Ezekiel 13:1-23

Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’

The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God

Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 13

God will punish the false *prophets – Ezekiel 13:1-23

v1 The *LORD spoke to me. v2 ‘*Son of man, *prophesy against the *prophets of *Israel who are now *prophesying. Speak to those who make up their own *prophecies. Say to them, “Hear the word of the *LORD.” v3 This is what the *LORD your King says. Life will be terrible for the foolish *prophets. They follow their own ideas. They have not received a message from me. v4 *Israelites, your *prophets are like foxes in the deserts. v5 You have not gone up to repair the holes or to build the wall. So, the nation called *Israel cannot defend itself. It will not stand in the day of battle that the *LORD will send against it. v6 Your *prophets see false and vain things and they *prophesy lies. They say, “This is the message from the *LORD.” But the *LORD has not sent them. But still they hope that their *prophecies will happen. v7 You said, “This is the message from the *LORD.” But that was not true. It was false. Your *prophecies are lies, because I have not spoken to you.

v8 Therefore, this is what the *LORD your King says. You *prophets spoke false and vain things. Your *visions are lies that will not happen. Therefore, I am against you, says the *LORD your King. v9 I will punish the false *prophets. They see false *visions that will not happen. And they *prophesy lies. They will not be among my people when they come together. They will not be in the register of the *Israelites. They will never return to the country called *Israel. Then you will know that I am the *LORD your King.

v10 They lead my people to do the wrong things. They promise peace, when there is no peace. Suppose that someone builds a weak wall. Then those *prophets behave like someone who covers the cracks with paint. v11 Speak to those who cover a weak wall with paint. Tell them that the wall will fall down. Heavy rain will pour down. There will be rain with ice and strong winds. The storms will break the wall in pieces. v12 When the wall falls, people will accuse you. They will say, “You covered the wall with paint. But your paint achieved nothing.’’

v13 So this is what the *LORD your King says. I will send a stormy wind. Because of my anger, rain and ice will pour down and they will destroy the wall. v14 I will break in pieces the wall that the *prophets covered with paint. I will remove it completely so that the earth will be level. Only the base of the wall will remain in the ground. When it falls, it will *destroy you completely. And you will know that I am the *LORD. v15 So, I will complete my anger against the wall and against those who covered it with paint. Then I will say to you, “The wall does not still exist. Those who covered it with paint have also gone.” v16 That will be the end of those *prophets of *Israel, who *prophesied to Jerusalem. They saw *visions of peace for the city when there was no peace. That is what the *LORD your King says.’

v17 ‘Now, *son of man, there are women among your people who *prophesy. But they are making up their own *prophecies. You must *prophesy against them. v18 Say, “This is what the *LORD your King says. How terrible it will be for women who sew pieces of magic cloth for their arms. They also make cloths of many sizes for their heads in order to control other people. You ruin the lives of my people but you try to save your own lives. v19 You insult me among my people for a little *barley and some bread. You lie to my people and they listen to your lies. By this means, you have killed people who should not have died. And you have kept people alive who should not live.

v20 Therefore, this is what the *LORD your King says. I am against your magic things, which you use to control other people. It is as if those people are like birds in your traps. I will tear the pieces of magic cloth from your arms. I will free those people whom you control like birds in a trap. v21 I will also tear off your head cloths. I will save my people from your hands. They will no more be in your power. Then you will know that I am the *LORD. v22 By your lies, you have caused good people to be sad. I did not make them sad. You have encouraged wicked people in their *sin. So, they did not *turn from their wicked behaviour in order to save their lives. v23 Therefore, you women will no longer see false *visions. You will not be able to *prophesy still. I will save my people from your power. Then you will know that I am the *LORD.” ’

Verses 1-3 The *exiles thought that they were safe. The terrible things that Ezekiel spoke about would not happen to them. They believed this because of the words of false *prophets. These *prophets had caused the people to trust in lies. These *prophets gave messages of hope to the people; but God had not spoken to them.

The *Lord told Ezekiel to *prophesy against the *prophets. The source of their *prophecies was their own minds. They had not heard from the *Lord. Perhaps they imagined that these *prophecies were from the *Lord. But they had made them up. To speak as if the *prophecies were from the *Lord was both false and foolish.

And the *Lord would punish them for it.

Verse 4 Ezekiel compares the *prophets to foxes. Foxes are clever as they hunt for food. But they kill more than they need. They cause a lot of damage. So, these *prophets caused the people to suffer because of their lies. They did not care about the country or about the people in Judah. By their false *prophecies, they caused terrible troubles for the people and the country.

