Ezekiel 13
False Prophets Condemned
13 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ 3 Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. 6 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God. 10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash, 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.
17 “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.
20 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. 21 Your veils also I will tear off and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23 therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the Lord.” [1]
This passage actually begins at 12:21-25, and it’s another tough one. The proverb spoken against gave people false hope that things were good and there was nothing to worry about. However, the Lord said to heed the warning that there was plenty to worry about, and the time when He would act was very near.
As we read chapter 13, we get a greater picture of what was going on. There were a bunch of false prophets making false prophecies, saying that things were going to be fine, that there would be peace and no real danger because they said they had a word from the Lord that the people were safe. God always protected the people, and God would do so again in these circumstances. So they thought.
These false prophets were not hearing from the Lord. They had turned to idols and used the name of the Lord to promote their own agendas and position. These were people charged with helping people stay connected with the Lord, but they were leading people away. On top of that, there was the condemnation of women who were “hunting for souls.” What they were doing was spiritually manipulating people for their own benefit, and the Lord was angry about it. Can you imagine the weight of hearing the Lord say, “I am against you?”
There is also a repeated word here: whitewashed. It means painting something white to cover it so it looks good on the outside, when, really, under that white coating, it's something worthless and rotting away. (Like the old saying about something being nothing more than polished poo. It’s true, you can polish a piece of poo so that it shines—but it is still poo.)
The sad truth is that we often try to put a “shine” on some messy stuff in our lives. We whitewash it so that it looks good, but the reality is that it isn't solid, it isn't good, it won't help us. In fact, it will hurt us because it will fail. Underneath the shine, it's nothing but crap. It's funny how we can convince ourselves and others that something is good when really it isn't. (Do you remember those old balance bracelets that were magically giving people strength?)
In the passage, God deals with these false prophets and bluntly states that He will save the people from their hands.
What about us? How do we deal with that kind of spiritual manipulation?
First, we need to know the story of Scripture and really know the Bible. Read it, know the stories, and how God moves and acts in this world. (He is still doing that.) It can be helpful to get with a group of people who will help you be accountable and encourage and urge you to pursue Christ.
And, of course, the best way is to pursue and cultivate your relationship with Jesus. The more you are with Him, the more you know Him; the more you know Him, the more you know His heart. If you know the heart of Jesus, the things that are false will be glaringly false because they can't stand up to Jesus.
Therefore, my deep encouragement to you is to focus on knowing Jesus.
God bless you. Know that I am praying for you this morning!
Scott