Eze 12:25 | KingComments | STEP | The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel again as “son of man” ( ). The LORD points him to the reaction of His people who are in “the land of Israel” to the prophecies He has spoken. They respond with rejection, saying that the prophecy will not be fulfilled ( ; ; ). The days go on and on and nothing of what has been announced happens. They just don’t believe that what the prophets have foretold to them in the Name of the LORD is going to happen. Ezekiel must tell them, in the Name of the Lord GOD, that He will cause their mocking to cease ( ; cf. ). They won’t be laughing for long. The days announced and the fulfillment of every vision draw near. The time of the fulfillment of the prophetic word is near. Then it will be over with all lie prophecy which is essentially “flattering divination”, or demonic activity ( ). During the life of the lying prophets, God will fulfill His word and He will punish the rebellious house ( ). Then the lying prophets will be openly belied. The LORD will speak and His speaking is the guarantee that it will happen. The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel one more time about the attitude of the people toward prophecy ( ). There are also those of the house of Israel who say that it will be a long time before what the LORD has foretold will happen. This is a different attitude from the previous category of people. They do not deny the prophecy, but they put off its fulfillment. The prophecy has no effect on their lives. They think it will take a while. They don’t let God’s Word upset them and lead them to repentance, but continue with their wicked lives ( ). They too are told that none of the LORD’s words will be delayed any longer ( ). The word that the LORD has spoken will be fulfilled. For us, the danger of the second attitude is also great. We do believe in what God’s Word says about the future, but the prophecy has little effect on our lives. There is an urgent need to engage with the prophecy of God’s Word so that we see that the coming of Christ is near. When we engage in prophecy, the morning star rises in our hearts ( ) and we know that “the Sun of righteousness” ( ), that is the Lord Jesus, will soon appear. It will also separate us from the world and its things. The world is full of idolatry, wickedness and immorality. Judgment cannot be long in coming. Let us not be like the evil slave who says in his heart: “My master is not coming for a long time”, and then starts behaving evil ( ). Let us look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus as people who are waiting for their Lord and whose lamps are burning and shining a bright light ( ).

‏ Ezekiel 12:25

Contempt of True Prophecy

The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel again as “son of man” (Eze 12:21-22). The LORD points him to the reaction of His people who are in “the land of Israel” to the prophecies He has spoken. They respond with rejection, saying that the prophecy will not be fulfilled (Jer 17:15; Amos 6:3; Isa 5:19). The days go on and on and nothing of what has been announced happens. They just don’t believe that what the prophets have foretold to them in the Name of the LORD is going to happen.

Ezekiel must tell them, in the Name of the Lord GOD, that He will cause their mocking to cease (Eze 12:23; cf. 2Pet 3:3-4). They won’t be laughing for long. The days announced and the fulfillment of every vision draw near. The time of the fulfillment of the prophetic word is near. Then it will be over with all lie prophecy which is essentially “flattering divination”, or demonic activity (Eze 12:24). During the life of the lying prophets, God will fulfill His word and He will punish the rebellious house (Eze 12:25). Then the lying prophets will be openly belied. The LORD will speak and His speaking is the guarantee that it will happen.

The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel one more time about the attitude of the people toward prophecy (Eze 12:26-27). There are also those of the house of Israel who say that it will be a long time before what the LORD has foretold will happen. This is a different attitude from the previous category of people. They do not deny the prophecy, but they put off its fulfillment. The prophecy has no effect on their lives. They think it will take a while. They don’t let God’s Word upset them and lead them to repentance, but continue with their wicked lives (Ecc 8:11). They too are told that none of the LORD’s words will be delayed any longer (Eze 12:28). The word that the LORD has spoken will be fulfilled.

For us, the danger of the second attitude is also great. We do believe in what God’s Word says about the future, but the prophecy has little effect on our lives. There is an urgent need to engage with the prophecy of God’s Word so that we see that the coming of Christ is near. When we engage in prophecy, the morning star rises in our hearts (2Pet 1:19) and we know that “the Sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2), that is the Lord Jesus, will soon appear.

It will also separate us from the world and its things. The world is full of idolatry, wickedness and immorality. Judgment cannot be long in coming. Let us not be like the evil slave who says in his heart: “My master is not coming for a long time”, and then starts behaving evil (Mt 24:48-51). Let us look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus as people who are waiting for their Lord and whose lamps are burning and shining a bright light (Lk 12:35-36).