Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

It is never easy to tell people "bad news" that they don't want to hear (even if that news is true and the people urgently need to hear it and act on it). Doing so is even more difficult when it may result in those people harming or even killing you. It is much more tempting to "tell them what they want to hear" (that is, through flattery, or by saying that the "bad news" applies to a distant future time), even if the messenger knows that what is being said is false or misleading. Truth is sacrificed for safety and popularity.

This was the situation that Ezekiel was facing in prophesying to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah during their exile in Babylon. False prophets were telling the people that they would be speedily delivered from their captivity, and that they would then have peace, with no need to reform their lives. These "prophecies" were not received from God (as was the case with Ezekiel), but were derived from "divination" -- sinful means of purportedly foretelling the future through techniques such as casting lots, analyzing the entrails of sacrificial animals, interpreting the position of arrows that fall to the ground, or consulting with idols and the priests.who served them.

In the cited verse, God was telling Ezekiel (His true prophet) that He would bring such perversions to an end and restore the people to spiritual purity (even if there would not be an immediate conclusion to their present difficulties).

December 27 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report