"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts," and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces; should God let Himself be consulted by them? (a paraphrase of Ezekiel 14:3).

Before the idols stood before their faces as statues or objects, they were "in their hearts." Idolatry begins in the heart. So Solomon writes, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

The heart is the seat of our affections. It is powerful enough to move the will where the mind alone is sometimes powerless. It is not enough to know about the Lord if our aim is to trust and obey Him with our lives. Perhaps this is why the great command is not "Obey the Lord your God with all your heart," but "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart" and soul and might (Deuteronomy 6:5).

Obedience arising from duty alone cannot compare with obedience arising from love. If we want to go beyond the letter and embrace the spirit of obedience, our obedience must arise from a passion for God. Duty alone will not energize our frail wills. We must truly and deeply delight in the One who commands us.

Friends, I urge you: love the Lord from your hearts. Be passionate for Him. As John Piper has put it, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him."

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezekiel 14 describes a striking scene: elders of Israel come and sit before the prophet to inquire of the Lord, and God reveals that their outward seeking masks inward idolatry. His response is that He will answer them "himself" — not with the guidance they want, but with confrontation, "that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel," estranged from Him through their idols (14:4–5). God's aim, even in judgment, is to win back their hearts. And the call that follows is simple: "Repent and turn away from your idols" (14:6).

The comment's emphasis on love as the source of obedience matches Jesus' teaching: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). The New Covenant promise is exactly this transformation of the heart — "I will give you a new heart... and cause you to walk in my statutes" (Ezekiel 36:26–27). John explains why love makes obedience lighter rather than heavier: "this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." (1 John 5:3). And its source is God's love first: "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

The Lord God says, "Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!" Israel's prophets have been like jackals among ruins; they have not gone up into the breaches or built a wall for Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have seen false visions and lying divinations; they say, "Declares the Lord," when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect Him to fulfill their word (a paraphrase of Ezekiel 13:3–6).

False prophets claimed to have seen divine visions and received messages from God. Then they went to God's people and announced, "Declares the Lord..." Yet they had not heard from God. God had not sent them. What is more, they took no responsibility for their claims but only hoped they would be fulfilled.

True prophets, however, never merely hoped for fulfillment. They knew their prophecies would be fulfilled, one hundred percent. They defended the truth of their proclamations by putting their very lives on the line. Their messages were not simply impressions but unmistakable revelations from God.

Friends, I hear Christians all the time saying things like "The Lord told me..." or "God was speaking to me...," or asking, "Did God speak to you today?" or "What do you think God was trying to tell you?" If this is unwise for the average Christian, I find it even more concerning that Christian leaders, pastors, and teachers speak this way all the time.

Have we learned nothing from the false prophets of Israel? What gives us such bold confidence to claim that God said this or that?

As bad as this is, those who make such claims often take no responsibility when their words fail. They make excuses when their claims do not come to pass, thinking they can escape their failed prophecies by saying something like, "God must have something better in store..." And they keep making claims, because no one calls them to account for their false prophecies and mistaken claims. I believe it is a form of taking the Lord's name in vain to claim that God said something He did not say.

I know some of you speak like this. I urge you to stop. Do not say, "The Lord told me..." or ask someone, "What do you think God is telling you?" Unless you have literally and supernaturally heard God speak and are willing to stake your life on it, I believe you have no business making casual claims of God speaking to you or to anyone else. Let your "Thus says the Lord" be limited to what you read in His written Word. Why be judged for false claims, bringing harm to yourself and everyone who hears you?

I do not believe there are prophets today; so I believe anyone who claims to be a prophet or to have the gift of prophecy is a false prophet. If they insist on their gift or calling, they had better be one hundred percent accurate in their prophecies and be willing to stake their lives on it.

There are some who neither claim to be prophets nor claim the gift of prophecy, yet speak as if they do. I would not go so far as to call these people false prophets. I believe they are simply mistaken, and at fault for speaking of God so casually.

A pastor once said that we are all prophets in hindsight — that while we may not be able to see God's hand looking into the future, we can clearly see His hand in past events. Really? People who claim God told them something before it happens and those who make the claim after it happens are no different in my eyes. Just because something happened does not mean God did it as a prophetic event. Prophets were God's spokesmen. Whether they gave predictive oracles or prescriptive instructions, their words were supernaturally revealed and absolutely true. Whether prophets foretold or "forthtold," their messages were supernatural, fully authoritative, and inerrant. Foresight and hindsight are irrelevant. The New Testament writers who commented on Old Testament revelation were giving supernatural, inerrant prophetic revelation, even though not everything they wrote concerned future events. I believe teachers and pastors are mistaken when they argue that predictive prophecy is supernatural while prescriptive prophecy is not. The Bible supports no such distinction. Both are supernatural, authoritative, and inerrant.

Friends, why test God by making such claims? Isn't it enough that we can simply quote the Scriptures? And if we do not know the Scriptures, whose fault is that? Is that any excuse for claiming that God told you this or that? I urge you, my brothers and sisters, not to take God's name lightly. Even though people may think you are "spiritual" when you talk this way, you are not staying within the boundaries of God's Word. As Paul warned, we must learn "not to go beyond what is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezekiel 13 adds two vivid images to Scripture's teaching on false prophecy. The false prophets are "like jackals among ruins" (13:4) — scavengers who profit from a collapsing society rather than working to rebuild it. And they "smear whitewash" on a flimsy wall, making it look solid when it will collapse in the first storm (13:10–12). Their message of "Peace" when there was no peace (13:10) gave people false security. Ezekiel's concern, like Jeremiah's, was that false prophecy prevents repentance.

