Ezekiel 38:8 - Homiletics

After many days.

Time is an element which needs to be taken into calculation in the consideration of all human affairs. We are too short-sighted, too hasty, too impatient. God has the leisure of eternity.

"The mills of God grind slowly,

But they grind exceeding small."

We must learn to use the telescopes of faith and hope, and look far beyond the scene of the present, if we would form a right estimate of any important human event.

I. THE MISCHIEF OF EVIL IS SEEN AFTER MANY DAYS . This would be a pertinent consideration in regard to the evil work of remote Gog and Magog.

1. The mischief may be slow to develop . At first men enjoy the pleasures of sin; the pains come later. Judgment is deferred. God is patient and long-suffering, and he gives ample time for repentance. Nevertheless, the accumulations of wrath will at length burst over the heads of the finally impenitent.

2. The mischief may long endure . It may last for many days. A hasty sin may be followed by a lengthy penalty. The crime of a moment may be punished with penal servitude for life. One man's wickedness may bring misery on generations.

II. THE FRUITS OF GOODNESS ARE SEEN AFTER MANY DAYS . Earnest men work, and yet see but little results coming from their labors; so that they seem to be laboring for nothing. Like the disciples who toiled all 'night and took nothing, perhaps they are ready to despair just when a grand reward is within their reach. We have to learn to work and wait, and to obey our Master's command even when we expect but little good to come from our labor.

III. THE HARVEST OF THE GOSPEL IS REAPED AFTER MANY DAYS . The Christian preacher may have to go forth weeping, but he bears precious seed. Therefore, though he sows in tears, he will reap in joy. What we have to remember is that our work is seed-sowing, not the planting of full-grown trees. The latter process would give us the more immediate results; but it would be the more precarious, for the trees would not be easily kept alive. Now, since our work is a sowing of seeds, necessarily it cannot produce visible results at once. The field that has been sown all over with the best seed looks at first much like one that has been left waste and neglected. The Christian preacher, the Sunday school teacher, the missionary, have all to sow in patience. Perhaps one may sow and another reap. A man may not live to gather the harvest of his labor; then his works will follow him ( Revelation 14:13 ).

IV. THE BEST BLESSINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ARE ENJOYED AFTER MANY DAYS .

1. We may haw to wait for them . Some inestimable blessings may be had at once. We have no delay in receiving the pardon of our sins and the regeneration of our souls when we truly repent and yield ourselves to Christ. Still, "this is not your rest." We are not yet in heaven. The cross must now be carried; we must wait for the crown.

2. They will endure forever . We shall have them after many days, and after many days more these best blessings of God will still endure. The things which are not seen are eternal ( 2 Corinthians 4:18 ). No math nor rust corrupt the heavenly treasures. When all things on earth fade these shall abide, the everlasting inheritance of God's people.