The prophesy against prophesiers of the false variety.
God send a word from Ezekiel to those who chose to prophesy from their own inspiration.
"Their own inspiration" is an interesting phrase. We don't always know where our ideas come from—good or bad. Some people may not consider at all how an idea formed in their minds. But those of us who need inspiration as part of our work and gifting see firsthand how you can have some ideas that just built off of previous thought and then you can have some ideas that you know weren't in you a minute before. Something you wouldn't have considered. But here's the thing about those ideas–there's no guarantee they are good. The Bible tells us to test the spirits. The Old Testament tells us a prophet is only a prophet if their prophesies are true.
Here's the point. I try to avoid saying to someone, "God told me..." unless I am a 100% sure, which is beyond rare. And that's who God is talking to now, those who thought every thought they had was from the Lord. They were willing to put His Holy Name on their thoughts. Especially when they would be gaining financially or socially for their prophesies.
Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing. Ezekiel 13:3
This may all seem like stuff we've read before about false prophets. False prophets bad. Easy enough. But I would challenge you (and myself) to ask if there are areas of our lives where we install ourselves or others in the role of prophet. As a simple example, take sports. Every fan thinks that their team is favored by God. "We've got this." "This is meant to be." I know it sounds trivial, and I'm not trying to discourage anyone during the playoffs; but we. do. not. know. God's. will. And our thoughts are not His thoughts. When we let into our minds this kind of thinking, we allow a part of lives to be ruled by false prophets.
Even the people living in Jerusalem at this time still honored God. They still went to the Temple and partook of the festivals. But they also partook of the festivals of false gods and burned incense to demons. God plus anything else is a recipe for disaster.
Here's a more serious example. Gambling. Being addicted to cocaine makes sense; it alters your brain. But how can so many be addicted to gambling? It also alters your brain. When you hand over your money, it's a tacit prediction. When we win, we get an incredible dopamine hit and adrenaline rush. It can even feel like confirmation that we're good and loved or receiving a reward for something about us. And when we lose, it feels like depression, recriminations, and rejection. Very dark stuff.
People can root for their home team and innocently play the slots. I'm not saying those two things are inherently bad. But here's how you can know they have become bad for you...when you start using voodoo to partake in them. When you wear lucky socks. When you start performing little rituals to try and influence the outcome. When you pray and believe the outcome is tied up in what you want God's will to be.
If we shear off any part of our live and hand it to the enemy, even if we try and call it recreation or fun, that's a part of life we've taken away from our relationship with God. He is our provision. He is our identity and worth. It should not be taken lightly when we start engaging in voodoo-like behaviors to get our own way.
Ok, back to the text.
God, through Ezekiel, tells Israel that their prophets are like foxes among ruins.
- They did not do the work to protect the people. They didn't build a spiritual fortress for the people. (v. 5)
- They use the name of the Lord when they know the message wasn't from Him, but hoped it would come to be anyway. (v. 6-8)
- The watered down sin and whitewashed their message. For example, claiming that peace was coming; when it was actually udder destruction. (v.11)
So the Lord declares that He is against them. And His hand is against them. They will not be a part of His eternal kingdom. He promises a punishing wind and angry rain and hail to consumed these false, whitewashed walls of false prophesy. These prophets will be consumed by God's wrath at that time. If someone is predicted peace at this time, with Babylon at the gate, you'll know they were the false ones.
Then God commands Ezekiel to prophesy against the women (prophetesses) who were doing the same. These were sorceresses who used wrist bands and veils as part of their curses against the innocent and profit for the wicked. It sounds like these occult practices had real outcomes. Some died who shouldn't and some lived who should have. If you've become fascinated by your enneagram profile, or your star chart, taro cards, or mediums...you've sheared off giant swaths of your relationship with the Lord. Maybe it's easier to dabble in those philosophies than to remain daily in a mysterious and sometime difficult relationship with the Maker of it all. But lean into His mysteries or you're really putting yourself in real danger. For reals. Take it seriously, if you choose to walk away from God because it's intellectually and emotionally satisfying to pursue one of these occult philosophies.
As an interesting punishment to these false prophetesses, the Lord promises to tear off their arms and save His people. They will no longer get to see their false visions. It sounds like He is stripping them of their ability to tap into the demonic occult. And top deliver His people. And from that, people will know that He is God.
I find that really interesting. It's possible that I am reading too much into it; but it seems like He has udder destruction planned for the men that bear false witness through prophesy; but the women will be injured and stripped of their power. I wonder if that's because it was always supposed to be a man's job. They are truly responsible. So their punishment is harsher.
Either way, I would encourage all of use to follow King David in asking the Lord to search our hearts and find any voodoo, or reliance on otherworldly sources of inspiration. A daily walk with the Lord may ask more of you than you want to give–which is everything. But His way is better and it will show in your life on Earth and life eternal. And pray fervently that you never lead others into voodoo or false visions...those results are too terrible to even consider.
Amen.