The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,
A rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not ... ears to hear, and hear not - fulfilling the prophecy of Deuteronomy 29:4, "Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day," here quoted by Ezekiel (cf. Isaiah 6:9; Jeremiah 5:21). Ezekiel needed often to be reminded of the people's perversity, lest he should be discouraged by the little effect produced by his prophecies. Their "not seeing" is the result of perversity, not incapacity. They are willfully blind. The persons most interested in this prophecy were those dwelling at Jerusalem; and it is among them that Ezekiel was transported in spirit, and performed in vision, not outwardly, the typical acts. At the same time, the symbolical prophecy was designed to warn the exiles at Chebar against cherishing hopes, as many did, in opposition to God's revealed word, of returning to Jerusalem, as if that city was to stand: externally living afar off, their hearts dwelt in that corrupt and doomed capital.