Ezekiel 13:1-3

The False Prophets (Ezekiel 13:1).

‘And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, and say to those who prophesy out of their own hearts, ‘You, hear the word of Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have not seen.' ” '

Note Ezekiel's continuing emphasis on the word of Yahweh coming to him. We can tend to forget that he was under the constraint of silence all this time and could only speak when he had a word from Yahweh. But when Yahweh came to him he had to speak. This was the difference between him and the false prophets he was speaking about. He was constrained to speak because of Yahweh's Spirit working within him. In the words of Amos 3:8, ‘the Lord Yahweh has spoken who can but prophesy?'

This time the words were spoken against the popular prophets. They were popular because they said what men wanted to hear. They claimed to be prophets of Yahweh. But their words were not from God. They came from within them. They were their own ideas. They did not have the Spirit of God inspiring their words, but followed their own spirit. They did not ‘see', for they were not true seers. They had no true spiritual insight coming from above. All they had came from within themselves. They promulgated their own ideas. They were blind leaders of the blind. And Ezekiel was to ‘prophesy against them', that is to denounce them and their words.

‘The prophets of Israel.' This included all the prophets both in Jerusalem and in the scattered communities in exile. They really had no message to give because they did not hear the voice of God.

‘Foolish.' The word is a strong one (nabal). The foolish man brings disaster on himself because of his folly, as did Nabal (1 Samuel 25). Although professing Him, in his heart he ignores the reality of God (Psalms 14:1) and behaves and speaks in a way that is contrary to Him.

There are many today who are ‘foolish prophets'. They seem wise and are popular, saying what people want to hear, but they do not hear the word of God or teach in accordance with it. Rather they pick among the ruins of what is left of man's wisdom.