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“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.”[1]

 

God had sent Ezekiel to prophesy to the people of Israel who did not follow God. They had rejected Him and refused to follow His commands. The nation, as a whole, had separated themselves from God. God called out Ezekiel and sent him to call them to repentance. This section of Scripture records a summary of several messages that he gave to them as he described their sins and called them to turn from their wicked ways.

At the beginning of this message, the prophet talked about rain. God had promised King Solomon that He would not withhold rain as a blessing for their obedience, but He would withhold rain as a judgment against them for their disobedience. Ezekiel reminds them of the reason for the lack of rain: God's judgment upon them for their sin. Then, the prophet described the sins of the prophets, priests, princes, and the general people that prompted God's judgment upon them.

 

Since Israel provides a vivid picture of the Church, we can learn from the study of God's dealings with Israel. The present condition of the church mirrors the condition of Israel described in our study passage. Like Israel, we, too, experience a famine of spiritual rain. We have begun to experience God's judgment upon us for our sinfulness. We have failed to follow God completely.

 

As Ezekiel explained their sinfulness to Israel, he specifically identified the presence of sinful leadership. As with Israel, the church suffers from the disastrous impact of false prophets and teachers that have led to the spiritual decline in the church. Since God has not changed, we can use Ezekiel’s message as a warning and guide to us to help us identify false leadership in the church today. As he described the sins of the false prophets, he developed three main offenses, the conspiracy of the prophets, which contributed to Israel’s deplorable condition.

 

First, these sinful spiritual leaders devoured souls. Ezekiel said in verse 25, “There is a conspiracy of the prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring lion ravening the prey.” Many of us have observed videos of lions pursuing after their prey. Once the hunters capture their prey, the pride of lions ravages the victim. That picture describes what the false prophets in Ezekiel’s time did.

 

The history of Israel reveals several ways that the false prophets devoured souls. In the most obvious way, they destroyed true prophets. When a true prophet contradicted a false one, the false prophets often killed the true one. Hebrews 11 recounts some of the ways they destroyed them. They chopped off their heads, drove swords through their bodies, and sawed them in half. They did all kinds of cruel mutilations to them and thereby devoured them.

 

In addition, false prophets defamed the true prophets. They denounced their messages, mocked them, banished them, and punished them for their pronouncements. In other instances, they brought the prophet of God into the public square and put them in stocks. Everyone would go by, laugh at them, and mock them because they had the audacity to try to proclaim the truth against the false prophets who had control of things. By their actions, these false leaders deprived the people of God's truth, which led to the devastation of the people and their lands at the hands of Israel’s enemies who devoured them.

 

Furthermore, the false prophets devoured souls by declaring a false message of peace and prosperity in times of danger. They stood in the face of danger and in the midst of difficulty and hardship and said, “Peace, peace. Everything is good. There is not any trouble. There is not any problem. Everything is going wonderful. Peace, peace. Things are wonderful. They are going great.” But, they proclaimed a false message. In fact, the people faced extreme hardship, difficulty, and danger. The false message of peace and prosperity ultimately led the people into destruction.

 

In particular, this happened in Jeremiah’s day. He said,

 

“For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” [2] 

 

Ezekiel proclaimed a similar message in chapter 13. He said,

 

“Because 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.”[3] 

 

Therefore, the false prophet delivered a false message of peace and prosperity that led to their enemies devouring them.

 

Each of these examples describes events in our day. In many parts of the world, men and women lose their lives because they proclaim the truth of God to their peoples. More Godly men and women have lost their lives for Christ in our day than all previous eras combined.

 

Others suffer severe persecution. Even in our land, believers endure mockery and defamation because they stand for God. Some lose jobs and professional positions because of their love for God. Worse yet, some who stand for the truth in the professing church meet ostracism, condemnation, and exclusion from leadership.

 

False messages of peace and prosperity permeate our land. They have flooded into other countries as well. Religious television and radio broadcasts proclaim a false message of hope. Books and magazines publish these misleading messages, too. Our time of danger demands the truth, but it fallacies and error overrun it. We need to return to the truth and to conform our lives to it.

 

The three ways that the false prophets of the era of Ezekiel devoured lives and contributed to the decline and the downfall of the children of Israel exist in our times as well. We need to heed the warnings of Ezekiel to protect us from the same devastation that Israel experienced.

