Do The Truths Of Ezekiel 13 Still Apply Today?
by Sandy Simpson, 3/1/12

Ezekiel 13:1-23 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing. O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD. They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The LORD declares,’ when the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word. Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The LORD declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord GOD. “So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord GOD. It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out. Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath. So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the LORD. Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone, along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ declares the Lord GOD. “Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own inspiration. Prophesy against them and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to hunt down lives! Will you hunt down the lives of My people, but preserve the lives of others for yourselves? For handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death some who should not die and to keep others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt lives there as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let them go, even those lives whom you hunt as birds. I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am the LORD. Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life, therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.”  (NASB)
I am not saying that the false teachers and false prophets can destroy God's Church.
Matthew 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (KJV)
But God is going to bring down the false global religion that is already here consisting of ecumenism, interfaithism and false teachings and prophecies of all kinds, just as He promised to break down the whitewashed wall the false prophets built up to deceive Israel.  God will ultimately protect both His Church and those who actually belong to it who have not been turned aside by myths and false teachings.

Do you think this chapter still applies or is it ancient history?  Let me illustrate how these timeless truths apply just as much today as to when God had repeatedly told Israel they were headed for captivity if they listened to the counsel of false prophets.  God has warned us ahead of time that we of the end times churches will see a falling away and many will be deceived.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
Mark 13:22  for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. (NASB)
Thus if we mock Him and His written Word by believing a myriad of false teachers and false prophets who proclaim "peace, peace, when there is not peace" then we are in danger of being removed along with the false teachers.  Let me give you only three examples of how this is happening today.


Joel Osteen

Osteen is teaching that we should all be at peace and happy and we can get there by thinking and declaring positive things.

OPENING: At Lakewood Church, we believe in new beginnings. Lakewood is a place of unlimited possibilities where your need is our greatest concern. Your life if full of potential. And this moment can determine your destiny. Join us this Sunday. At Lakewood Church, we're here for you! We believe in new beginnings! We believe in you! (Applause from audience) (Joel Osteen Sermon #VL_005 - 3/26/00 from Website).

In Diana Keough’s Dec. 15, 2004 interview from- FaithfulReader.com, she asked about his New York Times #1 bestseller Your Best Life:7 steps to Living Your Full Potential.  Joel Osteen stated: “The main reason I decided to write it was to help people enjoy their life and to realize God has a good plan. I wanted people to see that you can be happy today --- that you can bloom where you're planted and enjoy your life right now.”

Read Preaching a False-Positive with a Smile by Mike Oppenheimer, Let Us Reason Ministries, 1/10

He also believes that we should be in unity with cults like the Mormons.

Texas mega-church pastor Joel Osteen says he believes Mormons are Christians. The statement came yesterday in Washington in response to a reporter's questions about politics. Osteen said he likes Texas Governor Rick Perry and prays for his candidacy in the GOP presidential candidate race. But Osteen said he also disagreed with a fellow Texas pastor -- Robert Jeffress -- who recently stated that Perry's political opponent, Mitt Romney, was "not a Christian" because he is a Mormon, and that Mormonism is a "cult." In a video posted by The Washington Times (above), Osteen states that while he did not know whether Mormonism is the "purest form of Christianity," he has heard Romney say that Jesus is the Son of God and is his Savior -- and that is one of the "core issues," the pastor concludes. (Mormons are Christians, says Osteen by Fred Jackson, OneNewsNow, 10/25/2011)
Read more about Joel Osteen here:

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/word-faith.html#josteen


Rick Warren

Warren presented his P.E.A.C.E. plan years ago promising that Christianity would "solve" a number of problems in the world.

During the five weekends of November, we'll teach five messages on the P.E.A.C.E. plan: a strategy to have every small group in our church,  and then tens of thousands of small groups in other churches, become engaged in solving the five biggest problems in the world: Spiritual Lostness, Lack of Godly Leaders, Poverty,  Disease, and Lack of Education. (http://www.saddleback.com/home/todaystory.asp?id=6213)
This is a perfect example of one crying "peace" when there is no peace and instead lying about solving these unsolvable problems in the world.

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/churchgrowth.html#rwarren



Cindy Jacobs

Jacobs gave a prophecy that the State of Hawaii would be the first entirely Christian State.

"Over ten years ago, under the divine unction of the Holy Spirit, *Cindy Jacobs of Generals Int’l stood on a platform at Aloha Stadium and declared that the State of Hawaii would become the FIRST Christianized state in the U.S.! This is the will of God for Hawaii! The ‘Prayer Watch’ serves as an opportunity for the Body of Christ to gather by districts statewide for the sole purpose of praying out God’s will.” (Statement by Virginia Domligan of the Prayer Center of the Pacific)

On Hawaii’s TBN program Ed Silvoso said, “Hawaii has been prophesied by reliable prophets that it will be the first Christian state in the union. I believe that” (January 31, 2005 TBN Hawaii, Cal Chinen interview)

This obviously false prophecy was then take up by the New Apostolic Reformation's "Transformations Hawaii" group that has organized ecumenical/interfaith prayer meetings in order to attempt to usher in this prediction.  They even made the claim that the crime rate in Oahu dropped after their last prayer effort when, a few days after that claim, the newspaper headline read "Oahu Crime Up 6%" (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2010/Jan/31/ln/hawaii1310354.html).  This is very similar to the "peace where there is no peace" and the false prophets of Ezekiel's time who claimed that nothing bad would happen to Israel, in fact the the Lord would pour out His blessings.  Thanks to false prophetesses like Jacobs, Christians and the public are being fooled.  Jacobs has made many more false prophecies.

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/newapostolic.html#cjacobs



Other Examples

All you have to do is look at the other false teachers and false prophets listed on our site to see many more examples of what is talked about in Ezekiel 13.

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/page3.html