Whitewash and the Storm

Ezekiel 13 confronts the religious voices that kept Judah comfortable in sin. These prophets prophesied out of their own heart, following their own spirit, and had seen nothing. God compared them to foxes in the waste places, scavengers who make dens in ruins rather than rebuilding them. They had not gone up into the gaps or built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in Yahweh's day.

Their central lie was simple: they seduced God's people, saying, Peace; and there is no peace. Ezekiel's image is memorable. When the people built a flimsy wall, these prophets came behind and plastered it with whitewash, making it look solid. A storm of rain and hailstones was coming, and the wall would collapse, uncovering its foundation. Then all would ask where the plaster had gone. Comforting words could not hold back a judgment that only repentance could prevent.

God also exposed women who practiced divination with magic bands and veils, trading lies for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread. Their lies grieved the heart of the righteous, whom God had not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he should not return from his wicked way. God promised to tear away their snares and deliver his people. In the New Testament, 2 Timothy 4:3 warns that people will not listen to sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts.