Nov 7 Ezekiel 13, Ezekiel 14, Ezekiel 15, Hebrews 8, Psalm 120:1-7

Ez 13:2-3

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish a prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

Foolish prophets – people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Or in others words – make it all up. Whether through intentional deception, or through misunderstanding the result is the same: deception.

Just because someone says a word is from God – it doesn’t mean it is. This person could even appear to be very reliable.

We must test prophecy. We must test it against the word of God. And those who preachy lies must be dealt with, or a whole shot of people can be placed off track.

Not every “thus sayeth The Lord” is said by The Lord. Be discerning. 

Ez 14:13-14

“Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.

This is how bad Israel had become – the destruction and the exile was inevitable. No man could turn it around. It would be easy for people like Jeremiah or Ezekiel or any of the prophets to think that they’d somehow failed their nation.

I get that impulses – when things go wrong and people don’t listen but instead turn away from God you wonder… could I have done more? Imagine that feeling on a national scale.

Israel was so far gone – there was no stopping the exile or the coming destruction. The Prophets spoke warnings, but God knew they would not listen.

When hearts turn against God – stopping them is not easy. God says to Ezekiel – even if the big guns like Noah, Daniel and Job were in the nation – they could have done no more. The nation still would not have listened. These men would only have successes in saving themselves.

But all three of those men, even if they would not have succeeded – I do think they most currently would have tried.

That’s all any of us can to – try to leave this land a better place than when we arrived.