Ezekiel 12:21

"And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Son of man, what is this proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say to them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. For there shall be no more any false vision, nor any flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am Jehovah; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, O rebellions house, I will speak the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord Jehovah."

EZEKIEL ANSWERS A FALSE PROVERB

These words and some of the following prophecies deal with the problem of true and false prophecy. The unbelievers, encouraged by the false prophets, were saying, "Look, we've heard all this before. Nothing happens; things are going on just the same as always." Very well, the Lord says here, "Your wicked generation is the very one that shall indeed see every vision fulfilled, every prophecy vindicated, and all the predictions against the apostate nation happening just like the true prophets said." This proverb appears in the Hebrew here literally, as, "The days lengthen; the vision fails."[7] In those days, even as today, a catchy proverb can be a very bad influence, if it is founded upon a falsehood.

In all generations, there have been echoes of this same attitude. The apostle Peter declared that, "In the last days, mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4).