“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?’ 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.’ For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.”
– Ezekiel 12:22–24
Now, I don’t know if you were able to follow all of that, but basically, this is God saying, “There’s a saying among my people that visions don’t come to anything, that everything is fine and will be fine for a long time.”
And God is saying that saying, that proverb is not true, that the days are near. The judgment is coming, that these visions that have been spoken, prophesied, told by prophets are about to happen in a way that will be unmistakable, that will put aside proverbs like this and flattering divinations, basically ideas, sayings that contribute to people thinking everything is fine, that nothing bad is about to happen.
Ezekiel 12:22–24 Reminds Us of Our Own Tendencies
Now, I read this and I think about the tendency in my own life, and certainly in the world around us, to assume everything’s fine, that judgment isn’t coming anytime soon when the reality is, and God tells us this over and over again, Jesus gives us stories, parables to make this clear, that judgment is coming soon.
In a sense for every single one of us, not any of us are guaranteed another breath, not one of us is guaranteed to make it through today, to make it through tonight. You or I could face Jesus as judge today and not just you or me. That same thing is true for every single person around us. Not one person we will interact with today or tomorrow is guaranteed to make it to the next day.
Help Us to Feel the Urgency of Judgment
God, help us to feel the urgency of judgment coming, and not just for our lives, for others’ lives, for this world. The Bible’s clear, Jesus could come back at any moment and he will come back at a sudden moment and he will bring his judgment on the world. God, help us to live in light of this.
God, help us to live today in light of this, help us to live today with a sober reality that we could face you as our judge at any moment. And God, we praise you for Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave that removes fear of judgment for all who trust in Jesus as Lord. God, I thank you that I don’t have to fear that no one praying right now has to fear judgment in a way that causes us to wonder what will happen to us.
Ezekiel 12:22–24 Praises the Lord
We praise you that we know we’re your children, that we have an inheritance waiting for us through faith in Jesus. All glory be to your name for that humble confidence and joy even, when we think about judgment. But God, in light of that, help us to live today as those who’ve been saved, live today in such a way that we’re ready to see your face. We’re not toying with sin in our lives, that we’re pursuing holiness in our lives in anticipation of seeing you.
And God, we pray that you’d give us an urgency to share the gospel with people around us who don’t have that humble confidence and joy when they think about judgment, who are tempted to think “I’ve got time.” We pray that you would give us a holy sense of urgency to share the gospel with somebody else today, knowing that they’re not guaranteed tomorrow.
Praying for the Unreached in Myanmar
And God, we pray for this in the world. God, knowing that your judgment is coming upon all the nations, we pray for the Rakhine people of Myanmar, of Burma, for 3 million of them, hardly any followers of Jesus among them. 3 million people who aren’t ready for that day when Jesus returns, who aren’t ready to face you in judgment today. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to the Rakhine people of Myanmar.
God, please cause followers of Jesus to go to them. Use our lives, our families, our resources, your church to get the gospel to them. We pray that they might anticipate the day when they stand before you as judge with joy because they have trusted in Jesus as Lord. God, help us to live today in light of coming judgment at any moment. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