 

Second, Ezekiel denounced the false prophets because of their divesture of property. He said they had “taken the treasure and precious things.” (verse 25) The false prophets of that day made a practice of divesting the people of their goods and property. Because of their lies and their presumptions of their positions as messengers of God, they stole from the people. They extorted money and property from the people, especially widows. By their deceits, they pillaged the land and peoples.

 

In fact, the Lord Jesus specifically spoke about this very sin in Matthew 2. The Pharisees of his day devoured widows’ houses. In the time of Jesus, they went to those least able to defend themselves, lied to them, and extorted from them their goods, lands, and their property.

 

In a similar fashion today, many false leaders practice this same deceit. They ask members of their audience a series of questions. For example, “Do you experience financial difficulty? Do you have debts that you cannot pay? Do your expenses exceed your income so that you do not have enough money to cover all of your expenses and your cost of living? Does that describe you?”

 

Then, they follow with the following announcement. “If that describes you, I have wonderful news for you,” they say. “If you will send me a gift in the amount of your debt, God will bless you and will send you money 100 times what you send me.” In this way, these modern day false prophets and teaches divest millions of people of their money and property.

 

They did it in the time of Ezekiel and in the time of Jesus. They practice these devious methods in our day as well. Do not follow them. Yes, God did promise to provide for the needs of His children. However, when you hear or read someone who makes that kind of offer, turn them off, and destroy their publications. God will make a way for you, as you trust Him.

 

The third offence of the false prophets of Ezekiel’s day comes in verse 28; they defended evil for personal good. Notice what it says,

 

“And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter.”[4]

 

Well, whom have they daubed and what does it mean to daub with untempered mortar? If you go to verse 27, you will see Ezekiel talk about the princes, the leaders and the ruling people of their day. He describes the actions of the kings and their children who had positions of leadership. He then tells how the prophets treated those princes. It says the prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar. Well, what does that mean?

 

In that day when they made plaster for walls or structures, they used straw as a binding agent to help hold the material together to provide strength to the material. Maybe you remember the story of the children of Israel as slaves in Egypt. They had to make bricks for the Egyptians and used straw in making them. When the emperor or Egypt began to punish the children of Israel and afflict them greatly he took away their straw.

 

Well, that somewhat describes Ezekiel’s picture. When he said that the prophets daubed them with untempered mortar, he meant that the false prophets propped up the princes, supported them, and defended them, but with untempered mortar. The mortar would not last nor provide strength, because it did not contain anything that would last or strengthen the mortar so that it would work.

 

The evil spiritual leaders propped up their leaders with false supports. They defended the evil actions of the rulers for their own good and advancement. The rulers became like ravening wolves, shedding blood, destroying souls, and profiting from dishonest gain. (See verse 27.) The false prophets supported and defended them to the people. They proclaimed that God had given them directions to aid them in this manner, when He had not so ordered.

 

Sadly, in our day, a similar practice exists. Ungodly men and women, who proclaim themselves as messengers of God, refuse to talk about sin. Not only do they not preach about sin to their audiences, they support their friends in the ministry who practice evil deeds and justify their actions. These false prophets and teachers encourage their colleagues and promote them to others.

 

The false prophets of Ezekiel’s day supported those wicked, evil princes who destroyed the land, perpetrating evil and wickedness in their land. We have those who practice the same folly today.

 

These three offences describe how the evil leaders of Ezekiel’s day formed a conspiracy that resulted in the destruction of the land. They give us a picture and insight into those same evil practices today. They serve as a warning, counsel, and encouragement to help us determine the true from the false. They are as current as today’s television, radio, and print publications. I pray that the Spirit of God will open your eyes to discern the truth, so that you can reject error and pursue the truth.

 

Dear heavenly Father, I want to thank you for this record that you have provided and preserved for us from your dealings with the children of Israel in the time of Ezekiel. You have preserved it so that we can profit from what You revealed to him about the conditions of his day, because we see many of these same things present in our day as well. I would ask you, heavenly Father, to send forth your Holy Spirit to teach us the truth, to open our eyes to see what your Word describes for us that we might discern the false in our day, so that we may pursue after the truth. It will lead us to you, and to an understanding and knowledge of You through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray these things, heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen.

