21 And the word of the Lord came to me: 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’? 23 Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfilment of every vision. 24 For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the Lord; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.”
26 And the word of the Lord came to me: 27 “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.”
The final verses of the chapter deal with the correction of two popular sayings that were prevalent among the exiles. The first of these (22), 'The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth', is answered in 23-25. In point of fact, this judgment had been prophesied for generations, by Amos, Hosea, Micah and Isaiah, but it still had not seemed to come. The mills of God grind slowly, and because they grind slowly people tend to say, 'God has forgotten, or it is not going to happen'. Gloomy, dismal Jeremiahs, the lot of them - this is what they thought and said of God's servants, and it had been said so often it had almost become proverbial. But God said, 'I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel'. For the days were at hand for the fulfilment of the vision. There was to be no tarrying now. The second saying (27) 'The vision is for many days, for times that are far off', is answered in 28. The answer of the Lord here is not quite the same as in the other. In the first proverb it was a question of unbelief, they just did not believe that the vision would be fulfilled at all; whereas in the second, they accepted in principle that the vision was from the Lord, but believed that it belonged to the far future. One sees the same kind of pattern in people's attitudes and reactions to the Second Coming of Christ, which the New Testament teaches so plainly. There are those, for example, who pooh-pooh the whole idea, and just do not believe in any such thing. On the other hand, there are those who believe it in principle, but they project it into the far distance. Both attitudes are condemned in the New Testament. We know not the day nor the hour when the Son of Man comes, and it behoves us to be watchful, and to be ready for that coming at any time. This is the kind of corrective that God brings here, a corrective to that terrible complacency, by which they postponed the day of reckoning. God says 'It will not be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done'. And within three years it came grimly to pass.