Ezekiel 13:7

The Bible says in Ezekiel 13:7-9, “Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?[8] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.[9] And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” God has given His Word to the human race in the form of the Bible. Therefore, God is not at all happy when someone speaks, says they are giving out the Word of God, but are not. God says several things against such false prophets. “I am against you.” “mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies.” “they shall not be in the assembly of my people.” “neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel.” “neither shall they enter into the land of Israel.”

The phrase in verse 9 is interesting to look at. It says, “neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel.” Obviously, God understands the importance of written words. Written words are the means by which God has given us the truth. In the case of the Bible God gave the written words and then He preserved the written words so that every generation could know them. God attributes the same kind of permanence to His believers by describing us as having our names written in a book. It says in Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

The Bible says in Ezekiel 13:10-15, “Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:[11] Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.[12] Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?[13] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.[14] So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.[15] Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;” The spiritual lesson in this passage has to do with building a wall with “untampered mortar.” The reason that these Israelites wanted to build a wall was to oppose the message of God. God said that they would be conquered and taken captive. Therefore, building the wall was an effort by their own works to oppose God’s message and God’s will. That is the story of the human race: trying to build something without seeking God’s help and God’s will. That is why their efforts are called “untempered mortar.” It other words it will not hold together. It will all come crashing down. Their wall came crashing down, and the whole world as defined by man’s efforts will come crashing down onto the dung pit of history. It will all fail: all of the plans and efforts and attempts of man to build anything will fail if it is built with untampered mortar. One of the benefits and advantages of being a Christian is that we have the Lord Jesus to guide us, to help us, and to give success to our efforts. What a privilege to be a Christian, and to be a part of seeing something built that will last forever: the Kingdom of God. Every time you are led by the Spirit, every time you give a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name, or give a word of testimony to give glory to the name of Christ, you are bringing in the sheaves and building the wall to the everlasting city.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 13:16-21, “To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.[17] Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,[18] And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?[19] And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?[20] Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.[21] Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” One of the key words in the entire book of Ezekiel is found in verse 16: “peace.” People want peace. But if you go to the wrong place for peace, you will not get it. Jesus is the Price of Peace. It says in Romans chapter 5, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus can give us peace within our hearts, and He can bring peace to our land. But Jesus described very clearly the age in which we live in Matthew 24:6, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” In the case of the Israelites, God decided to give them war. We do not know what God is going to do with any nation, including our own. One thing is for sure, all of the cries for peace will go unrealized when they are made by people who resist God.

Verse 17 says that the false prophets “prophesy out of their own heart.” They are supposed to be giving out the Word of God, and not their own ideas. God gave His Word for several reasons, and one reason is so that preachers would preach it, and not their own thoughts. Paul told Timothy, “Preach the Word.” The New Testament also says, “If any man speak, let him speak as of the oracles of God.”

In verse 18 God said, “Woe to the women that sew pillows.” Two things we see here. Women were involved in false teaching as well as men. And the pillows signified what they were teaching: do not worry; everything is going to be alright; do not believe God’s warnings from Ezekiel; lie down and take your rest. False teachers always give the message that people want to hear.

In verse 18 God says to the false teachers: “will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?” Of course, God cares about every soul and its eternal destiny. That is why Jesus came and died upon the cross. Jesus said, using the same term for Himself that was used for Ezekiel, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” When people come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, they start thinking about the destiny of their souls and the necessity of being saved. The most important question that every person must answer is this: Has your soul been saved by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ?

God said in Ezekiel 13:21 that He would “deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted.” God always has a plan to take care of His children. The ultimate manifestation of that plan will be when Jesus takes each saved soul to heaven. What a day that will be! Also, Jesus will come and rapture the believers off the earth so that they will not face the terrible time of trouble called the Great Tribulation that the rest of the earth will face. Many times He delivers us all from great sorrows. You might have to endure some hardship for a while, but God always has a plan to deliver you. Many have been delivered from terrible and great trials, and lived to give glory to God.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 13:22-23, “Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:[23] Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” Verse 22 gives two of the results of false teaching. By the way, in case you have forgotten, false religious teachings are “lies.” It says that the false teachers “have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad.” God wants us to be happy. That is why He says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” If you are not happy, it may very well be because there is something wrong with what you believe. The founders of the United States Declaration of Independence were correct when they wrote that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. One of the reasons that people do what they do is that they are trying to find happiness. They are miserable and they make a decision hoping and thinking that the decision will make them happier. Unfortunately, they are often wrong because after their decision they are just as miserable as before if not more so. Some divorces probably fall into this category. The final result of what you do is what gives happiness. For example, it says about Jesus in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…” But the final result of Jesus went through gave Him lasting happiness. It says in Isaiah 53:10-12, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.[11] He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.[12] Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” In addition to this the beatitudes of Christ in Matthew chapter 5 all start with the word “Blessed,” but that word can also be translated “happy.” For example, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” can be translated “happy are the poor in spirit…” “Blessed are the merciful,” can be translated as “Happy are the merciful.” The better that we understand the Word of God and are able to apply it to our lives, the happier we will be. If you are not happy, you need to ask yourself the question: do you really understand the Word of God like you should, and are you applying the Word of God to your thoughts and your life like you should? God wants you to be happy, but false teachings and false teachers will take away your happiness.

False teachers produce another terrible result as a result of their false teachings: they help to destroy souls. God says in Ezekiel 33:22 that the false teachers “strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.” Jesus loves souls. He wants the sinner to turn from his or her wicked ways and be saved. The preaching of the gospel of Christ helps people to understand their need to turn to Jesus. The opposite is also true. Whoever teaches false religious teachings helps people to stay in a lost spiritual condition. The false teachers promise people that they will go to heaven by accepting and living by their teachings, when in reality they will go to hell. There is not much worse than that. No wonder that God hates false teachers and false teachings. Jesus says in Revelation 2:15, “So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.”

The way to escape false teachings is to turn to Jesus with all your heart.

___________________________________________________