10-21-13. Ezekiel 13:1-23 WOE TO THE FALSE PROPHETS-my devotional
10-21-13. Ezekiel 13:1-23 WOE TO THE FALSE PROPHETS-my devotional
Ezekiel 13:1-23 |
Monday, October 21, 2013 |
Key Verse: 13:3 Kevin E. Jesmer
“Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit,
and have seen nothing!”
Dear Lord, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your grace in our lives. Thank you for drawing us near to the Father. I realized how terrible it is to be separated from you for all eternity and what a great gift it is to be born again as a child of God. I pray that your Gospel may resound to the very ends of the earth. Please teach me from your word today. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Part 1, “Woe To The Foolish Prophets (1-7).
Verses 1-7 read, “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?” (ESV)
The first thing that struck my heart in this passage is that the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel then the same word came forth from his mouth to be proclaimed to the people. We are given the word of God continually, through our devotionals, through the Sunday message, through epiphanies of truth given to us by the Spirit of God. We are all receiving the word of God from time to time. The question is, what do we do with the word of God that is given us? Of course we should keep it in our hearts and meditate on it and “chew” and let it become part of us. But, like the prophet Ezekiel in this passage, we need to also speak the word of the Lord to the people in appropriate ways. I want to get back to teaching the Bible, 1:1, as a way for sharing the word of God with others. My blog and facebook has been a way to reveal the things God has taught me and the things that inspire me, with others. I pray to be able to share the word of the God across Northern Ontario one day in appropriate ways.
And now about the lying prophets. People who are rebelling against the Lord is one problem; lying prophets another. False prophets are very dangerous to a society. They ignore the word of God, follow their own spirits and tell lies to the people. And many…many, people listen to them and obey them. God was very angry with these lying prophets for uttering falsehood and not building up a wall that protects God’s people so that they may stand on the day of battle (5).
Christians need to be true to the word of God. They need to share the word of God with the people. But they need to be telling the truth. There are some people who are declaring things publically, things that are not the truth, and people are listening to them. These people may not be Christians. They could be anyone declaring something that is not the truth and leading the people astray and enslaving their hearts. These people can be like modern day false prophets.
There is one way to be telling the truth. We need to stick to the word of God. We need to study the Bible and know it and be able to preach and teach it properly. I pray that I can make Bible study a daily part of my life and I pray that I may trust the Holy Spirit to emboss that word of my heart that I may share it with the people of this generation.
There is one way to determine who is a false prophet and a true representative of God. Look at verse 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.” A true servant of God will be involved in building up society, helping the community, healing and strengthening people (believers and non believers) and building and strengthening the church. They are rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty. They are concerned about the wellbeing, the physical and spiritual wellbeing of others, and doing something about it. They are concerned about the future and building paths to a better tomorrow, even unto eternal life. These are the people that we should be listening to and learning from. These are the true prophets of today. I pray that God may help Julie and I to go up into the breaches and build up the walls and stand with Christ in the spiritual battle.
Part 2: They Give False Security (8-23).
Verses 8-23 read, “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.” (ESV)
The walls needed drastic repairing, but they only whitewashed them. God would send torrents of rain that would wash away their false walls. They said, “Peace,” when there is no peace. God was also against the people who followed superstition (18, 20). God would deal with them. Why? To let his people go free and to let the whole world know that he is the Lord.
I can see here that there were people of God who were held captive by the teachings of false prophets. They felt that all was well. They were told “all is well” and they believed it because all that they saw was the white washed walls. They did not know the falseness that was underneath it. God was going to punish the false prophets that were crying out “Peace” and who were getting people to trust in their white washed teachings and interpretations.
This world is full of white washed deceptions. People trust in humanity and science and technology and government to solve their problems. I will always remember the words of El Skeleton, in the movie, “Nacho Libre”…”I believe in science.” They think in false philosophies there is peace. But can we trust in these things and is there real peace in peoples’ personal lives? Is there hope for the future apart from Christ and the Gospel? I see a lot of war and poverty and pollution and violence in most parts of the world. We need Christ to come and wash away the white paint and see things for what they really are and when we see, we can cry out to the Lord for his salvation! Lord, open my eyes to see things as they really are and not be deceived by the whitewashings.
God will set those free who have been held captive by false teachings and the white washing. Look at 18b-20 again, “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.” Let’s face it. People are deceived by false philosophies and teachings about life. These things keep them captive. It keeps them from being free in spirit and to experience the joy of salvation and the freedom that is found in Christ. They are sapped of all strength because of their false ideologies and philosophies. I was duped by false Christian philosophy that if I do more and sacrifice more than I will be fruitful and happy. This only made me joyless and frustrated and judge and criticize everyone that wasn’t helping me to reach my goals. I achieved great heights of daily sacrifices and I was still lost in depression. It took two decades to discover that that was not the way. I was help prisoner by this way of thinking. But Jesus, in a very personal way, washed away the white wash with his living water and helped me with his words of truth. He set me free. It was liberating, but the breakaway was painful for me and my family but totally necessary. But I praise God that it was done. I pray that the Gospel may set countless souls free from the bondage created when they hold onto whitewashing philosophies of life.
Why does God bring down false philosophies and false prophets? It is to not only free those who have been held captive but to also tell the whole world that he is God. The communist system fell. They tried to destroy Christianity. But they fell and Christianity is prospering. Jesus is gloried. One of the fasted rates of growth for Christians is in China and Saudi Arabia and I bet even Iran. The Gospel will be held high over all other competing religions. Jesus and the power of the gospel helped me and Julie in our marriage. He set us free. He gave us a new beginning. He gave us a common mission. He delivered us. Jesus is glorified by our new freedom. May God be glorified in this world, for he is the Creator and he is the Almighty King and Savior. I
Prayer: Lord, I pray that all the whitewashing philosophies and interpretations of life may be washed away and your liberating Gospel be revealed.
One Word: God wants to set people free with his Gospel.
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