Devotions

20220813

no more gap

Ezekiel 12:26-28

Ezekiel 12:26 The word of Yahveh happened to me:
Ezekiel 12:27 “Son of Adam, notice that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees concerns many years from now; he prophesies about distant times.’
Ezekiel 12:28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: None of my words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.'”

no more gap

Ezekiel’s generation was used to prophets who covered themselves by saying that their predictions might not be fulfilled immediately. They suggested a gap — a period of time between their predictions and the fulfillment of their predictions. The LORD said that Ezekiel was not going to be that kind of prophet. That put a lot of pressure on him. If there was no immediate fulfillment of his predictions, he would risk being branded a false prophet.

There are believers today who have the prophetic gift. They have been gifted with a call to challenge people to take God seriously and to challenge evil and hypocrisy in their generation. There are also imposters who claim to be prophets but are not. They might cover themselves the way the false prophets did in Ezekiel’s time. The gap may be a sign that the prediction is not from God.

LORD, give us eschatological discernment.

20220812

meaningless memes

Ezekiel 12:21-25 (JDV)

Ezekiel 12:21 Again the word of Yahveh happened to me:
Ezekiel 12:22 “Son of Adam, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel, which goes, ‘The days keep passing by, and every vision fails’?
Ezekiel 12:23 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: I will put a stop to this proverb, and they will not use it again in Israel.’ But say to them, ‘The days have arrived, as well as the fulfillment of every vision.
Ezekiel 12:24 Because there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.
Ezekiel 12:25 But I, Yahveh, will speak whatever message I will speak, and it will be done. It will no longer be delayed. Because in your days, rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.'”

meaningless memes

Ezekiel’s audience was a people who didn’t take prophets seriously. They kept hearing meaningless memes. The prophets fell over themselves trying one positive message after another, all of them predicted that things were going to turn around and get better. Since things never got better, nobody valued prophecy anymore.

False proverbs might be popular from time to time, but only the truth will last. Today’s popular meme is tomorrow’s embarrassing memory.

God tells Ezekiel that things are going to change. Starting with him, some prophets are going to emerge that everyone will take seriously because their words will come true. They won’t be popular, because they will prophesy of coming judgment. But they will command respect.

Looking at our Old Testament as it appears today, we might get the impression that there were many prophets like Ezekiel who called on an evil generation to repent. But this incident reveals that most of Ezekiel’s contemporaries were pretending. They kept trying to convince their audience that things were going to get better.

In today’s religious environment, there are prophets who also constantly come up with positive and encouraging messages — in spite of reality. They would rather create clickbait than create change. History will prove the shallow and temporary nature of their memes.

LORD, give us the courage to speak your truth to a generation used to being lied to.