Chapter 12

The type of Ezekiel’s removing. 8 It shewed the captivity of Zedekiah. 17 Ezekiel’s trembling sheweth the Jews’ desolation. 21 The Jews’ presumptuous proverb is reproved. 26 The speediness of the vision.

1. The word of the Lord. The purpose of the present prophecy is to emphasize the worthlessness and folly of trusting in the continuance of the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem and in an early release from Babylonian captivity.

2. Which have eyes. Compare Deut. 29:4; Isa. 6:9; Jer. 5:21; Matt. 13:14, 15. It was doubtless because of this perverse tendency on the part of the people that the prophet was bidden to give a sign to which they would not be able to shut their eyes.

3. Stuff for removing. Better, “equipment for exile,” that is, such equipment as an emigrant would need: clothes, utensils, etc. The preparations were to be made during the day, and the equipment removed to some convenient location.

6. Cover thy face. Probably as a token of how Zedekiah (see on v. 10) would disguise himself to avoid recognition, or perhaps a token of grief, a symbol of the disgrace and sorrow of the exile’s departure.

7. I did so. Ezekiel may have performed the symbolical act without fully understanding what it meant. The fact that the exiles asked him, “What doest thou?” (v. 9) is evidence that the symbolical act was actually performed, and not done in vision.

10. This burden concerneth. Literally, the clause reads, “The prince is this burden in Jerusalem,” that is, the message was concerning the prince. The word translated “burden” (masЊsЊaХ), common in Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isa. 13:1; 14:28; etc.; Jer. 17:21, 22; etc.), is used by Ezekiel but twice, and only here in the sense of “prophecy.” It has been suggested that Ezekiel avoided it because the word had fallen into discredit through its frequent use by the false prophets (see Jer. 23:33–38). The “prince” is Zedekiah (see 2 Kings 25:2–4; Jer. 39:4).

11. Your sign. That is, a sign to those in captivity. They were to cease resting their hope upon the survival of Jerusalem.

12. Dig through the wall. This incident is not mentioned in the historical narrative (see Jer. 39:4), but there is no reason for assuming that the words were intended figuratively.

13. Yet shall he not see it. The fulfillment of this feature of prophecy is recorded in Jer. 52:11. Before Zedekiah was carried to Babylon his eyes were put out in Riblah; hence he did not see the land of the Chaldeans. Josephus records the interesting, though perhaps apocryphal, story that Zedekiah was inclined to believe the warnings of Jeremiah regarding the Captivity, but his counselors dissuaded him from carrying out the prophet’s advice. When news of Ezekiel’s prophecy stating that Zedekiah should not see the land of the Chaldeans reached Jerusalem, the king concluded the two prophecies to be contradictory, and so disbelieved them both (Antiquities x. 7. 2).

14. I will scatter. The capture of the king would result in the scattering of the remnants of the army.

15. They shall know. Grammatically this sentence could refer either to the heathen or to the Israelites, but inasmuch as the phrase “ye [or ”they“] shall know that I am the Lord” (chs. 5:13; 6:7; etc.) is a constantly recurring refrain of these prophecies referring to the Israelites, it is likely that they are referred to here.

16. A few men. Literally, “men of number,” that is, men easily counted. These survivors, in telling their tale of shame, would let the heathen know that it was not weakness on the part of the God of Israel that had occasioned the severe distress and subjection of His people, but Israel’s failure to fulfill its divine destiny.

17. The word of the Lord. See on ch. 6:1.

18. Quaking. Earlier (ch. 4:16) Ezekiel had predicted dreadful scarcity. Now he was to demonstrate the terror and distress of the impending siege.

19. People of the land. Doubtless some of Ezekiel’s prophetic utterances reached the ears of the inhabitants of Judah. But the predictions were not without significance for the exiles, many of whom expected the remnant in Judah to survive and Jerusalem to be spared. The prophet informed them that their land would be stripped of all its fullness and become utterly waste and desolate.

