22<\/strong>. The days are prolonged<\/em> ] i.e. time passes and becomes long. The words are a generalization upon the fact that prophecies of judgment are not fulfilled; time goes on and “every vision faileth,” remains a dead threat. LXX. omits “every,” giving even a more comprehensive sense. The reference is specially to prophecies of judgment, and there was room for misapprehension in regard to these, because being drawn forth by moral evils existing when they were uttered, they were of the nature of threats, the object of which was to bring the people to repentance, and thus prevent their own fulfilment. For the same reason they were often of a general character, and thus when their fulfilment was postponed or when they were not literally fulfilled, men judged that they were merely uttered in the air. The moral purpose and consequently the contingent character of prophecy is expressly taught in Jeremiah 17<\/span>, and was well understood by intelligent persons in Israel, as appears from the reasoning of the princes in regard to the prophecy of Micah, Jer 26:17-19<\/span>.<\/p>\n Eze 12:22-25<\/span><\/p>\n The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Prophecy a living force<\/strong><\/p>\n Right in the midst of the history of Israel, when Divine purposes of the highest moral and spiritual importance were being wrought out in her, in the very centre of one of her grandest outbursts of revealing thought upon the principles and power of religion, this sceptical proverb took its rise and possessed a certain plausibility, and had its seeming justification in the circumstances of the time: The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.<\/p>\n Ungodly proverbs<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeremiah has been talking about this upbreaking of the kingdom, and Ezekiel is talking about it; and when the prophecies were delivered to Zedekiah he said they did not sufficiently coincide to confirm one another; for he looked for those literal coincidences which bewilder so many people and which can only satisfy pedantry; he did not see that coincidence is in the purpose, in the substance of the message. So there came up a proverb in Israel, The days are prolonged, then came a laugh suggestive; and Every vision faileth, then the laugh was prolonged. We have fallen into the mockery of proverb making. In English we say, Words are but wind. How foolishly we have lived to believe that: whereas words are the only real life. In the beginning the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the word is the man, the soul if he be other than a profane person. We ourselves say in English, In space comes grace: God does not mean to kill us, or He would not have given us such space for what is called repentance and amendment. We ourselves say, Every man for himself, and God for us all: a singular mixture of mammon and spirituality, of selfishness and pseudo-religion. Let us not be victimised by our own wit. See to it that we do not slip into hell through the trapdoor of an epigram. There is only one word about this business that is true, namely, Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. The Lord says His patience will give way, His long-suffering will come to an end,–There shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God. Better believe this. All the ages have testified to it; all philosophies point in this direction. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. (J. C. Parker.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The days are at hand.<\/strong>—<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Death and eternity at hand<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It may be that some of you will consider;<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>But the great mass of you will not. (C. Simeon, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 22<\/span>. The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?<\/B><\/I>] 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<\/I> 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 2Pe 3:4<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n After the manner of man God speaks with man, <\/P> What is?<\/B> or it is a comely transition to a new subject of discourse. <\/P> That proverb; <\/B>that short saying taken up as undoubted truth, and in a very common manner used by all. <\/P> That ye have:<\/B> he seems to include the prophet, as being one of the body of the people, though he used it not, nay, showed the falsehood and impiety of it. <\/P> In the land of Israel; in, <\/B>so the prophet and those with him are reckoned as if they were in the land of Israel, for that is their country. Or rather, concerning, as the Hebrew <\/span> here used. <\/P> The days of severe punishments, of wrath and vengeance, are to come a great while hence; let them fear who are like to feel them, these prophecies cannot be imagined to look to our times: thus atheists, and contemners of the prophets, hardened one another into sin and security. <\/P> Every vision, threatening vision, which Jeremiah at Jerusalem, and Ezekiel here in Chaldea, do dream of and would fright us with, comes to nothing, it is perished or dead in the nest. <\/P> <\/p>\n 22. proverb<\/B>The infidel scoff,that the threatened judgment was so long in coming, it would not comeat all, had by frequent repetition come to be a “proverb”with them. This skeptical habit contemporary prophets testify to(Jer 17:15<\/span>; Jer 20:7<\/span>;Zep 1:12<\/span>). Ezekiel, at theChebar, thus sympathizes with Jeremiah and strengthens his testimonyat Jerusalem. The tendency<\/I> to the same scoff showed itself inearlier times, but had not then developed into a settled “proverb”(Isa 5:19<\/span>; Amo 5:18<\/span>).It shall again be the characteristic of the last times, when “faith”shall be regarded as an antiquated thing (Lu18:8<\/span>), seeing that it remains stationary, whereas worldly artsand sciences progress, and when the “continuance of all thingsfrom creation” will be the argument against the possibility oftheir being suddenly brought to a standstill by the coming of theLord (Isa 66:5<\/span>; 2Pe 3:3<\/span>;2Pe 3:4<\/span>). The very long-sufferingof God, which ought to lead men to repentance, is made an argumentagainst His word (Ecc 8:11<\/span>;Amo 6:3<\/span>). <\/P> days . . . prolonged . . .vision faileth<\/B>their twofold argument: (1) The predictionsshall not come to pass till long after our time. (2) They shall failand prove vain shadows. God answers both in Eze 12:23<\/span>;Eze 12:25<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n Son of man, what [is] that proverb [that] ye have in the land of Israel<\/strong>,…. 