Ezekiel 13

1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son 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; 3Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
Ezekiel continues to hear from God. This time he will give a message to the falls prophets among the Jews, “them that prophesy out of their own hearts.” What a POWERFUL statement. Prophecy is generally defined as a message from God. Those who prophesy out of their own hearts are akin to those in our day who say “follow your heart”, “do what your heart tells you”, or “I just feel that it is right in my heart.” Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Any person who worships and lives according to their heart are fools. For “...it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23)
4O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. 5Ye 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. 6They 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. 
These prophets are cunning convincing the people not to prepare for invasion because they have lied claiming peace would continue. They have made claims of receiving prophecies from Jehovah promising that their prophecies would be fulfilled, but God has not given them anything and will soon show those prophecies as lies.
7Have 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? 8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. 9And 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.
Because they have lied about their prophecies, God is against them. They will be utterly cut off from the Jews. They will not have a place in the inspired word, in the genealogies, nor in the land after the 70 years of captivity. This is a powerful message to apply to preachers today who lead men down the road of destruction.
10Because, 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: 11Say 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. 12Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? 13Therefore 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. 14So 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. 15Thus 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; 16To 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. 
Just as Jeremiah prophesied (Jer. 6:14; 8:11) these men would prophesy about peace but there would be swift destruction. We see this echoed by Paul concerning the destruction of Jerusalem in his day in 1 Thess. 5:3.
In this image, the prophets are compared to a wall with bad mortar. Instead of a solid defense for the people against incursions (multiculturalism), their defense crumbles easily even against the weather.
Of course in this case, the weather is God’s wrath in the form of the Babylonian army who easily took unprepared Jerusalem.
17Likewise, 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, 18And 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? 19And 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? 
Ezekiel is then told to make a prophecy against the female false prophets “which prophesy out of their own hearts” like the men above. The picture here is that of a prostitute selling comfort, luring men into their bower, using their head coverings (kerchiefs) as nets to hunt. The pillows are comforts, an imagery of wealth gained through interaction with surrounding nations. Their promises, likes those of a prostitute, are empty and in the end bring no comfort. Worse yet, the payment they received was in the form of measly bread, for nothing of great, lasting value.
20Wherefore 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. 21Your 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. 22Because 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: 23Therefore 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. 
God says that he will remove their comfort, the imagery of the pillows in the brothel on which they recline. God will tear their nets and they will no longer be able to capture the innocent with their lies because He will come as promised proving Himself to be the One True and Living God, Jehovah.
I especially like the imagery here of the false prophetesses equated with prostitution because it shows that whoredom of Jerusalem is more than just idolatry. It is every connection to the heathen cultures, not just their religions.
In Truth and Love,
Category:Apocalyptic