Ezekiel 12:22

Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? WHAT IS THAT PROVERB? The infidel scoff, that the threatened judgment was so long in coming it would not come at all had, by frequent repetition, come to be a "proverb" with them. This sceptical habit contemporary prophets testify to (; ; ). Ezekiel, at the Chebar, sympathizes with Jeremiah, and strengthens his testimony at Jerusalem. The tendency to the same scoff showed itself in earlier times, but not then developed into a settled "proverb" (; )...

21-28 From that forbearance of God, which should have led them to repent, the Jews hardened themselves in sin. It will not serve for an excuse in speaking evil, to plead that it is a common saying. There is but a step between us and an awful eternity; therefore it concerns us to get ready for a future state. No one will be able to put from himself the evil day, unless by seeking peace with the Lord....

Verse Ezekiel 12:22. _THE DAYS ARE PROLONGED, AND EVERY VISION FAILETH?_] These are the words of the infidels and scoffers, who, because vengeance was not speedily executed on an evil work, set their heart to do iniquity. "These predictions either will not come in our days, or will wholly fail; why then should _we_ disquiet ourselves about them?" Strange, that the very means used by the most gracious God to bring sinners to repentance, should be made by them the very instruments of their own destruction! See 2 Peter 3:4....

As in Ezekiel 7, the nearness of the judgment is foretold. Ezekiel 12:22 THE LAND OF ISRAEL - is put generally for the land where the children of Israel dwelt, whether at home, or in exile. There was prevalent a disregard for the true prophets, which is ever followed by a recognition of the false. First, the true prophet is rejected because it is thought that his prophecies fail. Then men persuade themselves that if the prophecy be true it respects some distant time, and that the men of the present generation need not disturb themselves about it. Compare Jeremiah 1:11; Amos 6:3;...

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 12:1 THE WORD OF THE LORD, etc. This formula, so familiar in Isaiah and Jeremiah, appears for the first time in Ezekiel, but occurs repeatedly afterwards, especially in this chapter (verses 8, 17, 21, 26. and again Ezekiel 13:1; Ezekiel 14:2, _et al._)_. _The teaching by "the visions of God" ceases, and that of direct message or symbolic acts is resumed. In each case the point aimed at was the same. The people who heard the one or saw the other were to be taught how utterly groundless was the hope that Jerusalem could hold out against its enemies. The interval between the two was probably a short one, and the new teaching, we may conjectu

SON OF MAN, WHAT [IS] THAT PROVERB [THAT] YE HAVE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL,.... Which question is put, as ignorant of it, but as filled with indignation at the impiety and boldness of those that used it, and in order to expose the wickedness and folly of it: SAYING, THE DAYS ARE PROLONGED; the days of affliction and distress; the time of Jerusalem's destruction, and of the Babylonish captivity, these were not to be of a long time; and therefore they were ready to flatter themselves they would never be, at least in their days; and hence, because judgment was not immediately executed, their hearts were set in them to do evil; and thus they abused the patience and long suffering of God, and they used this and the following expression so often, and so long, that they became proverbial to them: AND EVERY VISION FAILETH? or "perishes" b; every prophecy comes to nothing; no one is fulfilled; at...

CHAPTER S 12-19 Signs, Messages, and Parables _ 1. Signs given through the prophet (Ezekiel 12:1) _ 2. The message of speedy judgment (Ezekiel 12:21) 3. The message against false prophets and prophetesses. (Ezekiel 13:1) 4. The message against the elders (Ezekiel 14:1) 5. The parable of the vine given to the fire (Ezekiel 15:1) 6. The parable of the abandoned child and Israel's whoredom (Ezekiel 16:1)

DISREGARD OF THE TRUE PROPHETS. One reason for ignoring the stern message of Ezekiel is suggested by the popular saying that the days keep stretching out but the doom is never fulfilled, so that there is nothing in prophecy after all (Ezekiel 12:21). Another group of people appears to have believed in prophecy, but regarded the doom at which it pointed to be so far away as to be negligible (Ezekiel 12:26). To both Ezekiel reiterates his message with the assurance that the doom is coming speedily....

WHAT... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._ App-6. PROVERB. See the Structure, "i", on p. 1119. PROLONGED: i.e. protracted, or postponed....

Warning against despising of prophecy The prophet felt that such threats as those just uttered (Ezekiel 12:1) were neglected and little thought of. People disposed of such prophecies by saying that they did not come true; or, if they did not go so far, by saying that they referred to the distant future. Ezekiel warns them that Jehovah's threatenings bear upon the present time, and that they shall be fulfilled....