CHAPTER 13

(594 B.C.)

FALSE PROPHETS CONDEMNED

¹And the Word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say you unto them who prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear you the Word of the LORD (as there were false prophets and prophetesses in Jerusalem, there were such among the Exiles, as well! The Holy Spirit will now direct His attention to them in no uncertain terms!);

³Thus says the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! (The phrase, Who follow their own spirit, means that they did not follow the Holy Spirit. They preached what the people wished to hear, in this case a speedy restoration to the Land of Judah.)

⁴O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. (Foxes made their homes in the desert among ruins. The false prophets likewise made financial profit out of the ruin of Israel, and, in effect, made that ruin worse.)

⁵You have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the House of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. (These foolish prophets made merchandise of the time by telling the people a lie instead of the truth. They made them feel comfortable in their sins, and further told them that peace and prosperity were just around the corner. This slandered the Prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and in effect also slandered God.)

⁶They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD says: and the LORD has not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. (The phrase, They have seen vanity and lying divination, means that they have believed their own lies and have tried to confirm their own predictions. They did so by claiming, The LORD says, when in fact the LORD has not sent them, and had not said anything to them.)

⁷Have you not seen a vain vision, and have you not spoken a lying divination, whereas you say, The LORD said it; albeit I have not spoken? (The Lord called the utterances of these false prophets a vain vision and lying divinations. Regrettably, it is the same presently in the modern Church. False prophets abound!)

⁸Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because you have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, says the Lord GOD. (The word vanity means empty nothings, which constituted the messages of these individuals. As well, they saw lies, because they did not see the Word of God.)

⁹And My hand shall be upon the prophets who see vanity, and who divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of My People, neither shall they be written in the writing of the House of Israel, neither shall they enter into the Land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. (The Judgment denounced against these prophets was that on the restoration of Israel, which would ultimately come to pass, they shall be excluded from the Church and people and the Land of Israel, so their names should be blotted out of the Book of Life. In other words, they lost their souls!)

¹⁰Because, even because they have seduced My People, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter (there is a seduction about false doctrine, because it tells the people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear):

¹¹Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. (Christ said that the storms are coming, and only the house that is built on the Rock will stand. Quite possibly, Christ had this very Passage in mind when He uttered His Words in Mat., Chpt. 7.)

¹²Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith you have daubed it? (The false message of peace given by the false prophets was likened to a wall that was built with untempered mortar, which has to do with mortar that will not hold the stones together; it is, in fact, only mud which quickly dries, losing its holding ability. When this wall falls, symbolically speaking, the people who had been seduced by the false message will then question the false prophet, but its too late. They should have questioned what they heard in the beginning.)

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in My fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in My anger, and great hailstones in My fury to consume it. (The thoughts of the Lord regarding these false prophets can be summed up in the word used twice in this Verse: fury!)

¹⁴So will I break down the wall that you have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am the LORD. (The mud-house then and the mud-house now are both built by those who do not desire to obey God or His Word; they are being whitened, falsely so, by modern Preachers.)

¹⁵Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall, and upon them who have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they who daubed it (the phrase, Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall, refers to Gods Anger against all that is false);

¹⁶To wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord GOD. (As far as is known, at least at this time, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were the only two Prophets being used of God concerning the fate of Judah and Jerusalem. Daniel was being used mightily at this time, but in another capacity. However, the prophets spoken of here seem to have been many, even as the false prophets abound presently.)

THE SINS OF THE PROPHETESSES

¹⁷Likewise, you son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy you against them. (In addition to the false prophets, there were false prophetesses. Ezekiel was told, Prophesy against them. In the modern Church that is a no-no. But according to the Word of God, somebody has to stand up and say, Thats right, or Thats wrong!)

¹⁸And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Woe to the women who sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My People, and will you save the souls alive who come unto you? (The wall of Verses 10 through 15 was not literal; it was instead meant to symbolize false teaching. Likewise, the pillows and kerchiefs of this Verse are symbolic, as well. The implication is that the men prophets built the house, and the women prophets furnished it. The pillows symbolize the teaching which gave a false rest, and which the people wished to hear. The ornamental coverings for the head picture attractive and pleasing doctrines which obscure the facts of death and the judgment to come.)

¹⁹And will you pollute Me among My People for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to My People who hear your lies? (The idea of this Verse is that false prophetesses were selling out cheap, i.e., handfuls of barley and pieces of bread. However, irrespective of the amount of money, fame, or popularity received for the false divination, still, the idea of selling their lies in the Name of the Lord would bring a judicial judgment upon their heads.)

THEIR JUDGMENT

²⁰Wherefore thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith you there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that you hunt to make them fly. (To make them fly, refers to making their hearers fly into their nets of bondage so that they might plunder them. And I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, refers to the people being delivered out of the snare of the fowler [Ps. 91:3; 124:7]. These people would no longer be in the power of those who traded on their credulity.)

²¹Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver My People out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am the LORD. (The idea of this Verse is that even though the people have been deceived by these false prophets and prophetesses, yet the Lord has promised to so move and deliver My People out of your hand. As well, there is to be absolutely no doubt as to Who has done this. You shall know that I am the LORD.)

²²Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life (the heart of Ezekiel was saddened greatly by the false message of these individuals who strengthened the hands of the wicked by promising them eternal life without them having to forsake their evil way. As well, such characterizes most modern Churches. It should sadden the heart of the righteous):

²³Therefore you shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver My People out of your hand: and you shall know that I am the LORD. (This was certainly accomplished by the few who were delivered when Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed. Still, its total fulfillment awaits a future date.)