The people listening to Ezekiel had found a way to dismiss God’s warning without openly denying it. They simply pushed it into the distant future.
They said, “The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.” In Ezekiel chapter twelve, God answered that none of His words would be delayed any longer. What He had spoken would be performed.
Time had passed, so the people treated patience as permission. The city still stood. The temple doors still opened. Ordinary life continued. They assumed tomorrow would look enough like today that repentance could wait.
We can make the same mistake. We hear that Jesus will return, that judgment is real, and that today is the day to turn toward God. But because another morning comes, we begin to live as though delay has canceled the promise.
God’s patience is mercy. It gives us time to repent. But mercy is not permission to keep the sins we plan to abandon later. The day of the Lord will come, and God’s word will not fail because we grew accustomed to waiting.
The question is not whether we can calculate when the warning will be fulfilled. It is whether we are answering God’s call today.
Do not confuse patience with forgetfulness. Turn, and live.
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