The people of Israel had a saying, a proverb, in Ezekiel 12:22 ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision has come to nothing.’ but this wasn’t because the Lord’s word was not true. It is because of the false prophets described in Ezekiel 13:2 “who are prophets out of their own imagination”. A prophet is accountable to the Lord and to the people but the Lord says of these in Ezekiel 13:5 “You did not go up into the breaches and repair”. Because these usurped the role of the prophet, sin continued and grew worse in the land until the people lost faith and said “every vision has come to nothing”. And now, the Lord reminds them in Ezekiel 14:13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting very unfaithfully, then I will stretch out my hand against it”.
In the Midst of the House of Rebellion
I Will Speak a Word and I Will Fulfill It!
Ezekiel 12:14–28
The Lord asks in Ezekiel 12:22 “what is the proverb you people have” but he doesn’t wait for an answer, . The Lord quotes their proverb “‘The days are prolonged, and every vision has come to nothing.’” Then the Lord answers this proverb and tells the prophet to say this in Ezekiel 12:23 “I will put an end to this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel.” and the Lord goes on and says tell them that “The days are near, and also the word of every vision.”
But now we come to the problem, and the reason that people have taken up this proverb that “every vision comes to nothing”, it is the false prophets in
Ezekiel 12:24 “For there will not be any longer any false vision or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel”.
Then the Lord tells the prophet to tell them the Lords decree in Ezekiel 12:28 “None of my words will be prolonged any longer that I speak as a word, and it will be fulfilled!”
To Those Who Are Prophets Out of Their Own Imagination
Ezekiel 13:1–12
The Lord speaks to the false prophets in
Ezekiel 13:2 “Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own imagination, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’
and here the charge against them is in
Ezekiel 13:5 “You did not go up into the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh”.
It is the place of the prophet to turn the people to the Lord “Those who would advise the people to repentance are the restorers of the breach (Ez 22:30; Ps 106:23, 30) … (and) (Ps 80:12; Is 5:2, 5); by violating it (the law of God), the people stripped themselves of the fence of God’s protection … The false prophets did not try to repair the evil by bringing back the people to the law with good counsels, or by checking the bad with reproofs”.1
You Disheartened the Heart of the Righteous by Deception
Ezekiel 13:13–23
That I May Take Hold of the House of Israel by Their Heart
When a Land Sins Against Me
Ezekiel 14:12–23
We are well aware of the natural cycles that occur in creation around us, day and night, summer and winter, seed time and harvest. We know that these are all established by God’s word. But even people that deny God would not think to fight against these, what the world calls, “laws of nature”.
The Lord has also established this law by his word, in
Ezekiel 14:13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting very unfaithfully, then I will stretch out my hand against it, and I will break for it the supply of food, and I will send against it famine, and I will cut it off, both human and animal.
And when the supply of food is broken, people fight for their very lives, so much so that even the most righteous “would only save themselves” in
Ezekiel 14:14 “And if even the three of these men were in the midst of it—Noah, Daniel, and Job—they, through their righteousness, would save only themselves!” declares the Lord Yahweh.
Then the Lord goes on to describe four punishments for a land that sins and none but the most righteous are saved in
Ezekiel 14:21 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “How much more when I send my four punishments—the evil sword, and famine, and a fierce animal, and a plague—to Jerusalem to cut it off, both human and animal!
Study Verses
- Ezekiel 12:14–28 I Will Speak a Word and I Will Fulfill It!
- Ezekiel 13:1–12 To Those Who Are Prophets Out of Their Own Imagination
- Ezekiel 14:12–23 When a Land Sins Against Me
Today’s Reading
- Ezekiel 12:1-28
- Ezekiel 13:1-23
- Ezekiel 14:1-23
References
- 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 580). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.