October 26, 2020: Day 65 – Ezekiel 13

Now Ezekiel has a word against the prophets and priests and religious leaders of Israel.  He says that they only speak “out of their own imagination.”  That is a pretty serious accusation and one that no religious leader would ever be able to overcome if it were proven that this is how they approach their faith and their relationship to God and to the people.  Just saying what comes out of your imagination and attributing it to God is dangerous.  Ezekiel focuses on that point by saying that they have uttered falsehoods and used the terms: “Says the Lord” in order to justify what they have said.  God takes no responsibility for the words of the religious leaders even though they begin their statements with the phrase: “Says the Lord.”  No, the Lord did not say it, you said it out of your own imagination.

Then there is this talk of this wall that was built by the people but the prophets just kind of smeared their presence on it.  The wall came crashing down due to the wind and the storm that the Lord sent because, again, it was not of the Lord.  The prophets were saying flippantly peace, and there was no peace.  But it was what they wanted to hear, so they said it out of their own imagination…again.  

I’m not sure where the author is going in vs.17ff in which there is a hunt spoken of that the women are involved in.  The only idea would be that this could be a reference to human sacrifices that the people of Israel had been caught up in because the nations around them were involved in it as they worshipped their own false gods through human sacrifices.  God promises that he is going to save his people himself.  He promises in vs.23: “I will save my people from your hand.”  I love it when God intervenes directly and basically says, yeah, you guys have really blown it.  Step aside, I’m taking over.