21. The word of the Lord. See on ch. 6:1.

22. The days are prolonged. The inhabitants of Jerusalem are pictured as mocking at the reliability of the divine threats. Their reply takes the form of a proverbial saying. They declare in effect, “Time is going by and not one forecast of good or evil has come to pass. There is no reason to expect a fulfillment now.” Their attitude reflects the common tendency of sinful men to misinterpret the long-suffering and forbearance of God (see Eccl. 8:11; Amos 6:3; Matt. 24:48; 1 Thess. 5:3). Last-day scoffers utter a similar refrain, “Where is the promise of his coming? … all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4).

23. The days are at hand. The coming days would bring the speedy fulfillment of every word of the calamities Ezekiel had predicted.

24. Vain vision. The false prophets predicted prosperity and the early return of the captives from Babylon. The true prophets foretold a long captivity, a heavy loss of life, and a destroyed and desolated city and Temple. The scoffers probably argued that Ezekiel’s predictions were as vain as he declared those of the false prophets to be. God would effectively answer their reasoning, and convince these false prophets of their lying divination, and these scoffers of their illogical arguments, by bringing about the speedy fulfillment of the predicted doom.

25. In your days. Not upon some future race, but upon the generation then living would come the effects of the vision.

27. Times that are far off.The new utterance is directed against a class that appears, at least, to recognize Ezekiel as a prophet. Or it may be that the interval produced modification in the language of the objectors. Instead of saying that the vision “faileth,” they throw the fulfillment far into the future. The Lord meets the idea of postponement by telling the people that nothing He has spoken shall be prolonged. This attitude is typical of the attitude of many awaiting the second coming of Jesus. Though not with words, yet with actions, they are saying, “My Lord delayeth his coming” (see Matt. 24:48). Someday, and soon, with awful and inescapable suddenness the end will burst upon them, and with it the fulfillment of every vision.

The question may be raised, “But why the apparent delay in the coming of Jesus? Have the words of the Lord failed?” Inspiration asks the question and answers it thus: “Has the word of the Lord failed? Never ! It should be remembered that the promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional” (Ev 695).

We need to recall but a few statements of Bible writers to show that they always considered time as very short. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “But this I say, brethren, the time is short” (1 Cor. 7:29). In his epistle to the Romans he said, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:12). Through the seer of Patmos Jesus Himself testified, “The time is at hand” (Rev. 1:3) and “Behold, I come quickly” (ch. 22:6, 7). However, both Paul and John also clearly foretold certain events that must transpire before Jesus’ coming (see on 2 Thess. 2:1–5; Rev. 1:3).

It is true that Christ has not come as soon as His remnant people at first hoped, on the basis of fulfilled prophecy. That it was possible for Christ to have come before this has been repeatedly attested (DA 633, 634; GC 458; 6T 450; 8T 115, 116; 9T 29). The reason for the delay is further stated in these words: “The long night of gloom is trying; but the morning is deferred in mercy, because if the Master should come, so many would be found unready. God’s unwillingness to have His people perish has been the reason for so long delay” (2T 194). This is in harmony with the apostle’s statement in 2 Peter 3:9. The same writer adds that it is the Christian’s duty to hasten the coming of Jesus (v. 12). The divine commentary on the theme of this text reads, “It is the privilege of every Christian, not only to look for, but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (8T 22).

Someday time will be no longer prolonged. “It [the coming of Jesus] will not tarry past the time that the message is borne to all nations, tongues, and peoples” (Ev 697). When God perceives that the moment is right, He will bring about events that will precipitate the end “more quickly than men expect” (GC 631).

Yet, the definite time of His advent cannot be known. Neither ought men to conjecture as to the precise time. Excellent counsel has been given in the following words: “You will not be able to say that he will come in one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off his coming by stating that it may not be for ten or twenty years. It is the duty of the people of God to have their lamps trimmed and burning, to be as men that wait for the Bridegroom, when he shall return from the wedding” (EGW RH March 22, 1892).

Ellen G. White comments

2    COL 104; 9T 27

21–28GC 392; PK 450

22   DA 31; PK 700

27, 28  Ed 184