Ezekiel 13 strikes me as very relevant to the condition of American
Christianity. The prophet Ezekiel, like his contemporary Jeremiah, had a tough
mission. He was commissioned by God to deliver a message of judgment to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, particularly to the leaders, the priests, and the
prophets. The latter were false prophets who preached from their own deluded
heart (Ezek. 13:2).
"They
see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, 'The LORD declares,' when
the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word. (Ezekiel
13:6 NASB) (Literally, “they hope their word will stand up.”)
The false prophets today are just like the false prophets in
Ezekiel’s day. First, they preach what people want to hear – peace and
prosperity – even though the Lord has warned of judgment for disobedience to
His word and worship of “the work of your hands” (Jeremiah 25:6, 7). They build
a false wall of promises that give false security to their followers, and they
whitewash it to conceal its inherent weakness.
"It
is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there
is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with
whitewash; so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall.
A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind
will break out. "Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked,
'Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?'" Therefore, thus says
the Lord GOD, "I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There
will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath.
"So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and
bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it
falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the LORD.
"Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it
over with whitewash; and I will say to you, 'The wall is gone and its
plasterers are gone, along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to
Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,'
declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 13:10-16)
The
Apostle Paul, when falsely accused of desecrating the temple, may have been
alluding to Ezekiel’s imagery of the whitewashed wall when the high priest
ordered that Paul be struck:
Paul,
looking intently at the Council, said, "Brethren, I have lived my life
with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day." The high
priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall!
Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me
to be struck?" (Acts 23:1-3)
Though Paul offered somewhat of an apology, pleading
ignorance of the high priest’s status, the truth of Paul’s accusation stood:
the high priest was acting hypocritically. Jesus accused the
Scribes and Pharisees of being “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27). They looked
clean and pure on the outside, but were full of corruption inside.
The message of the false prophets then and now invariably
conflicts with the revealed Word of God – the Bible. Their bold assertions that
the Lord spoke to them is nothing short of blasphemy!
Peter warned New Testament believers of this threat:
But
false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false
teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth
will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words;
their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2
Peter 2:1-3)
John urged believers in Christ to “test the spirits” of
those who claim to be speaking for the Lord.
Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
So how can be “test the spirits”? There is no simple formula, no quick, easy test. The
deceptions of the false prophets are subtle and often seem plausible. The only
way to discern the spirit of a false prophet is by immersing oneself in the
Word of God. We need to study through the whole Bible, year after year, praying
for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we read. This is God’s way of building a
true wall of defense against false prophets.
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