Now let us go on to consider the various kinds of people among the children of Israel described in these chapters of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 22:26 says, “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” Here we see that the priests violated the word of God, profaned the holy things, and even profaned the Lord Himself. They made no distinction between the holy and the profane, between the clean and the unclean. Because they did not minister the word of God but instead violated it, they cheated and robbed the people. They did violence to the Lord’s word and they profaned the name of God. This is also the situation with certain teachers in today’s Christianity. They minister God’s word in a violent way, cheating and misleading others by the wrong use of the Word and profaning the name of God.
Ezekiel 22:27 goes on to say that the princes, the kings, were in the midst of the land like wolves ravening the prey, shedding blood, and destroying souls for dishonest gain. Like many in today’s Christianity, they were anxious to grasp something for their own gain.
Ezekiel 22:25 tells us that the prophets were like roaring lions devouring souls. They took the treasure and the precious things, causing many to be widows.
Ezekiel 13:4-5 says, “O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.” Like foxes in the desert, the prophets loved to hide and live in a desolate place. It is difficult for a fox to live in a proper house, but when a house is desolate, foxes may come in. Furthermore, the prophets would not fill up the gap and make up the hedge during the time of battle. Today’s situation is similar, for very few Christians are willing to stand in the gap for the Lord’s recovery and for the Lord’s interest.
At Ezekiel’s time there were many false prophets who prophesied according to their own heart. In 22:28 Ezekiel used a parable to describe their manner of prophesying: “Her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.” Here Ezekiel said that their manner of prophesying was like daubing the walls with untempered mortar. Mortar is made from lime and must be thoroughly saturated with water before it is applied to a wall. This would give properly tempered mortar. If the mortar is not thoroughly saturated with water before it is applied to the wall, the rain will wash the mortar away, and the wall will crumble. The meaning of this parable is that many prophets ministered the word of God in a way that was not properly tempered. To minister the word of God in such an untempered way is to be not saturated with the Holy Spirit and not soaked with the experience of life. Today many preachers and teachers are daubing with untempered mortar. They may give a good sermon, but when a storm comes, it is washed away like untempered mortar.
A word which is fully saturated with the Spirit and with the experience of the divine life is absolutely different. When this kind of word is ministered, it will strengthen God’s people to withstand whatever storms may come. From this we see that we need teaching that is saturated with the Spirit and soaked with the proper experience of the divine life. This is not a matter of eloquence or of speaking words that are pleasant to the ear. Rather, it is ministering the word of God in a way that is real, solid, and thoroughly saturated with the Holy Spirit. Such a word will protect us, strengthen us, build us together, and enable us to stand against every kind of storm.
An even worse situation than that of the false prophets existed among the daughters of the people, who prophesied out of their own heart (13:17). They not only prophesied falsely; they also prophesied when the Lord had not spoken. This kind of prophesying occurs frequently today. Many say, “Thus saith the Lord,” but the Lord has not spoken. For example, in recent years several people have prophesied that the city of Los Angeles would fall into the ocean, and some even predicted the exact date. But Los Angeles is still here. They said, “Thus saith the Lord,” but the Lord never said such a thing. When these prophesies were not fulfilled, they were proved to be false.
In addition to prophesying falsely, these women in Ezekiel also practiced superstition and witchcraft. For instance, they sewed on a magic band, an amulet, as a superstitious protection from the demons. They even sewed veils to hunt people (13:18-21). Likewise, today certain pastors, preachers, and ministers speak in a superstitious way, comforting others in a way that is false and not according to the truth.
The Lord told Ezekiel that the elders who came to him to inquire of the Lord had set up idols in their hearts (14:1-3). Because of the idols in their hearts, the Lord would not be inquired of by them. They were not honest with the Lord. Also, they were ravening and robbing, taking others’ treasures into their own hands. In many respects, the situation today is similar.
From Ezekiel 22:29 we see that the people used oppression and exercised robbery. They vexed the poor and the needy, and they oppressed the stranger wrongfully. The Lord was not able to find anyone among them who could make up the hedge and stand in the gap. Concerning this, verse 30 says, “I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” Sadly, in today’s Christianity the situation is almost exactly the same.