Time Has Run Out!
The Days are at Hand, the Effect of Every Vision
The prophetic sequence began with the LORD saying to Ezekiel, “Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness” (Ezek. 12:18). This, the prophet did… literally. He was compelled to do it under the compulsion of the Spirit; it was not an act. Prophetic revelations had power to possess the emotions and force the human perception of Prophets to feel, think, and see what the soon-to-be reality is for others. The subjects of their prophecy were made to look upon a Spirit-enflamed eyewitness who bore witness. Even so, Ezekiel was literally quaking and trembling! He was filled with carefulness and anxious concern! …why? God said of the people of Jerusalem and Israel,
“They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment; that her Land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. And the Cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the Land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” – Ezek. 12:19-20
The people should have been terrified and astonished at such a word, but they weren’t. They were deluded by false prophets, thinking, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth” (Ezek. 12:22). The LORD hearkened and heard it! Literally. He responded, saying, “I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision” (Ezek. 12:23)! Fearfully, the LORD confirmed the effect of every vision, saying, “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” (Ezek. 12:25)! In other words, the Kingdom of God was at hand! Or, the KING was at hand! Which means that the KING would not suffer Himself to be disregarded by the people any longer like in past generations. No, the LORD was asserting immediate sovereignty in this generation to speak and to do, to hear what they think and say, and to RESPOND. Thereby, He would take preeminence! He said, “ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezek. 12:20)! End of story.
But, oh! How deceitful and ruinous were the schemes of Lucifer! Deceptively, how numerous were the visions of false prophets! By diabolical design, the visions multiplied in number to inundate the people and make them scornful, thinking, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth” (Ezek. 12:22), or, “The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not” (Ezek. 9:9). Satan intended to reduce the people into this kind of stupor, a fearless irrelevance to God’s imminent existence: namely, that He was feeling, thinking, speaking, and doing all things in RESPONSE to how the people were feeling, thinking speaking, and doing! Being made to deny this fact, the people were impulsively responding to the voice of God by thinking and feeling that the present situation was just like other times in past generations, and, thus, as always, the prophetic vision would fail. In so many words, the deception preached: “Unconditional Eternal Security never fails!” They would just continue to live on the same way as before, so they thought. “All things continue as they were from the beginning”, so they said (2 Pet. 3:4). Fearfully, though, they stood just 5 years from Judgment Day (the 5th Captivity).
“Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.” – Ezek. 12:27-28
Look upon this pastime scene long and hard, my reader. It behooves us, “upon whom the ends of the World are come”, to learn from the examples of pastime (1 Cor. 10:11). We are commanded to do this through Paul, who affirmed, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition…” (1 Cor. 10:11); a desperately needed affirmation! For, just like every Tribulation Period of Biblical Church History, this deception will blind the backslidden Church of the Last Days (2 Pet. 3:4-11, Matt. 24:48, 25:5, 14, 19, Gen. 6:3, 1 Pet. 3:20, Lk. 17:26-37, Hab. 2:3). May God help us, dear reader! Over 2,000 years have passed since the 1st coming of the Lord, and are we ready for the 2nd coming?
After centuries and millennia have passed without the judgments of God being manifest (2 Pet. 3:8), the Church of the Last Days will be exasperated to think, “every vision faileth” (Ezek. 12:22). The Continuationist and the Cessationist will disagree in doctrine and walk united in practice, thinking, “My Lord delayeth His coming” (Matt. 24:48), as if He wasn’t already in the very midst (Matt. 18:20, Rev. 1:12-13, 2:1). They will persecute the Tribulation Prophets and denounce the word of judgment in the name of Unconditional Eternal Security, saying, “every vision faileth” (Ezek. 12:22). So much the contrary, though, the Thief approaches (Rev. 3:3)! The surprising robbery of every man’s undying soul from its refuge of false security is imminent! …and what will the LORD say in response to such words, “every vision faileth” (Ezek. 12:22)? As an example, the LORD said to Ezekiel’s Generation, “it [the vision] shall be no more prolonged” (Ezek. 12:25)!
Why was it prolonged in the first place, you wonder? According to scripture, it was God’s “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9), just like “the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah” (1 Pet. 3:20). In other words, grace stalled judgment in hopes to bring backsliders to repentance. Remember, though, in Ezekiel’s day the backslidden Church stood just 5 years away from Judgment Day (the 5th Captivity)! They fell amidst a present-tense Great Falling Away, thinking they stood! They lived in a day ripe for judgment, thinking of former years! They reckoned pastime outcomes, being out of time! Many stories came from him whose head was hoary, all irrelevant! God said that He would bring judgment in their lifetime (“in your days” – Ezek. 12:25)! What is the modern-day rendition?
The factually correct and historically astute multitude will unwisely conclude, and say, “Many of the most recent generations of Christians thought that they were the Last Generation before the coming of the LORD”. Tragically, though, thereby they will denounce “the historically unadvised” Tribulation Prophets to their own destruction! They will think that the Great Tribulation will be prolonged to another generation just like it happened to former generations who heard similar prognostications. What is happening, and why? (For more information on this subject, see “Intercessory Attempts Denied”, “Jeremiah Backslid”, “God’s Longsuffering & Abundant Working Among Backsliders” & “Vindicating the Scriptural Emphasis of Guilt”.) The people will depreciate, misunderstand, and misrepresent the provision of time that God does graciously provide as judgment tarries, not knowing that God can suddenly assert judgment at any time like a Mighty Man awaking from slumber (Ps. 74:11, 44:23, 78:65-66, Isa. 64:12, 1 Thess. 5:3, Lk. 17:27-29, Lk. 21:34-35, Rev. 18:8). Therefore, what should be thankfully regarded as God’s longsuffering, the people will scorn as slackness and failure (2 Pet. 3:9). They did this, and we will do this, even when we stand just 5 years from the Great Tribulation which will preclude the End of the World! …we will do this if we, like them, are made to believe that the KING and the Kingdom of God are not at hand in this our day! What saith the KING? Are you in His Kingdom? Do you hear His active voice? Or, do you stand without? Kings rule Kingdoms, you know. “…let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” (Php. 3:16).