Chapter 13
Ezekiel told to speak against the false prophets, like jackals among ruins, who say "declares the Lord" when they have seen nothing, and then they expect Him to fulfill their word. (Why do these people do this? They know God is not speaking, yet claim that He is. What do they gain, how callous towards their audience are they? Most importantly, how do we tell the difference??? Later - False teachers are still with is. Many for financial gain. Many think they have some special "influence" over what God will do. They believe they can direct Him as to whom should be healed, made rich, and so on. But these all expect payment. And they often fail, they are often wrong. That is how you tell.) The chapter goes on to say that these false prophets are proclaiming peace - a short captivity - but Ezekiel says that is wrong. The people will know they are false when their prophecy of peace is proved wrong.
2020 - Ezekiel's teaching is being undermined by these ear ticklers who tell the people what they want to know. They make themselves popular, but what they do to the truth is even more insidious. They keep people from learning the real truth, which precludes the changes that are required to preserve Jerusalem. So they not only lie, but they obscure the saving truth. That would seem to put blood on their hands. This is the danger of false prophets.
2025 - This 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. [Eze 13:5 ESV]. This seems to be an unusual use of the term "day of the Lord". In the note on this verse, MSB says this "day of the Lord" was 586 BC, when "the theocracy fell". He says the "wall" referenced was a spiritual wall that was not correctly built and so could not protect the people from judgment. And this verse comes right after 12:28, which said the prophecies were all NEAR and not near/far...So that part fits. But it tells us there is more than one "day of the Lord", and possibly dozens, hundreds, thousands. This really complicates our interpretations.
2024 - This verse:
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. [Eze 13:9 ESV]. In Ezra, when the people start home, they check the register to verify that those headed back to Israel are truly Israel. There is a group that they couldn't find in the record. I wonder if it is these, the false prophets and descendants of the false prophets, who were that very group. And this is why they were blocked out, because of their false prophecies. That story is in Ezra 2:59...but this goes on to say they shall not enter the land of Israel. So...maybe not the same ones.
2025 - And there is a problem with how we should understand this, because...no wait...I was thinking these prophets were already IN Israel. But they are in Chebar, in Chaldea, and what Ezekiel is saying is that they are not going back. So those not found in the register at the return may very well be the ones to whom this refers.
This verse:
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, [Eze 13:10 ESV] When the people do draw a line beyond which they will not go, these false prophets whitewash it, cover it over, try to obscure that this is really a wall. The "foreboding" that one should properly feel about a wall is diminished by making it appear as something meant for a different purpose entirely. It's not a wall against sin, it is a pretty decorative "false wall" put here to remind us of how silly our forefather's were. For us, it is not really a wall, but a look back at our ignorant past.
Good one for FB. It goes on to say that God is going to send rain, storm, and hail to not only wash off the wall but to also knock it down. The idea is not as I was thinking above. It seems that plastering over the wall hides the weaknesses in the wall and the vulnerability of the people if they don't maintain the wall. When the wall falls, the enemy gets in. The whitewash keeps them from seeing the sad, deteriorated state of the wall, and so they do not realize they are virtually without protection. The wall is maintained by devotion to God, prayer, obedience to His commands and so on. The false prophets are not "requiring" these things and t hey are saying these things are unnecessary. That everything is just fine as it is currently practiced. The wall is rotting away and they just add layers of whitewash.
vs 17 starts in on female prophets who make wrist bands and veils (and likely sell them!) in their "hunt for souls". Not sure what this "hunting souls" might have been. MSB says they hunted souls for their advantage, and likely practiced sorcery. This seems to imply that they could capture souls because vss 20, 21, say God is going to free those souls they have taken. Perhaps it just refers to those so deceived as to believe what the prophetesses tell them? Like some people do tarot readers today. Hard to tear some loose from them. 2020 - But it also says they save some not meant to be saved and they lose some not meant to be lost by their actions. Not sure how this would work exactly. This little passage needs more study. And it is about what women are doing. Perhaps there is some insight there...Or perhaps the answer is already here in so many words in this verse:
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, [Eze 13:22 ESV] Maybe they have denigrated those who refuse to listen to their sorceries and predictions, while telling the wicked that they are going to do just fine. They've made negative predictions about those who won't listen to them, and positive about those who support them. Could be this...
Also, though, you must remember that Ezekiel is NOT in Jerusalem. He is saying these things to those already in captivity. So there are false prophets already in Babylon telling the captives they won't be there long, they'll be returning to Jerusalem any day now, and that sort of thing. Perhaps they add that there is no reason to change their ways...but it throws the whole prophecy into a bit of a different light when you keep the geography firmly in mind.
2024 - So these were not just "preaching" falsely, they were selling charm bracelets to protect their followers from evil, or something like that. Even now, I think we'd recognize that as false teaching, but apparently Israel so wanted to be "safe" that they'd do anything but turn from their wicked ways, and they'd believe what any self-proclaimed prophet or prophetess might say if it made them ok just like they were. But the true prophets, few though they were, who were preaching repentance, were ignored. These are things to watch for in our own time.
2026 - So far, Ezekiel has been a lesson in how prophets prophesy and how liars lie. There have been multiple examples of signs which are not miracles at all. Things anyone could have done if so instructed by God. I am not hearing about such things in our modern times. Surely if there were still prophets - if they did not cease at the end of the apostolic period - they would be doing the kinds of signs and making the kinds of prophecies that Ezekiel did and made. I just do not see or hear about that happening anywhere.
2026 - Also so far, Ezekiel has been directed I believe uniquely at the nation of Israel. There are lessons we can learn, but I don't see that any of this is about the New Testament at all. And if we go with that, then the "New Covenant" verses of Eze. 11:17-21 are not at all about the New Covenant as it applies to the church age, but are about the Millennial. And if they are about the Millennial here, wouldn't those same words be about the Millennial elsewhere?
2026 - I have always had a problem with this promise. Removing the stone? Surely that is about Israel, not about unbelievers in the church age. "They will all know me"? Doesn't that have to be about the chosen people? It has never applied to the church age. There's never been an "all".
2026 - Ezekiel is only ever mentioned in the book that bears his name. No one in the NT ever talks about him. Jesus calls himself "Son of man", which is often the way Ezekiel is called by God, but that is as close as the NT gets to Ezekiel. And that is pretty indirect. Why is he never referenced? Perhaps because his message is only to the Jews...but but....They will all know me!