Despite the idolatry and wickedness of the people of Israel, the Mosaic religious leaders of Ezekiel’s time still held a great amount of authority. When the people were in a bind and felt they needed to hear a word from God, the priests alone were the ones who could read from the Torah, the Histories, the Wisdom, and the Prophets. If a more contemporaneous message was needed, they could even turn to the popular prophets, who could give them a direct message from the Almighty.
Allegedly.
For every Jeremiah and Ezekiel speaking the true words of God, there were a wagonful of Hananiahs and Shemaiahs who attained their honored positions by conjuring up words the people wanted to hear and putting them in the mouth of the Lord. Why would they lie this way? Everyone has got to make a living, and along with the financial tribute that folks would give to a “good-news speaking” prophet, there was power and prestige to be had. In other words, false prophecy was a pretty good gig if you could get it.
Before we condemn the people for following these forth-tellers of God’s supposed rose-colored words, we need to take a look at the church today. How many of the nation’s largest congregations are centered on the prosperity gospel and Kingdom Now theology? People want to hear from God. But if they are given a choice between hearing God’s good news or His bad news, most people—particularly those who tend toward the shallow end of the faith—will say, “Tickle my ears with something good, because this world is bringing me down.”
Now picture yourself in Jerusalem. The siege walls are up. The food is running out. Twice already the city has been overrun and people deported. You find two prophets standing before you. One is saying, “Yeah, you guys deserve this. It’s going to get really ugly, then you’re all going to die.” The other is saying, “Don’t worry, friends. It’ll get better. God is going to save us.” Which one would you want to listen to? The promise of hope is a powerful lure, even if it is a lie.
The current situation for Ezekiel was slightly different than it had been for the prophets of the past. His audience was not the people in the city, but their exiled loved ones who still held out hope for those left behind and for Jerusalem itself. Even in Babylon, Israelite prophets were falsely claiming peace, telling everyone that their families would be okay. The people flocked to these liars, soaking in their deceptions to quell their sorrow.
All the while, God was watching. He heard the words of the deceptive prophets in Jerusalem and amongst the exiles, and He was done with them. Calling Ezekiel forward, He said, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’” (Ezekiel 13:2). No longer would He allow others to put words into His mouth. He was about to call them out for the liars that they were.
“Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God” (Ezekiel 13:8-9).
Because of their false predictions, the prophets had created a god that didn’t exist. The Lord, the true God, told the people that He was going to bring these fake spokesmen and the city down. When that destruction occurred, it would become crystal clear to those in Jerusalem and to the exiles in Babylon who was the true Lord God.
To emphasize the pitiful weakness of the false prophets’ words, God presented an illustration. The defenses of Jerusalem were like a wall that the people had built up against the Babylonians. To strengthen the wall, the prophets had added a coating of plaster made up of their words of hope and strength. But the plaster was weak. They hadn’t allowed it to sit and temper before applying it. Thus, when God would allow the Babylonians to blow in like a storm, the wall would collapse. With power, the enemy would sweep through the city, consuming the prophets and those who followed them.
Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,” says the Lord God (Ezekiel 13:15-16).
People were searching for hope anywhere they could find it, whether it was through false teachings, idols, or blasphemous sacrifices. Prophets in Jerusalem were even sewing magical talismans to their clothing in the hopes of warding off the coming evil. Not surprisingly, they were also doing a good business selling these safety charms to a panicked people, hunting them down with their handcrafted lies like one does a bird. God called out these deceivers-for-profit too, saying:
Behold, I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds. I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand. Then you shall know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 13:20-21).
These charms were simply one more lie drawing people away from the truth. People believed the charms had the power to protect them, when instead they should have been relying on the All-Powerful for their protection. When their magic is ultimately proven false, that’s when the deceived will finally recognize the One who always remains true. By that time, though, it will be too late.
Man’s Righteousness Versus God’s Plan
In Ezekiel 14, the Lord announced to the prophet Ezekiel four judgments on the land upon which the rebellious rabble were living. But the Lord provided an interesting addition. He said that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, their righteousness would deliver only themselves (verse 14). In total, we have a quartet of famine, wild beasts, the sword, and pestilence ravaging the land. But in each case, the trio of Noah, Daniel, and Job are set up as exemptions to the judgments
The righteousness of all three was known to everyone and celebrated. We have written evidence of each of these three praising God and trusting Him completely. There is no doubt that Noah, Daniel, and Job stand out amongst the most righteous and faithful of all time.
Yet even the prayers of these three righteousness heroes would not be enough to stay the hand of God against Jerusalem. Their prayers would be sufficient for saving their own skins. However, the fate of the great city was already determined. Its sin had condemned it to destruction.
This is the way God works, and it is one more reason we can have such hope about the coming rapture. The fate of the world has already been determined through the words of the prophets and the sinfulness of mankind. The tribulation is coming, a horrific time that will make the fall of Jerusalem pale in comparison. But just as God would not let His righteous trio suffer the fate of the Babylonian destruction, He will not let His righteous church suffer the fate of the tribulation. “Um, Amir, have you seen the church lately? I don’t know that we’re quite reaching the Noah-Daniel-Job level with our righteousness.” Yes, I have seen the church, and you are exactly right about our overall struggles. But the church doesn’t have to reach the level of those men. When God looks at believers, He doesn’t see the imperfect righteousness of our own stumbling walks. He sees the perfection of the One who imputed His own sinless righteousness upon.
Excerpted from Amir Tsarfati’s book, Exploring Ezekiel (Eugene, OR: Harvest Prophecy, 2025), pages 77-78; 82, 83.
Amir Tsarfati is a native Israeli and former major in the Israel Defense Forces. He is the founder and president of Behold Israel—a nonprofit ministry that provides Bible teaching through tours, conferences, and social media. It also provides unique access to news and information about Israel from a biblical and prophetic standpoint. Amir is a New York Times bestselling author with more than 1 million books sold worldwide. He is married with four children and resides in northern Israel