ON PROPHECY, TRUE AND FALSE After rebuking certain prevalent forms of contempt for prophecy (Ezekiel 12:21), Ezekiel reproves the false prophets (Ezekiel 13:1) and false prophetesses (Ezekiel 13:17) of Israel. A visit from the elders next supplies the occasion for an announcement of the principles... [ Continue Reading ]
THE STUMBLINGBLOCK, etc.] idolatry: see Ezekiel 7:19. SHOULD I BE ENQUIRED OF?] Such enquiry was a mockery of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
DESERTS] RV 'waste places,' ruins. THAT I MAY TAKE, etc.] Sin hardens the heart and so leads on to destruction. This is a self-acting law of divine retribution, and so in a sense the result is God's doing. But God does not seek to ensnare men. On the contrary, He pleads with them to forsake their e... [ Continue Reading ]
GAPS] RM 'breaches.' HEDGE] RV 'fence.' The false prophets did nothing to repair or strengthen Israel's defences.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY WOULD CONFIRM THE WORD] RV 'that the word should be confirmed.'... [ Continue Reading ]
The false prophets would have no share in the restoration of Israel which Ezekiel foretold. When he hath spoken a tiling'] RV 'and speaketh a word.' A true prophet will not answer insincere enquirers at all, but will leave it to God to answer them by destruction (Ezekiel 12:7). To give any answer is... [ Continue Reading ]
A WALL] RM 'a slight wall,' the vain defences of Jerusalem. AND ONE BUILT, etc.] RV 'and when one' (the people) 'buildeth up a wall, behold they '(the false prophets) 'daub it,' etc. UNTEMPERED _morter_] or whitewash. The. false prophets could only give the wall a specious appearance of strength. _... [ Continue Reading ]
A DIVINE PRINCIPLE AND AN APPARENT EXCEPTION As a rule when God punishes a land for its wickedness by such judgments as famine, wild beasts, sword, or pestilence, the presence in it of the most eminently righteous men will not save the wicked, not even the members of their own families. They will o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAND] RV 'a land.' Ezekiel 14:13 suppose a series of general cases. THEN WILL I STRETCH, etc.] RV 'and I stretch.. and break.. and send.. and cut off.' All this is part of the supposition. 14, 20. NOAH, DANIEL, AND JOB] Typical righteous men, like Moses and Samuel in Jeremiah 15:1. 21, 22. It... [ Continue Reading ]
PILLOWS] probably 'amulets,' supposed to have magical virtues. They were worn by the false prophetesses themselves (Ezekiel 12:20). ARMHOLES] RV 'elbows,' RM 'joints of the hands.' The amulets were worn in some way on the arms or wrists. KERCHIEFS] or 'fillets.' These were apparently veils put over... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL YE POLLUTE] RV 'ye have profaned.' HANDFULS OF BARLEY, etc.] The fees received by the false prophetesses. DIE and LIVE] see on Ezekiel 3:18. This whole passage should be read in the light of the description of the true prophet's duty in Ezekiel 3:16;... [ Continue Reading ]
TO MAKE _them_ FLY] RM 'as birds.'... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL SEE.. AND BE COMFORTED] The exiles of the first captivity would be distressed at the fate of Jerusalem, but the conduct of the survivors would convince them that it had been well deserved, and was not to be regretted. Ezekiel's message frequently takes the shape of a criticism of current p... [ Continue Reading ]
VAIN VISION.. FLATTERING DIVINATION] Forms of false prophecy, more fully exposed in Ezekiel 13. These had been unfulfilled, and this had led to contempt for all prophecy. But God's true word would no longer be confounded with such things.... [ Continue Reading ]
PROLONGED] RV 'deferred,' and so in Ezekiel 12:28. _(B) FALSE PROPHETS REPROVED (EZEKIEL 13:1)_ False prophecy accompanied true prophecy in Israel like its shadow. While the true prophets spoke in God's name a message which they had really received from Him, the false prophets used God's name to sa... [ Continue Reading ]