Reading: Ezekiel 13-15, Psalm 34
Say to those who prophesy from their own heart…
Yesterday we read a rather wild story about the departure of the glory of the God of Israel from the Temple in Jerusalem and it’s arrival in Babylon with the exiles. Lest the exiled people get too comfortable with themselves, we now get a warning about the motives of those who are prophesying among them, and those elders who have been drawn into idol worship in Babylon. Ezekiel is to address three groups: men who prophesy out of their own hearts, women who prophesy out of their own hearts, and elders who have taken idols of the land into their hearts.
See a repeated theme?
God’s displeasure with false prophets is nothing new. We recently read Jeremiah, a book largely concerned with true and false prophesy. The false prophets there were rather stringently condemned. Once again here God gets very upset about men who declare “peace” when there is none. A new element here is the mention of women who are prophesying, and using some kind of wristband based divination. We aren’t entirely sure what this was, but it clearly was some sort of fortune telling, probably picked up by the exiles during their journey to Babylon. It appears their activities are leading people to make foolish decisions, and some people have died, while others have remained alive, because of their activities. God has nothing good to say about this, which is hardly surprising.
The other group that is engaged in Ezekiel’s prophesy are elders who have taken idols into their hearts. It is interesting to note the way this is talked about does not indicate people who were coerced into idol worship, but men who willingly and authentically chose to worship the foreign idols. How could this occur? Remember these are exiles. In the ancient world, if your nation has fallen to a foreign power, their gods were thought superior, and perhaps is was time to switch teams. These elders were following the custom of the time by choosing the best god available to them at the time. They were trusting in the results rather than the promises. Looking to their personal advantage rather than the restoration of the world that is the God of Israel’s ultimate plan from the very beginning.
God’s judgment on these groups of people, who have by all indication lost track of one of our key themes, that God looks on the heart, is to strike them from the house of Israel. Not only will their false prophesies be reversed and their wealth attained by lies lost, they will cease to be who they think they are. Their identity, so tied up in their descent from Abraham, will be removed. Ezekiel’s prophecy about the disobedient elders and prophets, contrary to their prophecies of the exile’s end, is an intensification of exile. They have been removed from the land, now they will be removed from Abraham’s family. The promise of God that came through Abraham will not be for them. Ezekiel is told that even were Noah, Daniel, and Job among these people, it would only serve to save their own lives. Three of the most righteous characters of the Biblical story cannot impute their righteousness to the people around them. It takes more than a righteous man to do that. Everyone will be held accountable for their own actions. It may be the harshest judgment in the Hebrew Scriptures, and it is reserved for those who lead from their own hearts rather than the heart of the creator God.
The reading closes with a condemnation following an explanation. God intends to leave no room for excuses. You will know that not without cause have I done all that I have done. Ezekiel, and all the people of Israel, will come to understand that they have been treated justly. This is all covenant fulfillment. Nothing is out of the blue. Then God declares Jerusalem a worthless, charred piece of a vine. It is no longer good for anything. The faithless people of Jerusalem will be met with the faithful actions of their God.