 

 

“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression [or deceit], and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.”[5]

 

In the last section, we examined this passage from the aspect of the prophets in the day of Ezekiel. We looked at their actions that made them false prophets. These Scriptures reveal another part of the conspiracy, the priests. They also contributed to the decline of Israel from God. They failed to fulfill their responsibilities before God to the children of Israel and became false priests. Ezekiel said,

 

“Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” [6]

 

First, these false priests disregarded God's word. Ezekiel mentioned it in verse 26: “Her priests have violated my law.” They treated God's word as just another record. It might provide interesting reading of the historical accounts of the children of Israel. However, they did not regard its demands upon life as important. Their misconduct resulted in not only their defiance against God but the disobedience of Israel as well.

 

Furthermore, they misinterpreted the Word of God. They set aside passages of Scripture which declared God's commands and nullified them. In essence they said, “That doesn’t fit for us. We do not need to meet that requirement.” They disregarded God’s law and His Word.

 

Sadly, many false prophets and pastors follow the same pattern. They, too, disregard God's word and misrepresent its application to our day. They relegate whole portions of Scripture to past days with no use for today. Biblical mandates for another generation do not have relevance for our “new era.” A new theory of progressive revelation and conformity to culture dismisses fundamental doctrines. Further, they misapply parts of crucial doctrines for the whole, which negates the truth.

 

God's explanation of the priests in Ezekiel’s time describes the false leaders of today. They have set aside the authority of Scripture and violated God's word. They have disregarded it and set it aside. Isaiah the prophet warned against this error when he instructed God's people to use the law and the testimony, the totality of scripture, as a standard to discern false prophets and reject them. (See Isaiah 8.19-20.) We need to heed Isaiah’s counsel these days, too.

 

Second, the false priests in Ezekiel’s time desecrated the holy things. God described three areas in their actions where they had profaned His holy things. They failed to distinguish between the holy and the profane. This distinction separated the clean from the unclean. For example, God established restrictions on who could enter certain sections of the Temple. The priests of that day eliminated those distinctions. Anybody, holy, clean, or unclean, could go anywhere in the Temple that they wanted.

 

In addition, God had established a series of animal sacrifices, clean and unclean, for the people to atone for their sins and to worship Him. God demanded the best animals. The false priests set aside God's rules so that the people could bring the sacrifices that they wanted to bring, sickly, lame, or malformed at birth. The false priests of Ezekiel’s day rejected God's requirements, which distinguished between the holy and the profane sacrifices.

 

In our day, the false priests and pastors fail to separate the holy from the profane. Although we do not have the same set of rules for Temple worship and sacrifices, the false leaders of today fail to distinguish between the holy and the profane. Specifically, they fail to identify and condemn sin. Preaching from the pulpits of our churches and from television programs, as well as popular written literature avoid the whole issue of sin. The desire for popularity controls the issues. Popular preachers even present the gospel solely as a free pass to heaven and never even mention the sin of the sinner that needs forgiveness.

 

Like Ezekiel’s day, we have failed to distinguish between the holy and profane, the clean and the unclean. As a result, the church has declined into spiritual decay, because of the presence of sin. We have renamed it a mistake, an error in judgment, or the result of emotional dysfunctions. However, God demands holiness of His people, which requires spiritual leaders to preach on sin so that believers can repent and turn from their sins. Sadly, in our day we have preachers and teachers who do not proclaim and teach about the demands of a holy God upon us. 

 

In addition, the false priests of Ezekiel’s day not only desecrated God's holy things when they failed to distinguish between the holy and the profane, but also when they failed to worship God truly. This sin came because they rejected God's law regarding the Sabbaths. God instituted several Sabbaths, not just the one that occurred every 7^th day. He set that day as a day of rest and worship. Further, God established other Sabbaths as part of several feasts and ceremonies, which called for the people of God to worship and celebrate God's goodness to them at various times and seasons. At these times, the people would honor and glorify God.

 

As Ezekiel stated it in verse 26, the false priests had “hid their eyes from my Sabbaths.” They set aside the ways that God had instituted for His people to honor, glorify, and worship Him. They failed to give Him the worship that He desired. A decline in true worship of God occurred. The children of Israel in the day of Ezekiel and throughout much of the history of Israel violated God's requirements.

