diff --git a/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_12:17-28.md b/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_12:17-28.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a25b6e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_12:17-28.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ ++++ +title = "Ezekiel 12:17–28" +date = "2023-03-31" ++++ + +### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel12.17-28) + +Ezekiel is given another symbolic action to perform, another layer on top of +the ones he is already performing, most likely. He is to eat the siege rations +that have been assigned to him with "trembling and anxiety". (_v. 18_) This +represents the fear and dismay with which the inhabitants of Jerusalem will eat +their bread and drink their water because of the terrible things that are +happening all around them. The Lord reiterates that the desolation has come as +a judgement upon the people who have filled the land with violence. + +The next time He speaks to Ezekiel, the Lord changes the subject and addresses +the attitude of the people towards their God. They have been plagued with false +prophets to such an extent that it has become a proverb to remark that the +things that were prophesied have not come about. Remember that the people have +decided that God must have forsaken the land or is otherwise indifferent to the +things going on in it. I suspect the preponderance of false visions contributed +to that attitude significantly. + +The Lord declares that He will make it so that this proverb will no longer be +said. He will give visions, and they will come true. No longer will false +prophets give flattering predictions because people want to hear what they want +to hear (as is still true today). Instead, the true visions from the Lord will +also come true within the sight of those who first hear of it, not just +"eventually" or "some day". + +This declaration should be understood in the context of Ezekiel's ministry, and +not applied to prophecy in general. There are plenty of predictions and +prophecies that have not yet come to pass, even after 2,000 years or more. Some +of Ezekiel's prophetic messages may still be fulfilled in the end times (he +says, looking at the end of the book), but the vast majority of them are for +the near future. + +* * * + +Your word never returns void, and You accomplish all You have decided to do.