Ezekiel 13
v.2
“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination ‘Hear the word of the Lord!
v.4
Your prophets, O Israel, are like jackals among ruins.
Jackals love to play among rubble, seeking dens for themselves. They do not care about the ruins. Similarly, these prophets did not care about the people of Judah but made dens in their own games of false prophecy that destroyed the people and the land.
v.10-11
” ‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth.
Ezekiel uses an analogy similar to that in Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11. In both prophets reality is covered up and people delude themselves into believing that a wound is not serious or a wall is sturdy. It reflects the tendency to hide structural problems with cosmetic solutions.
Since the prophets were declaring a time of peace and prosperity, it was not out of line for them to encourage home building. Consequently, they had gone around plastering walls and helping people decorate the thin partitions of their homes. It was the confirmation of a “settle down and live” philosophy. However, God declared that these walls and their decorative plaster would fall beneath the raging rains of his anger and the hail and violent wind of his wrath.
v.14
I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord.
God’s wrath is so strong that the symbolic wall constructed of deceptive prophecy is to be totally razed to its bare foundations. Its foundation will be seen for what it is: self-interest and self-advancement rather than the word of God.
v.19
You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.
These women not only had the power to kill people through their incantations, but they also lied to God’s people. Because the Judeans listened to these lies, many died unnecessarily. This is not to say that the ultimate authority over life and death rested with these prophetesses, for that authority rests only with almighty God.
v.22
Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,
This is a good litmus test for when we are serving in ministry contexts.
v.23
therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD.‘”