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:<\/p>\n saying, the days are prolonged<\/strong>; 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:<\/p>\n and every vision faileth<\/strong>? or “perishes” b; every prophecy comes to nothing; no one is fulfilled; at least because not at, once, therefore they concluded it never would, or, however, hoped it never would; and so pleased themselves, and continued in their impenitence and unbelief, and contempt of prophecy.<\/p>\n b “peribit”, Munster, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius Tremellius, Polanus, Piscator “periit”, Starckius.<\/p>\n (22) In the land of Israel, <\/strong>is not here simply equivalent to the in Israel of Eze. 12:23<\/span>, but refers to a proverb current among those who had not yet been carried into captivity, and who fancied that they should not be.<\/p>\n Eze 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?<\/p>\n Ver. 22. What is that proverb.<\/strong> ] We have also many profane proverbs common among us, as, Thought is free; Every man for himself, and God for us all; Words are but wind; In space comes grace; Fair and softly goes far, &c. The Greeks had many such ill proverbs, Chrysostom complaineth. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The days are prolonged.<\/strong> ] Ludibrium crassum:<\/em> gross mockery, “Because judgment is not speedily executed,” &c.<\/p>\n what . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6. <\/p>\n proverb. See the Structure, “i”, on p. 1119. <\/p>\n prolonged: i.e. protracted, or postponed. <\/p>\n what: Eze 18:2, Eze 18:3, Jer 23:33-40 <\/p>\n The days: Eze 12:27, Eze 11:3, Isa 5:19, Jer 5:12, Jer 5:13, Amo 6:3, 2Pe 3:3, 2Pe 3:4 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Ki 14:14 – but what Jer 1:12 – I will Jer 17:15 – General Lam 4:18 – our end is near Eze 7:2 – unto Eze 21:7 – it cometh Eze 21:23 – as a Hos 9:7 – days of visitation Joe 1:15 – the day of Amo 5:18 – desire Hab 1:5 – for Mat 24:48 – My Luk 12:45 – and if Rom 2:4 – despisest<\/p>\n Eze 12:22-25. Son of man, what is that proverb? The saying become proverbial. The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth Words of the same import with those that occur Eze 12:27, and Eze 11:3. Both of them the words of scoffers, who turned the grace of God into wantonness, and took encouragement from his patience and long-suffering, to despise his threatenings, as if they would never be fulfilled. Tell them therefore Who either use this proverb, or who stumble at my deferring to execute judgment; I will make this proverb to cease My patience shall soon be at its period, and will call on my justice to vindicate it, and then calamities felt will prove that there can be no more place for such a proverb, the groundlessness of it being manifest to all. Say unto them, The days are at hand The time when God will show his wrath, and make his power and justice known to the world by fulfilling his threatenings and the predictions of his prophets. For there shall be no more any vain vision The false prophets, who foretold peace and safety, shall see their prophecies so confuted by the events, quite contrary to what they foretold, that they will never pretend any more to publish new prophecies. I am the Lord I am able to discover the vanity and falsehood of the prophets that have flattered the people, and will do it by accomplishing what my true prophets have foretold. The word that I shall speak shall come to pass No length of time shall make me forget it; no pretences of self-flattering prophets or people shall divert me from my purpose; no power can hinder, nor counsel defeat my design. It shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, &c. My threatenings shall be fulfilled in your own days, and you shall have ocular demonstration of their truth. <\/p>\n 12:22 Son of man, what [is] that proverb [that] ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days {f} are prolonged, and every vision faileth?<\/p>\n (f) Because they did not immediately see the prophecies accomplished, they contemned them as though they would never be fulfilled.<\/p>\n Son of man, what [is] that proverb [that] ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? 22. The days are prolonged ] i.e. time passes and becomes long. The words are a generalization upon the fact that prophecies of judgment are not fulfilled; time goes on and … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 12:22”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The proverb and its meaning. The saying may be held to express relief or disappointment. There were doubtless many Israelites who were glad to escape from the consciousness of the ceaseless vigilance of the Keeper of Israel. There are always some minds to whom the thought that Thou God seest me is an oppression and a nightmare. Others, however, were bitterly disappointed at what seemed to them the neglect and failure of Jehovah to redeem His promises to His people (Lam 3:1-66<\/span>). But our proverb is more probably the outcome of a shallow materialism than of either relief or disappointment. The materialist belongs to all ages and peoples, and is always ready to say that visions have nothing in them. Indeed, there had been, as Ezekiel tells us in verse 24, vain visions and flattering divinations within the house of Israel. And because the true visions had been contingent, conditional on their effect upon the character of the