Ezekiel 13:17

Likewise, 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, LIKEWISE, THOU SON OF MAN, SET THY FACE AGAINST THE DAUGHTERS OF THY PEOPLE - put on a bold countenance, fearlessly to denounce them (Ezekiel 3:8; ). THE DAUGHTERS OF THY PEOPLE - the false prophetesses; alluded to only here; elsewhere the guilt specified in the women is the active share they took in maintaining idolatry (). It was only in extraordinary emergencies that God bestowed prophecy on women-e.g., on Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, whom Josiah consulted (;...

WE may gather from this passage that Satan’s lies were not spread among the people so much by men as by women. We know that the gift of prophecy is sometimes though rarely allowed to women, and there is no doubt that female prophets existed whenever God wished to brand men with a mark of ignominy as strongly as possible. I say as much as possible, because the sister of Moses enjoyed the prophetic gift, and this never ceased to the reproach of her brother. (Exodus 15:20.) But when Deborah and Huldah discharged the prophetic office, (Jude 4:4, and 2 Kings 22:14,) God doubtless wished to raise them on high to shame the men, and obliquely to show them their slothfulness. Whatever may be the reason, women have sometimes enjoyed the prophetic gift. And this is the meaning of Joel’s second chapter, ...

17-23 It is ill with those who had rather hear pleasing lies than unpleasing truths. The false prophetesses tried to make people secure, signified by laying them at ease, and to make them proud, signified by the finery laid on their heads. They shall be confounded in their attempts, and God's people shall be delivered out of their hands. It behoves Christians to keep close to the word of God, and in every thing to seek the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Let us so trust the promises of God as to keep his commandments....

Verse Ezekiel 13:17. _SET THY FACE AGAINST THE DAUGHTERS OF THY PEOPLE,_ _WHICH PROPHESY_] From this it appears that there were _prophetesses_ in the land of Israel, that were really _inspired_ by the Lord: for as a _false religion_ necessarily implies a _true one_, of which it is the _ape_; so _false prophetesses_ necessarily imply _true ones_, whom they endeavoured to imitate. That there were _true prophetesses_ among the Jews is evident enough from such being mentioned in the sacred writings. _Miriam_, the sister of Moses Exodus 15:20; Numbers 12:2; _Deborah_,...

A rebuke to the false prophetesses, and a declaration that God will confound them, and deliver their victims from their snares. Women were sometimes inspired by the true God, as were Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, and Huldah; but an order of prophetesses was unknown among the people of God, and the existence of such a class in the last days of the kings of Judah was a fresh instance of declension into pagan usages. Ezekiel 13:18. Render thus: “Woe to the women that” put charms on every finger-joint, that set veils upon heads of every height to ensnare souls. “Will ye” ensnare “the souls of my people,” and keep your own souls alive, and will ye profane my name “among my people for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to” keep alive “the souls that should not live, by lying to my people” wh

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 13:1 Another interval follows, and then a fresh and fuller burst of inspiration, manifestly in close connection with Ezekiel 12:21, and to be read in combination with Jeremiah 23:1; which, as Jeremiah was in communication with the exiles (Jeremiah 29:1), Ezekiel may probably have seen. There were false prophets and prophetesses among the exiles as well as in Jerusalem, and an utterance is now found for his long pent up indignation. EZEKIEL 13:2,...

LIKEWISE, THOU SON OF MAN, SET THY FACE AGAINST THE DAUGHTERS OF THY PEOPLE,.... The false prophetesses; for as there were women in some ages, who had the true spirit of prophecy, as Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah, Exodus 15:20; so there were some that pretended to it, who had it not, as Noadiah in the times of Nehemiah, Ne 6:14; and such there were in the times of Ezekiel; against whom he is bid to set his face, and look them out of countenance, and make them ashamed; who, contrary to the modesty of the sex, had impudently taken upon them to prophesy to the people; and such have been since in the times of the Gospel, as Jezebel, Revelation 2:20; and Prisca, Maximilia, Quintilia, and others: WHO PROPHESY OUT OF THEIR OWN HEART; as the men did,...

Ezekiel 13:1. And now the Lord speaks through Ezekiel about the false prophets in the midst of His people. They prophesied out of their own hearts; or as it might be rendered, “Who prophesy from their own mind without having seen.” Such they were and such are the false teachers of this present age 2 Peter 2:1. Of such our Lord warned: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” Matthew 7:15. Every man who prophesies out of his own heart, who utters his own mind, whose preaching and teaching is not according to the oracles of God, is a false prophet, a blind leader of the blind. Like false prophets in Israel the false teachers in Christendom are the cause of the spiritua

THE FALSE PROPHETESSES. But women, as well as men, contributed, and just as fatally, to the popular delusion. The false prophets were public men, who exercised an influence on politics; the false prophetesses corresponded roughly to our modern fortune-tellers, and wielded an enormous private influence over a people prone to superstition, and confused by the complexity of the situation. We have here a very vivid picture of their mysterious practices. They are seen sewing magic bands or amulets (not pillows) on to the wrists or elbows of their clients, and attaching long, flowing veils to their heads. The professed object of these superstitious practices is the capture and control of souls more plainly to slay and to spare, _i.e._ to determine their fate by a solemn prediction of death or good fortune, as the case may be. Ezekiel takes three objections to all this profane jugglery: (_a_) i...

SET THY FACE AGAINST, &c. This required Divine courage on the part of Ezekiel. Compare Ezekiel 14:8; Ezekiel 20:46; Ezekiel 21:2; Ezekiel 29:2. Eze 29:38, Ezekiel 29:2. THEIR OWN HEART. Compare verses: Ezekiel 13:2; Ezekiel 13:3 and. similar transition from men to women in Isaiah 3:16;...