PRÉCIS ON DELAYED GRATIFICATION: ALL GREAT THINGS BEGIN SMALL

SCRIPTURE. “The least one shall become a thousand [a clan], and the small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its [appointed] time.” – ISAIAH 60:22, AMPC

KEY TERM: “IN ITS TIME.” ‘Eth’ [בְּעִתָּ֥הּ]: “A general reference to ‘when’ something will take place; imp. a long due season; ‘The [Divinely] Appointed Time;’ refers also to a distant, proper or suitable time [as with time most appropriate for the rule of a king].

QUOTATION. “The exact fulfilment of Scripture Prophecies is convincing proof of their Divine Origin. Though the instruments be weak and unlikely, yet God often chooses such, to bring about great things by them. ‘Let not the Dawning Light be despised.’ It will shine more and more to the perfect day.” – MATTHEW HENRY, “Commentary on Zechariah 4:10,” Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘A little one shall become a thousand’ – There shall be a Great Increase, as if one, and that the smallest, should be multiplied to a thousand. The idea is, that the people, then small in number, would be greatly increased by the accession of the Gentile world …

‘I the Lord will hasten it in his time’ – Noyes, ‘Its time.‘ Lowth ‘Due time.’ Septuagint, ‘I will do it in the proper time’ (κατα καιρὸν, kata kairon). The sense is, that this would be done at the Proper Time – called, in Galatians 4:4, ‘The fullness of time.’ There was a proper season when this was to be accomplished. There were important preparations to be made before it could be done. The nations, under the Divine Arrangement, were to be put into a proper position to receive the Messiah.” – ALBERT BARNES, Notes on the Old and New Testament, 1834; edited

DK. When I was a young man (use your imagination), we bandied about a phrase beginning in my high school to college days: “Delayed Gratification,” defined by psychologist KELLY MILLER as: “The ability to delay an impulse for an immediate reward to receive a more favorable reward at a later time … Studies have shown that the ability to delay reward is present in highly successful people” (Positive Psychology, Mar. 11, 2024; edited).

Tightly linked to this Wisdom is the foundational Scriptural Principle, simply stated: “All great things begin as small things” (Zechariah 4:10). Bear Witness:

• ABRAHAM was told he would have a son at the impossibly old age of 99 years, that of course came to pass after he fouled things up considerably by not waiting on the Lord (Genesis 21:2).

• JOSEPH thrown into a pit by his brothers and then sold to become the second most powerful man in Egypt (Genesis 37:24).

• MOSES as an infant hidden in a papyrus basket became the greatest Jewish Prophet of all time.

• JESUS CHRIST born in a smelly little feeding trough for horses and cattle was and is the very Son of the Living God whose Royal Mark has reshaped all of Mankind and Reality forever!

‘Small things. Then later, very great things.’

THE APPLICATION. Many of us, including this writer, have been waiting and waiting for some important Divine Promise to become fulfilled. And the long wait is hard. Sometimes, very nearly impossibly hard, and we get discouraged, or angry, or just weary. But we should immediately take Hope in the One whose Promises never fail.

“So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” – ISAIAH 55:11, AMPC

THE QUESTION. Why Does God Make Us Wait? For a whole raft of reasons that reduce to just a few, beginning with the word, PREPARATION! Waiting ‘ensures’ that it was God Who spoke. Waiting thereby prevents presumption. Waiting also ‘builds strong faith and character’ to see if we will endure. Finally, in all this progress, waiting ‘purifies’ us, enough to be sure of God’s Voice for future assignments and missions.

Thus I close with the sweet reminder from the Old Testament Prophet:

 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:  Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” – HABAKKUK 3:17-19, KJV

So may it be with all of us, beloved, who wait with lamps fitly trimmed for our Final Mission on this Earth, and the ‘Arrival of The Promised One’ who brings all His Reward with Him.