Ezekiel 13 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Ezekiel 13 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• We aren’t given an exact date for the revelation given to Ezekiel in chapter 13. It seems safe to assume it was in the same year or shortly after the vision of chapters 8-11, which would date it to 591 BC.

• Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:

  • Amon (642-640 BC)

  • Josiah (640-609 BC)

  • Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)

  • Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)

  • Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)

  • Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)

WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY

• Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.

• Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.

• Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.

• Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.

• Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.

• Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.

• Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.

• Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.

• Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.

• Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.  

OUTLINE:

• GOD CONFRONTS THE FALSE PROPHETS IN JUDAH (13:1-16):

  • There were genuine prophets who spoke God’s words to the people of Judah, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but there were also phony prophets who spoke with authority even though they had no revelation from God.

  • These false prophets claimed to have the authority of God and to speak in His name but their messages originated in their own minds and hearts.

  • “Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!” (13:3).

  • They taught using false visions and “lying divinations,” and their lies led many people astray.

  • They prophesied “peace” and comfort to the people when there was no peace. The people had no reason to expect peace due to their sins, their stubborn unrepentance, God’s anger, and His promises of divine judgement that were hanging over them.

  • Ezekiel illustrated the uselessness of these prophecies with a picture of a whitewashed wall. The people built a wall around Jerusalem to keep them safe, and the false prophets figuratively whitewashed the wall with their prophecies. Whitewash looks nice, but it has no power to secure a wall or strengthen it. In like manner, the false prophets sounded nice to the people, but their words of peace were meaningless, the wall of Jerusalem was coming down!

  • God promised to extinguish these false prophets and their families from the nation of Judah.

• GOD CONFRONTS THE WOMEN OF JUDAH WHO PROMOTED MAGIC (13:17-23):

  • It appears there were women amongst the people of Judah who were practicing witchcraft and sorcery, something strictly forbidden in God’s Law (Deu 18:9-14).

  • These women were said to be hunting the souls of God’s people.

  • They made magic wristbands and veils to use for their false prophecies and rituals.

  • They harmed righteous people and encouraged wicked people.

  • God promised to hunt them down and destroy them. He said, “Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. Your veils also I will tear off and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, and you shall know that I am the LORD (13:20-21).

APPLICATION:

• One message that is taught repeatedly in the Old Testament is that God’s people need to be cautious about falling in love with teachers who comfort them, tell them they are doing everything right, and affirm what they already believe, and they need to have attentive ears to hear teachers who are offering correction, calling them to a higher standard, and preaching repentance.

• God’s people in Ezekiel (Eze 13:10) and Jeremiah’s day dismissed the genuine prophets who taught hard messages to embrace the faux peace of phony prophecy because it was pleasant to their ears.

• Every generation is tempted to lift up the men who preach about their rightness and cancel the men who point out ways they need to improve.