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Ezekiel 13 (ESV)

1 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ ³ Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ⁴ Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 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. ⁶ They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. ⁷ Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

REFLECTION:

This warning is for false prophets. The false prophet’s message did not come from God, but was a pleasant-sounding lie made up to gain fame and fortune. “Prophesy from their own hearts” (v.2) means speaking one’s own words in the name of God. At that time, there were some false prophets in Jerusalem and the exiles to Babylon. They predicted in the name of God that the exiles would soon return to their homeland. They gave the people a false sense of security and made Ezekiel’s work more difficult. False prophets are “like jackals among ruins” (v.4), who are most prosperous in every era of desolation of faith, because they are popular in a devastated society. And God’s true servants can’t just comfort people and help people solve all kinds of problems they see. They must “go up into the breaches” and “build up a walls for the house of Israel” so that every believer will “stand in battle in the day of the Lord” (v. 5), and can stand the judgment of God. Today, we must be careful of those who distort the truth in order to gain personal power and fame. Like the false prophets back then, they are also good at using the Bible as an embellishment, replacing the words of God with their own words and the words of the world; on the surface they are advocating people to be kind and urging others to be good, but in fact they make people stay away from God. We must be wise to see through such people, stay away from them, let alone indulge our own selfish desires, lest we also degenerate into such people.

PRAYER:

Ask God to give you wisdom and not listen to the teachings of false teachers, even if their words may sound good to your ears; ask God to make you more humble and tolerant, and be willing to listen to the truth that is not pleasing to hear, not to lose any opportunity that God use the people around to discipline you; ask God to make you a true servant who speaks the truth with love, and through you to build up the people around you.

HYMN:

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus – youtu.be/5OWWqS1jnOw