Ezekiel 13:9

Ezekiel 13:9 says, 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 said that these false prophets would never be a part of the house of Israel when He assembled them together again and their names would not be written in the writing of the house of Israel.  False prophets will never really be a part of the church, and their names will never be written in the Lamb’s book of life.  They may deceive many people, but they will never deceive God, and neither will anyone who professes to be a Christian, but who does not base this on God’s word.   

Verse ten adds, 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:  God said this was because they had preached peace when there was none and built up a wall that would not stand.  Whatever we proclaim to be God’s word that really isn’t and no matter what defense we may think we have in the world today will not stand when God’s judgment comes.  No matter how many people may work together to bring about peace without God, they will never find lasting peace.   

Verse eleven continues, 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.  God told Ezekiel to tell the people who were daubing with untempered mortar and that the wind and rain would destroy it.  It wouldn’t even take an army to destroy this untempered wall, built to defend them without God’s power. It  would be destroyed by the elements.  We will never find protection outside the will of God and whatever we may put our faith in, God can easily destroy.   

Verse twelve adds, Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?  God said when the wall fell, that the people would be asked where the daubing that they did went.  It would have been washed away, and so will any defense that we think we have against evil in the world today outside the will of God.  There is nothing else that will protect us spiritually but faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to God's word.   

Ezekiel 13:5

Ezekiel 13:5 says, Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.  God was still speaking about the false prophets.  He said that they had not stood in the gaps nor made a hedge for the house of Israel in the day of battle.  This is what God said should be happening instead of the prophets running around like foxes looking out for themselves instead of standing on God’s word.  We as followers of Christ should always stand in the gap and present God’s word to the world instead of running around pretending to follow God while only looking out for what is best for us.   

Verse six adds, They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.  God said these false prophets had claimed to present His word to the people, but they were lying about it.  There are many people today, even some who profess to be preachers, who proclaim something that is not God’s word, and they lead too many people astray.   

Verse seven continues, 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?  God asked these false prophets if they had not been lying when they pretended to proclaim God’s word, but He hadn’t given it to them.  They should have known this already, just as those who claim to present God’s word to people today, but it is against what His word says, should know that they are lying.   

Verse eight concludes, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God.  God said that since these false prophets were proclaiming lies to the people in His name that He was against them.  No matter how successful a preacher or even an individual Christian may be in the world today, God will always be against them if they are proclaiming something other than His word.   

Ezekiel 13:1

Ezekiel 13:1 says, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  As stated many times, Ezekiel always wanted people to know what hec was proclaiming was God’s word and not his own.   As Christians, we need to make sure that what we proclaim to the world is God’s word and not just our own beliefs.  

Verse two adds, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord;  This whole chapter is a prophecy against the false prophets of that day.  God said they prophesied out of their own heart and not from His word.  Matthew Henry points out that the false prophets only claimed to be the voice of God after the people had rejected the true prophets.  We may think that what we believe in our heart is the truth, but if it goes against God’s word, it never will be.  As long as we put our faith in God, we will never be led astray by false prophets, and we certainly won't become one ourselves.  If we are proclaiming something to be God’s word that isn’t, then we need to pray that He will send someone to us to tell us that we are wrong before it is too late to repent and turn to Him.   

Verse three continues, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!  God pronounced woe on the prophets who followed their own spirit instead of following the leadership of Holy Spirit in what they prophesied.  They were prophesying things that they had not seen.  We need to ensure that whatever we proclaim in the name of God is His word and not just our beliefs.    

Verse four concludes, O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.  God compared the prophets of Israel to foxes in the desert.  Foxes seem to be in a great hurry, but really just ran back and forth looking for their own good and not the good of others.  So had these false prophets become, claiming to have a message from God, but really just looking out for what was best for themselves.