Ezekiel 13:13-16

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my anger, and there will be drenching rain in my fury, and great hailstones in anger to consume it. So will I break down the wall which you have daubed with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare, and it will fall, and you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am Yahweh. Thus will I accomplish my anger on the wall, and on those who have daubed it with whitewash, and I will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who daubed it', that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Notice the continual repetition which is so much a mark of Hebrew literature. Once again the picture of the great storm and its effects is used and amplified, with the whitewash completely washed off, the wall crashing down, and the very foundations being laid bare. Platitudes and superficiality will not stand the test of judgment. Note also the stress on Yahweh's anger and fury. When men refuse to acknowledge God's holiness and proclaim a low immorality, they become the objects of His anger, that is, of His implacable attitude towards sin. And His judgments will then reveal what He is, will reveal His holiness and His demand for response to His ways.

And as the wall crashes down, so will the prophets. And this is a prophecy concerning Jerusalem and its future. The present lives of those who live there are built on lies, and the prophecies of peace are gross deceit. For Jerusalem is doomed, and with it the false prophets. Note the stress on the fact that this is the work of God Himself. It is twice emphasised that these are the words of Yahweh, and once that it will reveal that He is Yahweh (twice if we go back to Ezekiel 13:9). In all that is to happen they are to realise that it is Yahweh Who is at work.