people, they had very often seemed to fail. The desert can never rejoice and blossom as the rose, except for a people who have learnt the joy of unselfish sacrifice and long adorned themselves with the beauty of holiness. Moreover, many of the truest visions never will and never can be realised in such a world as this, because they have in them an element of idealism. Now, the man who lives in a world governed entirely by material standards of value, cannot stand this kind of thing at all. He calls upon his gods–upon actuality, upon reality and common sense–to deliver him out of it; just as many of the exiled Israelites were, at this very time, thinking of abjuring their nation and religion, and becoming the servants of the gods of Babylon. Babylon, at any rate, was no vision. Babylon commanded the big battalions, the scarlet-coated legions which had never known defeat, the mighty engines of war, the inexhaustible resources of the valley of the Euphrates; she had the mastery of all the rich trade routes between East and West; and possessed, in her own queenly magnificence, her towers, her palaces and temples, her wharves and markets, her civilisation and unrivalled power, the assurances of what seemed eternal prosperity. What folly to set up the visions of prophets over against the great heathen power which dominated the world! It is not wonderful if today also there are those who feel orphaned, desolate, forlorn, as though God had left us. No voices and no visions now! no direct Divine message! no obvious Divine interposition!–this is the thought that lies behind very much of our public action and private conduct–this is the thought most to be dreaded; for its influence tends in national politics to a hard, cynical selfishness in place of any lofty enthusiasm for liberty and philanthropy. It is equally fatal in private life; for if God is really silent to us, if He has left us to our own devices, the times are indeed dull and joyless, and there is nothing for it but for each of us to do the best he can for himself, and, according to the wicked old worldly proverb, let the devil take the hindmost.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>But no! Prophecy is a living force. The Babylon of today is materialism–the materialistic view of the world and of life, in the laboratory of the chemist, the counting house of the merchant, and the abodes of society. Where are the prophets and where the spiritual influences which we can set over against this mighty tyranny? Some people talk of this as a materialistic or prosaic century–feel it to be so–because they themselves lead prosaic and materialistic lives. Yet our age has been blessed with a bright succession of true prophets, or at least prophetic souls–great teachers of the essential spirituality of the universe–men who have spoken, not only words of wisdom, but of wisdom weighted with the power of deep and passionate conviction. It is a question whether the Church of God has ever been blessed with a grander succession of true preachers than in our own day; whilst the authority of the great names outside the Church–of the Carlyles, Ruskins, Tennysons–has been essentially a moral and spiritual authority. Materialism only represents one tendency, one phase, of the life of the age; whilst great fields of life and influence have been occupied by men who have been seekers after God in the temper and spirit of old Hebrew piety, which ever cried, Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might even come into His presence! Such men have wrought in many minds an increased seriousness of thought, a deepened power of feeling, a wider sympathy, a truer spiritual insight. Then, again, the great influences which come from science are now being recognised as not necessarily materialistic. The eternal power and Godhead are more clearly, not less clearly, seen today than ever, in the majestic order of creation as revealed by the telescope and the microscope. The God of the infinitely great and infinitely little, the God who presides over the slow development of human society, from whom come the influences which form character and which move the world forward age by age, from whom comes the unconquerable tendency in things which makes for righteousness, never was, to the seeing heart and eye, more manifestly present than in the thought and life of our time. The silent, ceaseless activities of a Deity whose being is everywhere, who crowds the waters of a stagnant pool with myriads upon myriads of tiny inhabitants, and fills the vast spaces of the heavens above us with stars, suns, systems innumerable, are being recognised as still more impressive than the ancient manifestations; whilst, as our science begins to hear in many directions the Thus far shalt thou go and no further which limits discovery, a sense of awe in presence of the encompassing mysteries of our lot gathers about us; and signs are not wanting–the very nature of some of the more recent discoveries warrants the impression–that science herself will come to be our teacher of reverence, and her text books, which conduct us to the limits of the known, will become more and more suggestive of awe and wonder in presence of the unknown. The great Master of the unseen, the eternal, now, as ever, is Christ. Who can doubt that He has ruled the thought of the nineteenth century as of the first, or that His majestic figure will dominate the twentieth? As to the Babylon of our day, He is but waiting to smite it down. For us, at ally rate, to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, that surely is enough to banish materialism out of our life forever, to save us utterly from the dull and joyless inability to see lifes greater meanings. (W. Burkitt Dalby.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>The tidings here announced to the Jews. Similar tidings to you, but you have disregarded them as the Jews of old; set the days are at hand.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The sign by which they were confirmed. Apply–<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"