help us to live today in view of this day, the day of the Lord, that is coming, knowing it could be any moment. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
