Ezekiel 12:21 - Meaning and Application

Many methods had been used to wake this secure and careless people and make them expect God’s coming judgments. The aim was to move them to repentance and change, so the disaster might be turned away. Their ruin had been foretold in visions and explained with signs, with such clear proof and force that they should have been convinced. Yet they escaped that conviction by telling themselves, and each other, that the threatened judgment would not come for a long time.

God answers that excuse here and shows how empty it is. He sends the prophet two separate messages, both saying the same thing, to pull the people out of their false peace, Ezekiel 12:21, Ezekiel 12:26. We see, first, how they comforted themselves with the hope that judgment would be delayed. They had a saying in Israel, Ezekiel 12:22: “The days are stretched out. The visions fail.” In other words, the warning has not come when expected, and since some prophecies seem delayed, they assumed all such visions were false. They also said, “The vision is for many years from now,” Ezekiel 12:27, meaning the trouble was so far off that they did not need to worry. They hoped they would live and die in honor and peace before it ever arrived.

If the trouble had truly been far off, they might have settled down, as Hezekiah did when he said it was good if peace and truth would be in his days. But they were badly deceived, and that deception was leading them toward ruin. God was deeply displeased for several reasons. First, they abused God’s patience. Because he was silent for a time, they acted as if he were just like them, Psalm 50:21. His forbearance, which should have led them to repent, only hardened them in sin.

Second, these excuses were encouraged by the false prophets among them. God points to the vain visions and flattering divinations even in the house of Israel, the people who had received God’s own words, Ezekiel 12:24. It was no surprise that those who had already fooled themselves with idols also trusted false prophecies. God justly gave them over to strong delusion because of their idolatry.

Third, these sayings had become common proverbs, spread everywhere and accepted by many. That itself showed how far the nation had fallen. When wicked words become popular sayings, it is a sign of deep moral decay. Satan uses such sayings to strengthen people in their false ideas about God’s word and ways. A saying is no excuse just because everyone repeats it.

God then assures them that they are only fooling themselves, because the judgments will come sooner. Their careless proverbs will be answered by reality: “The days are at hand,” Ezekiel 12:23, and “None of my words will be delayed any longer,” Ezekiel 12:28. When people push the evil day away in their minds, they only make God’s judgment come on them more suddenly and severely.

God will certainly silence these lying proverbs and the lying prophecies behind them. “I will make this proverb stop,” he says, because when the days of punishment arrive and every part of the warning proves true, they will no longer dare to repeat it. Those who refuse correction by God’s word will be corrected by God’s judgments, for every false word will be shut down. The false prophets who promised peace and an end to trouble will be exposed by events, and their shame will silence them. Truth came first, and it will outlast error. The true prophets’ messages stand firm, while the empty visions and flattering lies will disappear from Israel.

God also says with great majesty, “I am the Lord,” Ezekiel 12:25. His name, Jehovah, means he is the One who gives being to what he speaks by carrying it out. He was known by that name in the fullest sense when he kept his promises, and he is also Jehovah when he carries out his threats. He will speak, whether people listen or refuse: “I will speak.” His word will still go out through his servants, even in rebellious times. In the worst ages, God has never left himself without a witness. He raises up people to speak for him and from him. His message will be spoken, and it will stand.

What he says will also certainly happen exactly as he intended. “I will speak the word and perform it,” Ezekiel 12:25. His purpose does not change, his power does not fail, and his wisdom is never at a loss.

With people, saying something and doing it are two different things. It is not so with God. With him, a thing is spoken and done, as surely as if it were already finished. In his works of providence, as in creation, he speaks and it happens. He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He said, “Let there be a firmament,” and there was a firmament (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29).

The people had said, “Every vision fails” (Ezekiel 12:22). But God says, in effect, “No, every vision will have its outcome” (Ezekiel 12:23). It will not return empty. Every sign will be matched by the thing it points to. Those who truly see visions from the Almighty do not see empty visions. God proves the words of his servants by bringing them to pass.

This will also happen very soon. “The days are near” when they will see the result of every vision (Ezekiel 12:23). It has been said and sworn that delay will be no longer (Revelation 10:6). The time of God’s patience has almost run out, and he will not keep putting off the sentence. It will no longer be delayed (Ezekiel 12:25). He has waited a long time for them, but he will not wait forever.

“In your days, O rebellious house,” the spoken word will be carried out, and they will see the threatened judgments and share in them. The Judge is standing at the door. The righteous are taken away from the evil that is coming, but this rebellious house will not be quietly taken away. No, they will live to be driven out, chased out of the world. This is said again in Ezekiel 12:28: “None of my words will be delayed any longer.” Judgment will now move quickly. The longer the bow has been drawn, the deeper the arrow will pierce.

When we warn sinners about death and judgment, heaven and hell, and hope to lead them to a holy life, they may not deny these truths outright. They may admit that they believe in reward and punishment in the life to come. But they weaken the force of these truths by treating them as far off. They say, in effect, “The vision is for many days from now. You are speaking of a distant time. It will be soon enough to think about it when it gets closer.”

But in truth, there is only a step between us and death, and between us and eternity. In just a little while, the vision will speak and will not lie. So we must make good use of our time and get ready quickly for the life to come. It is future, but it is very near. While stubborn sinners sleep, their ruin is not asleep.