False Prophets & True

Ezekiel Chapter 13 provides a graphic description of false prophets and their evil work. A parallel can be see with those who erroneously claim this gift today, and with false teachers as well. God’s severe judgment (vs. 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 23) will fall upon them for the following reasons.

1. They prophesy out of their own hearts–i.e. their prognostications come from their own minds and imaginations (vs. 2). They follow their own spirit rather than God’s Spirit (vs. 3). They have seen nothing–i.e. nothing of divine revelation and inspired truth. They have rejected God, fitting the biblical definition of a fool (cf. Ps. 14:1; Matt. 7:21-23).
2. They are spiritual destroyers. The roll of a true prophet is implied in vs. 5. He is to be a restorer of God’s people through his ministry. The false prophets are not restoring the ruins (vs. 4, cf. the NIV).
3. They have a false hope. In contrast with the true, the false prophets’ divinations are lies, their visions false (vs. 6). Yet they may be self-deceived, hoping that what they say will come to pass.
4. They tailor their message to what people want to hear–a seductive message of peace, when God has promised judgment (vs. 10; 16; cf. I Thess. 5:3). They are lying to people who swallow their lies (vs. 19).
5. They use (or claim) occult powers and magic to “receive” their false messages (vs. 18, 20, 21).
6. They are mercenary, prophesying for their own gain (vs. 19; cf. Matt. 7:15).
7. Their prophecies may please the wicked, but they sadden the righteous, those who know better (vs. 22).

A similar indictment is found in Ezekiel 22:23-31 (see also 34:1-10), where God says he “sought for a man among them [among the leaders of the people] who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land…but I found no one” (vs. 30). If we take the reverse of the negative picture we are given in this latter passage, it suggests some qualities the Lord wants to see in today’s church leaders.

1. Spiritual discernment, to protect what is sacred and reject what is profane, rather than the opposite (vs. 26; cf. Lev. 10:1-2, 9-10).
2. Sacrificial love for others, which seeks their good and blessing, their encouragement and edification, rather than manipulating them and taking selfish advantage (vs. 27, 29).
3. Scriptural authority to teach and train, not basing teaching on the erroneous notions of men or on false spiritual visions (vs. 28).