Ezekiel 13 Devotional

Comfort That Was Not True

God turns Ezekiel against the prophets who invent their own messages and announce them as the word of the LORD (13:2-7). They promised peace while disaster was on its way, like workers smearing whitewash over a flimsy wall (13:10). When God's storm comes, the wall will fall, and everyone will see what the whitewash was hiding (13:11-14). Prophets who should have gone up into the gaps to repair the wall had done nothing of the kind (13:5).

The second half confronts women who used charms and lies to trap people for a little barley and bread (13:18-19). God's verdict is striking: they disheartened the righteous, whom he had not grieved, and emboldened the wicked to stay on their path (13:22). False comfort hurts both. Against all of it, God repeats a promise: he will deliver his people from their hands (13:21, 23). The LORD cares enough to tell the unwelcome truth. His word does not flatter, and because it is true, it will still be standing when the storm comes.

To think about: Which voices in your life tell you only what you want to hear, and how can you make room for God's truer word?