Verse 5 The *prophets should have helped the people to obey God. They should have taught the people to obey the agreement with God. If they had done so, *Israel would have been safe. Nobody could have defeated them. But the *prophets did not warn the people.

If the wall of a city has holes in it, the enemy can get in. The city would not be able to defend itself. So, the *Israelites will be unable to defend themselves when the *Lord acts against them.

Verses 6-7 What a true *prophet says does happen. But events would prove that these *prophets were false. They spoke about a happy and peaceful future. They hoped that it would be so. However, there would be no peace. They said that the *Lord had sent them. But the *Lord neither sent them nor spoke to them.

Verses 8-9 The false *prophets said that they spoke the words of God. But what they said did not come from God. Any *visions that they saw were not from God. All their *prophecies were lies. They spoke about future events. But none of these would actually happen.

They pretended that they were speaking on God’s behalf. But God had not spoken to them. What they said was just lies. So, God said that he would punish these false *prophets.

The people used to respect them. They were men who had authority in *Israel. But they would lose all the honour and authority that they had. God would remove the names of these false *prophets from the list of his people. They would not be among the *Lord’s people. And they would never return to the country called *Israel.

Verses 10-16 What the *prophets were telling the people was not true. They did not warn the people to *turn back to the *Lord. They did not tell the people that God would punish them. They talked about peace; but in fact, there would be a terrible war. The people believed their lies. God was angry, because these were his people.

The *prophets were like bad workers who build a weak wall. This would be a dry-stone wall (a wall without cement) that has gaps in it. They ought to repair the cracks. Instead, they paint over them. They hide the cracks in the wall. So the *prophets were speaking nice words to hide the truth. They should have told the truth. Perhaps the people would have *turned back to God and he would have saved them.

Such a weak wall will fall down. Rain and wind will beat against it. Water in it will turn to ice. This will make the cracks larger. The storm will destroy it and it will fall down. The workers who painted over the cracks are to blame. The ‘wall’ meant Jerusalem. God would break the wall. He would destroy it with rain, wind and ice. That means, terrible troubles. God’s anger would be like a storm that destroys a wall.

God would destroy the peace that the *prophets promised. That was like the paint on the wall. God would destroy the city called Jerusalem. He would break down the walls of the city. When the walls fell, God would *destroy the false *prophets also. They would not live.

Verses 17-19 There were also women who *prophesied to the people. They pretended to speak the words of the *Lord. But their words came from their own imagination. They were using all kinds of magic. God gave the law by Moses. The law says that people must not use this magic (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

These women made cloths for their arms. They put special cloths over their heads. They spoke wicked things to the people. They caught people as in a trap by their magic. They ruined the lives of other people for their own profit.

They used *barley in their magic. By this means, they would tell the future. But all this was of the devil and not from God. They lied. But the people believed that they spoke from God.

The power of their magic was such that it caused people to die. In effect, they killed people who should not have died.

Verses 20-21 God hated what these women did. By their magic, they caught and controlled the minds of people. God would end their power and he would destroy their magic. He would remove the pieces of magic cloth from their arms. He would take the special cloths from their heads. In other words, he would take away from them the power of their magic. He would free those whom they had controlled.

He would save his people. His power is much greater than the power of magic. God will show that he is the *Lord.

Verses 22-23 These women *prophets by their lies upset the good people. They *turned people away from God. They encouraged wicked people not to *turn from their *sin. As a result, many people died because they had *turned from God.

God would cause the false *visions to stop. These women will not be able to *prophesy. They will lose their control over the people. Then all people will know that he is *Lord.

sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
prophet ~ person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future. However, false prophets are people who merely pretend to speak God’s words.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.

'son of man ~ Ezekiel. ‘Son of man’ was the title that God used for Ezekiel. It emphasised that Ezekiel was a mere man. Ezekiel would have to depend on God’s Spirit to make him strong. Only then could Ezekiel do what God told him to do.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
vision ~ something that God shows to a person but not with the physical sight. Visions are often in the form of dreams.
destroy ~ to carry out the most severe punishment possible; to cause someone to suffer; to kill everyone in a nation.'son of man ~ Ezekiel. ‘Son of man’ was the title that God used for Ezekiel. It emphasised that Ezekiel was a mere man. Ezekiel would have to depend on God’s Spirit to make him strong. Only then could Ezekiel do what God told him to do.
barley ~ a type of grain crop.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.