False Prophets

Ezekiel 13:1-23
 

God speaks.  He spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden, giving them purpose as well as a relationship with him.  He spoke to Abraham promising that he would be a blessing to the nations.  He spoke to Moses giving him a mission to lead the Israelites out of slavery.  God promised that He would be with Moses.  The Lord spoke to the prophet Samuel commissioning him to be a leader of Israel and a spokesman on God’s behalf.  By speaking to Samuel, God provided direction to his people.  God spoke to Solomon.  By speaking to Solomon we have received wisdom from God.  By speaking to Solomon it shows that God will speak to someone who made a lot of mistakes.  He spoke to the prophet Hosea.  Through that we learned that God is jealous about his relationship with His people.  He will love someone who, by human standards, is unloveable.  He spoke to Amos, who was just a farmer.  He spoke to the apostle Paul who had persecuted Christians.  He spoke to Peter and John even though they were just hard-laboring fishermen.  God spoke to the church giving the people an understanding of their new identity in Christ.  There are numerous messages of judgment through Ezekiel and Jeremiah.  But the reason for the judgment is not because God hated his people.  It was because He loved his people.  In Exodus 20:1 we see that God spoke about relationship before He spoke about rules.  This was before God gave any of the ten commandments or gave any commands for sacrifices, festivals, consecrations, or temple and tabernacle worship.  Before all that was talked about he said, “I am the Lord your God…”  People did not enter into relationship by obeying the rules.  They obeyed the rules because they were already in a relationship with the Almighty.
 
When we look in the book of Ezekiel we do see quite a bit about judgment.  But why?  It’s because the people were already in a relationship with Him.  He loved his people.  He wanted them to return.  He wanted them to be restored even though they had turned their backs on him.  I’ve warned my children about certain dangers because I love them not because I hate them.  “Max, get off the top of the truck.  Max, get down from the tree.  Max, don’t jump off that.”  I warn him because I love him.

The word of the Lord came to me: “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! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish[a] prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken? – Ezekiel 13:1-7
 
This must have been a confusing time for time for the people of Israel.  It also must have been a desperate time as well.  We’re all more likely to turn to bad help when we’re desperate. Maybe they weren’t as confused as it first seems.  It’s interesting to note that the people of Israel subjected themselves to false prophets after they rejected the true prophets.  They wanted someone to tell them what they were wanting to hear all alone.  They weren’t interested in truth.  In the same way, people weren’t led astray in vast numbers by false Messiahs until after they rejected the true Messiah. 
 
This is the same pattern that Paul talks about in Romans 1:18-23. 
 
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. – Romans 1:18–23
 
They rejected God and did not want to submit to him.  They did not want anyone else to tell them how to live their lives.  They did not want to worship Him.  They wanted their sin rather than God.  This leads to a downward spiral where mankind gets worse and worse and worse.
 
The devil knows when he has an opportune time.  Right after he finished tempting Jesus in the wilderness Luke says,
 
“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” – Luke 4:13
 
Paul gave a warning for our days,
 
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. – 2 Timothy 3:1-7
 
Again, the false prophets came in at an opportune time.  What is your opportune time?  Who have you given access to your ears and your heart?  If they have these characteristics, then they may be a false prophet in your own life. 
 
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign LORD. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. – Ezekiel 13:8-9
 
God tells the false prophets, “You ain’t going back home.  You might as well build a home here and settle down because this is where you’ll remain.”  Sometimes God will judge people while they are alive.  Sometimes it will come after they die, and they are face-to-face with the living God. 
 
“‘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, therefore 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. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. 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. So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign LORD.”’ – Ezekiel 13:10-16
 
Imagine one of these walls is very unsafe.  It could fall in at any moment.  What would be a reasonable thing to do?  You can bring someone out to inspect it.  They will find the reason the wall is unsafe and fix it or replace the entire wall.  What if someone said, “Let us just paint over it.  It will be fine.”  That would seem ludicrous.  God was wanting to reveal the underlying problem with the people of Israel.  He wanted them to see that they did not want to be in a relationship with Him.  But the prophets were sayings, “Just paint over it.  Everything will be fine.”
 
“Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? 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.
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 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, 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.’” – Ezekiel 13:17–23
 
These ladies were making money off of their false prophecy.  God is asking them if it’s worth them losing their own soul over such a small amount of payment.  What is God’s goal throughout these messages of judgment.  He wants his people to be set free: “I will set free the people that you ensare like birds.” (Ez. 13:20).  Even though they chose to worship something else he still pursued them.  Throughout the Bible you will see a story of pursuit.  God pursuing us.
 
How does all of this apply to us today?  The Apostle John stated, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1) I want to approach this from a perspective of someone doesn’t have an experience with God or the Bible that many of us have had.  Those who are lost see the church saying that certain things in our society are wrong.  They also hear us saying that there are some people who claim to be Christian are wrong as well.  It comes across that we’re just being judgmental.  It also seems like we believe certain things are wrong just because we were raised or taught that way while growing up.  Or they think that we believe that a certain thing wrong just because it rubs us the wrong way.  You have to understand that we’re in a culture that doesn’t believe that the Bible is true.  How can we help people around us understand that there are good reasons why we can say there are people falsely speaking on God’s behalf?  How can we help these people see why we declare that certain actions, words, etc. are wrong?
 
Ezekiel heard God’s voice.  For Ezekiel, it was clear as to who was right vs wrong.  Many of us have not had the experience of hearing God’s voice.  So, we are left with using the Bible to determine what is right and wrong and who is right and wrong.
 
This is a list of steps to help someone be able to trust what the Bible says.  For us to say that the rest of world is wrong, and the Bible is right we need to have confidence that this iFirst, a person must believe that truth about reality is knowable.  We can say that we know about something without saying that we know everything about that something.  There are certain truths that are true for everyone.  Second, the opposite of true is false.  Two opposites cannot be true at the same time.  There are right and wrong answers. Third, it is true that the thiestic God exists.  Without getting into the details, there is evidence that God exists, and this God must be theistic.  Fourth, if God exists then miracles are possible.  He is not bound by time or space.  He can reach into the world we live and make something happen that normally does not happen.  Fifth, miracles can be used to confirm a message from God.  Jesus performed miracles and rose from the dead just like he prophesied.  These miracles showed, for example, that he was speaking on the Father’s behalf and that He could forgive peoples’ sins.  Sixth, one must determine if the Bible is historically reliable.  Without going into the details, you can determine if the testimony of the eyewitnesses are trustworthy.  For example, can we trust what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote was really what Jesus said and did?  I got this list from a book: “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler. 
 
These are reasons to take Jesus’ words and elevate them above all the other words that are out there today.  If someone tells you that a certain thing is okay, but Jesus says the opposite, then that person is wrong.  As Christians we are not claiming to know everything.  But we are claiming that Jesus knows everything, and He is always right. 
 
When I became a Christian, I did not go through all of this list in order to believe.  As I read the Bible, I had an understanding in my heart that God was using this book to speak to me.  It had a power and far-reaching effect on me that I could not explain.  I also saw evidence of God through the lives of Christians.  But, after I investigated the list that I mentioned earlier, my faith became strong.  I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this book was telling me the truth about God and about what he was really trying to say to me.  I do not believe in Christianity because I want it to be true.  I believe it because it is true.  That gives me strength and clarity when communicating what is right and wrong.  Ezekiel knew God.  He had an experience with God that allowed him to be faithful.  He knew God was able to tell right from wrong.  Because he knew God, he had the strength and clarity to deal with the false prophets. 
 
Jesus had strength and clarity as well.  Jesus, just like Ezekiel, opposed false prophets for much of his days of ministry.  Ezekiel, in a sense, is a picture of the Messiah to come. 
 
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” – Luke 13:34
 
Do you personally believe that God speaks?  Do you think it is possible that God is trying to say something to you?  Becoming a Christian is not about going to church more often.  It is about responding to the words of Christ.  If you believe that God does not speak then you will never be able to enter into a restored relationship with Him.
 
If you know that God speaks through the Bible, then what is your level of strength and clarity?  God told Ezekiel, “set your face” against the false prophets.  He was supposed to look the problem straight in the face without flinching. 
 
I want to give you an opportunity to respond.  If you want to grow in your confidence that you have a restored relationship with God, then fill out one of these cards.  You can write your name, and your contact info if we do not have it and write “confidence to know”.  Place it in the box over on the back table.  I will be in touch with you.
 
If you already have confidence that you have a relationship with God, then listen up.  If you want to grow in confidence to share God’s message, then fill out the card and write “confidence to share”. I will be in touch.