 

In addition to hiding the Sabbaths, they completely rejected God's commands regarding idols. Instead of following His requirements, they built idols and elevated altars to them. They made groves throughout the land for their special gods. They completely set aside God’s rules and requirements for His people to follow to honor and worship Him.

 

Jesus related that God wants us to worship Him in spirit and truth. Yet, the false pastors and teachers of our day have set aside this command. Much of what passes as worship today has become nothing more than hyped emotionalism, manufactured by stirring orchestral accompaniments led by enthusiastic choral leaders. It differs little from what occurs at rousing business meetings or exciting athletic events. Further, some false priests and spiritual leaders have recommended a return to the use of objects and ceremonies as part of worship of God.

 

We spend very little time in true worship of God, as He desires. We have set aside the importance of worshipping Him. We have turned aside the manner in which we come before Him to acknowledge and recognize the holy, sovereign, creator God, Who holds our very breath in His hands and provides all things for us. Just like the false leaders of Ezekiel’s day, true worship of God has declined and virtually disappeared. We need a reformation of true worship of God, bowing before Him, honoring Him, acknowledging Him, and giving Him the honor, glory, and praise that He deserves.

 

The priests in the day of Ezekiel set aside the distinctions between the holy and the profane, and the true worship of God. In the end, they profaned God. By their attitude of dishonor toward God, they set Him aside as God. In fact, they had established other kinds of gods that they thought were equal with God. They set up so many gods, e.g., gods of harvest, gods of seasons, gods of reproduction, as well as gods of the sun, moon, and stars, that they just gave them one title that covered a whole multitude of gods. They called them the Baals.  

 

Since they worshiped these false gods, they failed to honor God and profaned Him. This same sin has begun to invade the professing church today. We call it pluralism. You worship your god. I have my God, you worship your god, and that is ok. You worship the way you want to worship. If the people in another culture or place want to worship as they please, that is all right. Do not disturb them. Leave them alone. Let them worship that way. “Don’t come and tell me how I am supposed to worship. I know how I want to worship.”

 

A favorite statement describes their feelings: “The god that I worship is like...” We have all these definitions of who we think God is. Worse yet, some prominent preachers and teachers state that every religion has its own Jesus. They proclaim that God has other ways of salvation and will accept those of other religions based upon the sincerity of their beliefs, even if contrary to the truths of Scripture.

 

In all of these instances, we fail to worship the true and the living God and profane Him. He has revealed Himself to us in creation, our natures, and in His Son, Jesus Christ. Further, He has revealed and disclosed Himself to us in the Word of God, which we can read and study to learn of Him. He has revealed Himself to us and requires us to worship Him and Him alone. 

 

These characteristics of the priests in Ezekiel’s day identified them as false priests, co-conspirators, if you will, with the false prophets that we examined in the previous chapter. The things that described them describe men and women in our day as well. These false leaders of our churches, false preachers on television and radio, and authors of print media call upon you to follow them. Examine them before you follow them, because there are consequences.

 

Notice what happened in that day and happens in our day as well throughout the world. What affect did these sins have upon the leaders of the people? The leaders of that day followed the examples and the teachings of the false prophets and teachers, and became oppressive leaders. They developed into thieves, murderers, and deceivers who led the people into servitude, because of the sin and iniquity in their own lives.

 

The degradation affected the people as well. In verse 29, it describes how the people followed the leadership of the land and became like them. They, too, became oppressive people, thieves, and murderers. They destroyed the poor and the needy. They did not take care of them.

 

God has not changed. We will endure a similar judgment from God, if we, like the false prophets and priests in Ezekiel’s day, fail to honor Him and to seek his face. When we fail to worship Him as He requires of us, when we disregard Him and set aside His Word, God will withdraw His presence, and we will endure and experience the judgment of God upon us.

 

I pray that the Spirit of God will take these truths and open your eyes to see them, to see how they apply to you. Perhaps He will show you where you need to turn from a path contrary to God’s Word. I pray that you will experience the forgiveness and the restoration that God has promised to those who repent. 

 

Thank you, heavenly Father, for the examples that you give us in your Word to warn us and encourage us to examine our lives and to see if we have failed to obey and failed to worship you as you require. I pray that we will see how we need to conform our lives to the truth, to obey, follow, and to worship You. I pray, Father, that you will accomplish this in our lives to the honor and glory of your name. I pray these things in the name of Jesus your Son, Amen.