Tyndale Open Study NotesEzekiel 13

The messages in this section address the issue of true and false prophecy.

The basic difference between true and false prophets was clear. False prophets made up their own messages. True prophets spoke the word of the Lord.

Now the false prophets would hear a message from the Lord. This message was about their own destruction.

These messengers had been deceived, and they had also deceived others. Great sorrow and judgment were coming upon them.

People compare false prophets to jackals that dig in ruins to hunt small animals. These false prophets did not fix the broken walls by urging people to repent, live holy lives, and resist evil. Instead, they gained prestige, and possibly money, by spreading lies that encouraged rebellion. Like jackals, these false prophets were tearing down walls, not building them up (see Nehemiah 4:3).

The false prophets knew their words were lies and false predictions. Yet, they confidently expected God to fulfill their prophecies. These false hopes gave God's people a false sense of security. This false security would prove empty and destructive on the coming day of judgment (compare Jeremiah 6:14).

The false prophets wanted to protect themselves. But this desire would bring the opposite result.

Instead of being safe, they would be removed from the community. They would never return to their own land again.

The people's "righteousness" was like a weak wall ready to fall. Instead of urging the people to repent and build their wall properly, the false prophets just painted over it. They told the people that peace would come to Jerusalem.

This made the wall look stronger than it was. A heavy rainstorm would reveal its true weakness. Water would seep into the unsealed cracks, wash away the mortar, and cause the stones to fall.

In this case, the storm would be the great flood of God's anger, which would destroy the people's false righteousness and the false prophets who supported it. Meanwhile, they would find no peace.

Similar to the false male prophets (Ezekiel 13:1–16), some women prophets spoke words from their own imaginations. The false male prophets used traditional prophecy methods, but the women used magical techniques with charms and veils. Seeking personal gain, such as a few handfuls of barley or a piece of bread, they promised life and death (compare Ezekiel 3:17–21; 33:1–9) to the wrong people.

The false women prophets did not speak about life and death the way God did. They did not judge people by God’s standards.

Because of this, they discouraged righteous people. The righteous began to think that obeying God was useless. At the same time, these false prophets encouraged wicked people. The wicked began to believe they could continue in sin and not be punished.

This wrong teaching trapped both groups. It gave the righteous and the wicked false ideas about who God is and how he judges.