Ezekiel 13:1-23 Who Said That
God calls Ezekiel to deal with two different groups who are prophesying falsely. God hears their words and says, “Who said that? It wasn’t ME!”
Both groups of false prophets are engaged in the same thing, to a degree. At least they have the same effect. They lead the people astray and away from God. The first group is one that we have met time and time again. We see these men throughout all Bible history ‘putting words in God’s mouth’. One group that jumps to my mind are the false prophets who told King Ahab that he would be successful in battle. These guys went so far as to put on horns and pretend to gore God’s true prophet. They were claiming exactly the opposite of God’s true prophet. Micah was telling them that they would be defeated in battle and die during it. Israel’s prophets were telling them that they would be GREAT and would win the battle they were preparing to enter. Can you guess who was right?
The second group used “magic” to predict the future. This group was made up women. We don’t know a lot about them except that they used “magic bracelets”, possibly charms, to convince people that they could direct the future.
Both groups thought they could ‘guide’ the future their way. Group one figured if they said “Declares the Lord” they could make Him do whatever it was that they were proclaiming. If they said it enough times, REALLY believed it themselves, and convinced the people to put their trust in their words, SURELY God would ‘chip in’ and make their prophecies come true. Group two thought they could manipulate God to follow their direction by providing ‘charms’ that would hold power over Him. Both groups did this for THEIR OWN good, not the peoples. Neither consulted God on the issues they ‘addressed’. And none listened to God’s TRUE prophets.
God told Ezekiel that He had heard enough! And He was NOT going to let it continue. The people were being pulled farther and farther away from God by these two groups. Because of trusting in the false prophets, the people were not repenting, they were not preparing for war, and they were neglecting the important tasks that needed done before it all fell apart.
Their punishment for leading the people away from God was to be completely cut off from Him FOREVER. Their names would not even appear in the rolls or register of lineage in the house of Israel. God isn’t even mentioning their names here. They have been stricken from the rolls of history. AND everything that they prophesied would NOT happen, WILL come to pass. What they have ‘built up’ with their words will be torn down. They will be exposed for the liars that they are.
When I was thinking about the first group who thought they could control God with the RIGHT words. Their practices reminds me of the “faith movement” where if you say what it is you want enough, believe it hard enough, and use Jesus’ name as authority for what you want, God HAD to do it for you. “Name it and claim it” mentality. DO NOT GET ME WRONG! I KNOW God works miracles and uses our faith. But we CANNOT direct Him to do anything. We can ask expectantly, KNOWING that He gives good gifts to His children. But we also have to understand that God is God and we are NOT. We can’t tell Him how to run this world. Sometimes the very things we want to avoid are the things that are needed most in our lives.
So, what do we do instead? First, make sure that whatever it is that we are asking of Him lines up with His word. He won’t give us ANYTHING that goes against what He has already spoken. Second, trust Him to direct the outcome the way HE sees fit; even if it goes against EVERYTHING we want. Even if it ends in death of the body. He KNOWS our future and what lies ahead as well as the places where ‘danger’ waits. HE knows the roads we need to walk and the lessons we need along the way; ALL THE WAY HOME. Believe, have faith, that He can work miracles and wonders. Be prepared to praise Him when they come. And praise Him just as much when they don’t.
The women who prophesied falsely reminds me of the people who used to believe that blessing a piece of cloth and placing it under the pillow of someone you were praying for would make your prayers come true. There IS NO MAGIC in the cloth. It can’t cause your loved one to receive Christ or heal them of their disease. It is a focus point for prayer; a reminder to pray and to trust God.
I will NOT say He NEVER works in either of these two ways. What I will say is that HE is God and I am not. And that my spirit has been hurt by those who claimed to be able to ‘speak into being’ whatever they desired of God. I WILL NEVER say that God doesn’t listen to our prayers and act on them. I’ve seen FAR too many miracles in even my own life to ever believe or say that. He knows me even better than I know myself and He knows what it will take to bring me to the place He has prepared for me, in this life and the next. I will trust Him with my WHOLE heart.
Father God, thank You for protecting my heart from false words. Continue to build my faith in You Father. Help me learn YOUR true line between bold proclaiming faith and trusting in You to direct my paths. Don’t let me dampen or damage anyone else’s faith with my older ‘baggage’.
