Ezekiel 13: 1 – 7
‘Hollywood props’ Part 1
“1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘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 O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. 5 You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD. 6 They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. 7 Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The LORD says,’ but I have not spoken.”
To tell you the truth, I stand in awe of the Holy Living Almighty God. I am in fear, deep respect, shock, and wonder of His Awesome Majesty. Why am I starting off with this emotional response? Well it amazes me how anyone would attempt to extort people by claiming they are representatives of the Lord when they are not. The words of Matthew 10 verse 28 rings loud in my ear,
“28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Is there no common sense with these people? Don’t they realize what they are doing? What can you get out of all this – money, fame? I have witnessed this travesty mostly by people who are on television. They use every trick in the book to swipe money from the people. The scariest verses in the Bible to me are in Matthew chapter 7, which deals with such people,
“22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
It is obvious that the word of God has no meaning in their own lives. If it did they would be scared straight. Don’t they realize that they are going to be judged by the Creator and Sustainer of all life?
In the previous chapters we have read how the prophet Ezekiel had spoken for the Lord Yahweh against the priests, elders, and secular leaders of the Jewish people. Now he is going to turn his attention towards the false prophets. 1 Kings 22: 22 reports how God saw the situations of these phony religious prophets,
“22 The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’”
Behind the scene we see how evil spirits influenced these false prophets. And then we also see in the book of Isaiah chapter 28 adding sin upon sin by giving their words as if they received them from God after drinking intoxicating beverages,
“7 But they also have erred through wine, and through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filth; No place is clean.9 “ Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people, 12 To whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear. 13 But the word of the LORD was to them, “ Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.”
These men and women were paid staffs who were supposed to be anointed with divine wisdom. However, they were like the leaches I had just mentioned. They were peddling their religious acts for the money and complements of the people. Ezekiel points out that they spoke their own ideas and not the words of the Holy Yahweh.
Let’s see what Ezekiel has to say to these false prophets,
“1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘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!
Notice that Ezekiel continued to emphasize that the word of Yahweh came to him. Remember he could only be able to speak when God gave him a message. This new warning was directed at the false prophets who lied and said that their messages came from God. They also claimed to be prophets of Yahweh. These lies were usually statements that won them popularity by saying whatever made the people feel good. Their words came from their own thoughts. They were not inspired by the Holy Spirit but by their own sinful dead spirit. As ‘seers’ they were suppose to have divine insight. Yet, they did not see or report the truth. They had no spiritual discernment coming from above. Everything they said was from their own book of lies. They were blind leaders leading blind people. Ezekiel was to prophesy against them. He was instructed to denounce them and their statements.
False prophets do not care about the truth. They care about popularity and money. They lull people into a false sense of security. This made the truthful warnings from Ezekiel even harder to get across to the people. Who do you believe? Who do you want to believe? Someone who is telling you how great everything will be or someone who says the end has come? It is easy to say, beware of such men and women who bend the truth to steal your money. Yet, by the number of people who tune in to watch these sharks, it is not so easy to avoid their enticements.
We do not consider the word fool or foolish such a big deal. Yet, our Lord considers the use of this word very significant. Here are a couple of references to the use of this term.
Proverbs 12: 15 give us some insight into the thoughts of false prophets, “15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.”
Proverbs 29: 11 informs us how a fool just spurts out whatever he feels like,“11 A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.”
In the book of Hosea chapter 9 the Lord also comments again about prophets,
“7 The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.”
We read in the book of 1 Samuel the vivid description of a man whose name was fool [Nabal],
2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb. 4 When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 5 David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’” 9 So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited. 10 Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” 12 So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies. 14 Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying,” Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. 15 But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him.” 18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. 22 May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.” 23 Now when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. 24 So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. 25 Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, since the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. 29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.” 32 Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.” 36 Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 37 So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 Then it happened, after about ten days, that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. 39 So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.” 41 Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.”
This bible story is a great description of how a fool thinks and acts. The fool ultimately brings down the destruction upon his own head. A fool throughout life is independent of God and makes his/her decisions without God even though all blessing this person experiences come from God. A fool is a phony believer. Although appearing to be righteous and a follower of the Living Ruler, the fool speaks words that are contrary to the Holy Lord God.
“4 O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. 5 You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD.”
Foxes have never been well spoken of in the bible. Although cute little red puppies they always cause problems. In chapter 2 of the book of the Song of Solomon we read of them causing problems in a marriage relationship like they cause in gardens,
“15 Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.”
In addition our Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 13 of the Gospel of Luke when warned about king Herod who was out to get Him responded,
“32 And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’”
Foxes usually take the easy road. They develop their dens in spots in the most unusual places. Here the foxes have settled in the ruins of a city. They have their dens in the gaps of crumbled buildings. Instead of hunting they are usually scavengers feeding off dead bodies and other easy pickings. Our Holy God describes the false prophets referring to them as foxes because they have done nothing for the benefit of the city or anything else. Like a fox the phony representatives of God have not stood or repaired the gaps in the fallen ways of their fellow Jews. They have not built the people up with the true words of God but have used their own words, which were useless. They did not prepared the people for the upcoming judgment because they themselves were blind to what was really going on. Like foxes they were making themselves comfortable at the expense of others and foraged for food, goods, and money but making promises to the people in which they had neither insight nor power to bring about.
‘The Day of Yahweh’ refers to times when He triumphs in deliverance or judgment. In these days He rescues the righteous and judges evildoers.
We read on in Ezekiel,
“6 They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. “
A good question to ask is, ‘what is the big deal with being so concerned in the false statements made by the phony spiritual people? Like today, there are people using crystal balls, horoscope listings, and tarot cards, etc. Everyone knows that they are a joke, right? Well, not totally is this so. Some people actually put faith in these trick actions. You can also take yourself back in time to the people living in Jerusalem. You had the prophet Ezekiel and Jeremiah predicting another wave of bloody attacks. If you had some other men and women walking around in godly attire and saying that they also heard from the Lord God and that everything was going to be great. How would you react?
Would you not agree that the people were being duped into a false hope of security? The word ‘divination’ is regularly used in a negative sense. The bible points out to us in the book of Numbers chapter 22 gives us some information of this kind of influence,
1 Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.2 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. 4 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! 6 Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’” 12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.”
Balaam was a diviner who was called upon to bless or curse others. These men and women used false means to obtain ‘divine’ guidance, which was usually derived from demons. They used certain techniques or practices such as astrology, examining certain organs of animals, or consulting spirits to communicate with the dead or other spiritual forces.
We read in verse 6 the Lord stating that these false prophets used ‘lying divination’. These actors were claiming deceitfully that God had given them their information when in fact He had not. As you know from studying your bibles, God’s prophets never sought visions through the methods of divination. The true prophets heard directly from the Holy Yahweh Himself.
You will also notice the statement – ‘the word would be confirmed’. The result of false visions and lying divination is that the people were deceived and became expectant of something that would never materialize or be fulfilled.
“7 Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The LORD says,’ but I have not spoken.”
The bottom line is not what trickery or method they used to obtain their information they stand as lies. Who in their right mind would say that they are hearing directly for God Almighty and speaking His Commands? They are guilty and will find out very severe consequences for their sins.
This is one reason I love our Lord Jesus Christ so much. Remember when He was with a large crowd and they brought to him a paralytic man. Well, let the word of God shows us His great work which the book of Matthew chapter 9,
“1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.”
They say that ‘proof is in the pudding’. Our Lord Jesus Christ proved that He was God. It is easy to say something, but something like He did of proving He has all authority is what it is all about.
