seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ezekiel 13:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish[a] prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?
8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
13 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. 14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it[b] falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. 15 So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, 16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’
17 “Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them 18 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? 19 You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, 23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
a. Ezekiel 13:3 Or wicked
b. Ezekiel 13:14 Or the city
Apparently there were a lot of "feel good" preachers and teachers around Jerusalem in those days. This is from the easy English site.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I went down a couple rabbit holes trying to understand this chapter. I totally understand that God didn't want His priest, preachers, teachers, or prophets telling the people "Peace" was going to last forever. It was a lie. God was angry. Likewise.... I totally understand that God didn't want those women looking into the future and predicting a sunny day with fluffy clouds..... when a tornado was baring down on the descendants of Jacob [Israel]. It was the barley that threw me off. What in the world is the barley and bread in verse 19 all about??? At first... I thought those women got people drunk and told them a bunch of weird stuff.... like in a seance. Then I thought... maybe they read the barley grains.... like tea leaves. Both of those made sense but they weren't right. So I did a google search. Old women with online Bibles and commentary are sometimes required to use a google search. And there.... in the google snippets.... I found the message.
Barley was the poor mans substitute for more expensive grain. Barley was also used in trade for services rendered. So.... people would pay these women in cheap grain and left over bread. In return.... these women would tell them whatever the women thought they needed to hear. Now that seems really mild.... I beg to differ.
Suppose a son or husband was in the Israeli Army. Back then every man had to serve. Suppose Ezekiel is preaching war, famine, pestilence, and death. That's what he was doing. There wasn't internet back then.... or cell phones.... or satellite phones.... or even the pony express!!!! So how is a mother or wife to get information on her son? Suppose that son had been slaughtered by the Babylonian army as it marched toward Jerusalem. For a hand full of barley.... the fake prophet would be happy to tell a mother or wife that her son was coming home soon.
That's the message..... whitewashed truths and cheap lies don't help.
