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Ezekiel 13:22-23  Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination.  I will deliver my people out of your hand.  And you shall know that I am the LORD.

It is hard for us to imagine how hard it must have been for the LORD’s faithful prophets like Ezekiel to speak out against the generally accepted, popular culture inspired by false prophets who claimed to have seen visions from the LORD and to speak his words for him.  This was especially so because their false prophecies were more in line with the desires of the people’s sinful hearts and therefore always readily believed and embraced.  It is interesting that the M’Cheyne Bible reading program that I use to comment on each day has Ezekiel 13 the day after 1 Corinthians 14.

Paul warned the Corinthians against being influenced by their humanistic culture to go for the more impressive, spectacular gifts like ‘tongues speaking’.  Perhaps the biggest danger with tongues speaking is that it is more readily counterfeited by Satan than the more important gifts like ‘speaking God’s truth’ and ‘self-giving love’ – neither of which is very popular in our culture today!  Paul also warned Timothy about his responsibility in the ‘last days’: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

The same kind of responsibility had been charged to Ezekiel over six centuries earlier.  We do not know when the ‘last days’ will end and Jesus will return, but we do know that we are now much closer to that point than either of these faithful men, Ezekiel and Timothy, were.  We also know that the cultural situation in which we live is no different from what theirs was because the sinfulness of Man is no different. How important it is that we also take a firm stand on proclaiming God’s revealed truth.  Satan now has more powerful tools with which he can influence people, even of a very young age, as well as those of us who belong to older generations.  These tools are social media and the internet.  Let us take heart from what the sovereign LORD promised through Ezekiel  in the light of his courage and faithfulness: “I will deliver my people out of your [the false prophets’] hand.  And you shall know that I am the LORD.”

 – Bruce Christian