Ezekiel 12 21

Ezekiel 12:21 kjv

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 12:21 nkjv

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezekiel 12:21 niv

The word of the LORD came to me:

Ezekiel 12:21 esv

And the word of the LORD came to me:

Ezekiel 12:21 nlt

Again a message came to me from the LORD:

Ezekiel 12 verses

Ezekiel 12 21 Meaning

This verse declares that the proverb, "Days are prolonged," will no longer be spoken in Israel. God is declaring an end to the deceptive prophecies that kept the people in false hope. Their present suffering and the consequences of their sin are the reality, not a temporary inconvenience.

Ezekiel 12 21 Context

Ezekiel chapter 12 is filled with symbolic actions and pronouncements of judgment against the people of Judah. God instructs Ezekiel to perform various acts demonstrating the exile and the impending destruction of Jerusalem. These actions highlight the inescapable nature of God's judgment on the unrepentant. The proverb mentioned in verse 21 is a reflection of the people's willful blindness and their reliance on the false assurances of the prophets. They wanted to believe that God’s judgment was not imminent and that their circumstances would soon improve, despite evidence to the contrary.

Ezekiel 12 21 Word Analysis

• Hear ye (Shema Yisrael): Although the word "hear" isn't explicitly used at the beginning of verse 22 in the Hebrew, the opening of chapter 12 is marked by "Shema Yisrael" (Hear, O Israel) from God to Ezekiel. This "Shema" is an imperative, a command to pay attention, not just to auditory input, but to internalize and understand. This is crucial because Ezekiel's message is not about hearing an empty sound, but about receiving divine truth.

• Massa (Masah): This word translates to "oracle," "burden," or "saying." It carries a weight of seriousness and divine pronouncement. The proverbs cited by the people were their "masseot" in their eyes, their pronouncements, which are now being invalidated by God's true oracle.

• Yammim orkin (Yamim urk in): "Days are prolonged." The verb "arku" comes from a root meaning "to be long." This refers to the people’s belief that the current troubles are temporary and that their good times will last indefinitely, a testament to their persistent self-deception and wishful thinking, ignoring God's judgments.

• W’chol machazeh chen (W’chol Machazeh Ken): "and every vision fails" or "every vision is false." "Machazeh" means vision, but in this context, it refers to prophetic visions. The phrase "ken" can imply something false or misleading, directly contradicting the hope the people clung to. Their "visions" were not from God, hence they proved to be empty.

• The end shall be nigh (Sof kolet hayom): "Sof" meaning end, and "kolet" being the verb form for nigh or imminent. God is stating unequivocally that the end, meaning the end of their present way of life and the commencement of severe judgment, is no longer a distant possibility but a present reality.

• and the day (W’yom): This connects the end with a specific, defined period of time—a day of reckoning, judgment, and consequence, directly referring to God’s impending actions.

• of wrath (N’kemah): The Hebrew word "nakam" means vengeance or retribution. This signifies that the "day" is characterized by divine response to their sin and rebellion, a fulfillment of righteous judgment.

• This proverb shall not be: "This oracle (or proverb) will not be." The negation indicates a complete nullification. These false proverbs, representing their delusion, will cease to have any relevance or power because the truth of God's judgment will become undeniably evident. They will not have days prolonged, nor visions that fail to materialize as they falsely hope; instead, their present reality will be one of immediate, stark consequences.

• Grouped words:

  • "the days are prolonged, and every vision fails.": This entire phrase captures the essence of the people’s false hope. They clung to the idea that their current suffering was temporary and that God’s prophecies of judgment were unreliable or distant. They favored comforting lies over harsh truths. This reflects a popular saying that excused inaction and perpetuated a false sense of security.

Ezekiel 12 21 Bonus Section

The proverb cited is a manifestation of willful ignorance, a desire to ignore present warnings and cling to comfortable illusions. This type of deceptive comfort is seen in other parts of Scripture where prophets were criticized for not speaking the full truth, but for softening God's message (Jeremiah 6:14, Jeremiah 23:17). This verse underscores the principle that God's truth, though sometimes difficult to bear, ultimately prevails over all deception. It is a call for discernment and a firm grounding in God’s word, rather than succumbing to popular, comforting, but untrue, sayings. The prophecy is fulfilled by the actual events of the Babylonian conquest, which brought an end to any illusion of prolonged days and failed visions for the majority of Jerusalem's inhabitants.

Ezekiel 12 21 Commentary

This verse highlights a critical point in Ezekiel's prophecy: the invalidation of deceptive words. The people of Judah, particularly their false prophets, had been peddling lies, assuring them of peace and prosperity when God had decreed judgment. They spoke of "days prolonged," meaning their current difficulties were temporary and they would soon return to their comfortable lives, and that "every vision fails," implying that prophecies of destruction were empty pronouncements that would not materialize. God declares through Ezekiel that these comforting lies will end. The immediate, stark reality of God's judgment is about to overtake them, making their proverbs meaningless. This emphasizes God’s absolute truthfulness and the danger of self-deception or being led astray by false teachings. The impending "day" spoken of is not a day of opportunity, but a day of deserved recompense, a day of God's wrath being poured out due to their continued disobedience and the false security they embraced.