False Assumptions

“Son of man, you’ve heard that proverb … ‘Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing … I will put an end to this proverb’ … Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one: ‘The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!'” – Ezekiel 12:22-23 NLT

Many of God’s people had formed assumptions that dominated their lives. They had developed their own interpretations of His prophecies and made their own predictions.

Guided by wishful thinking, some assumed that His prophecies would not happen at all or impact their lives in any way. Some were not concerned because they did not believe anything would happen in their lifetime: “His visions won’t come true for a long, long time” (v. 27). As a result, they did not feel the need to change or prepare.

These interpretations made sense to them. Regardless of how they sounded, all these assumptions were wrong. The people were being deceived.

God wanted everyone to know that only one interpretation counted, and that was His. They could live with any illusion that made sense to them and be comfortable with their own conclusions, but none of these things would change His actions or the course of events.

God had declared that “the time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!” Because of Israel’s rebellion, God decided the time had come for fulfillment: “There will be no more delays” (v. 25).

We too can be guilty of developing assumptions about God’s Word and creating our own interpretations. His Word will always come true in His time. He is God, and what He speaks, He will do.

Reflection Question: What happens when you try to create your own meaning of Scripture?