The comment's caution about casually saying "God told me" is shared by many Christians across traditions, who agree that claiming divine authority for one's own impressions is serious (Deuteronomy 18:20; Jeremiah 23:31). At the same time, believers differ on how God guides His people today. Cessationists, like the comment, hold that God speaks authoritatively only through Scripture and guides through His providence and wisdom. Many other believers — including many who are cautious about prophetic claims — understand the Spirit to lead believers inwardly (Romans 8:14; Acts 16:6–7), while insisting that such leading is always subject to Scripture and is not equal to it. A common middle path is to speak humbly: "I sense..." or "I believe the Lord may be..." rather than "Thus says the Lord." All agree that God's written Word is the sure and final standard.

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”’” (Ezekiel 13:1–3).

Everyone wanted to hear news of peace and revival. Every prophecy was fortuitous, promising success, healing, and happy tidings. There was only one problem. These prophecies were not from the LORD. Self-proclaimed prophets, whom God did not send, were speaking "from their own inspiration," "following their own spirit" and had "seen nothing."

Friends, this very indictment could be made of the so-called prophets from Kansas City/IHOP today. They do not speak for God, for their so-called prophecies, which now come under the cover of "words of encouragement," come from their own imagination. And they are not concerned that their prophecies fail because they have redefined the prophetic gift so that it no longer has to be fully accurate or true. Be on your guard!

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? (Ezekiel 13:6–7)

Pastors, elders and deacons are authoritatively silencing argument by simply declaring, "God told me...," even though God never told them anything. There is never any certainty of fulfillment even though they claim divine authority over their words. They are only hoping for it, without taking any responsibility when their words prove false. But the true prophets of old staked their lives on their word.

All of these people, who make such claims today, would be dead, if they had the same attitude. Instead, when their words fail, they say they have heard something else. They have no accountability even though they claim absolute authority by invoking God's Name. They are certainly taking His Name in vain. Their prophecies are simply "lying divinations," because God had not spoken them.

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 (Ezekiel 13:8).

Does God say to such people, who falsely invoke His Name, "It's okay. Keep trying." No! As in Ezekiel, God declares, "I am against you!" It would have been better for such people to have remained silent than to have spoken so foolishly. And it would be better for such people to repent and cease from making such lying claims in the future. It is no small thing to have the LORD against you.

Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own inspiration. Prophesy against them (Ezekiel 13:17).

Ezekiel, the true prophet of God, was told to prophesy against the false prophets in his day. Today, the inspired and inerrant Word of God prophesies against the false prophets of our day. Jesus taught,

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them... Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:15–16, 22–23).

What is the fruit that Jesus is speaking of here? It is not the fruit of behavior, because they will come "in sheep's clothing," for behavior is easily seen by all. Behavior is the external garb that hides the nefarious teaching within. It is not the fruit of signs done in Jesus' Name, because Jesus will reject those who "prophesy...drive out demons...and perform miracles" falsely in His Name. No, the fruit that Jesus has in mind is the fruit of teaching and doctrine. This is why in the parallel passage in Luke, Jesus describes this teaching in terms of speech:

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:43–45).

Consider also the testimony of the apostle John, who warned against false prophets in his letter:

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (1 John 4:1–3).

John counseled believers to test the teachings of the prophets. They would know if the prophets were of God if what they taught was in line with the doctrine they had already received from the apostle. Today, we also are to test self-proclaimed prophets by the fruit of their teaching. If their teaching does not line up with Scripture, they are to be rejected. They are false prophets.

Friends, this is why I have been tirelessly warning you against places like IHOP (International House of Prayer) and people like Mike Bickle, and even organizations and church members that sympathize with them, whether knowingly or out of ignorance. For the average church member, they may do so out of ignorance, and I pray that God will open their eyes to see the fruit of false doctrines taught by these people. Church leaders should know better, but I have discovered that they are often just as ignorant because they are unwilling to search out the doctrines taught by these people.

Sure, the prophetic movement is exciting. I'm sure the recent Mega Fest (featuring TD Jakes, who rejects the Trinity, Joel Osteen, a prosperity preacher, and Oprah Winfrey, a Universalist and New Age Sympathizer) was exciting as well. But these may very well be wolves dressed in sheep's clothing. All of these groups are whittling away at the focus on biblical truth and the Gospel of Christ and presenting a gospel of man, making their appeal with claims of prophecies and miracles, and promises of prosperity. By this the enemy is drawing people away from the sufficiency of the Word of God and the cross of Christ. Be on your guard!

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezekiel 13 describes false prophecy as a failure of both truth and pastoral responsibility. The prophets have not repaired the breaches or prepared Israel to stand in the coming crisis (Ezekiel 13:5). Their message functions like a superficial coating on an unstable wall: it improves the appearance while concealing the danger. In Ezekiel 13:10–16, the storm exposes what the coating cannot fix. The image helps explain why encouraging words can become harmful. Reassurance that bypasses repentance and injustice leaves the people less prepared, although it may make them feel temporarily safer.

The original rightly identifies the gravity of speaking in God’s name without warrant. The distinction between one’s own spirit and the Lord’s word in Ezekiel 13:2–7 concerns the source of the message. Sincerity is insufficient. The false prophets may even expect their predictions to come true, but expectation does not supply authorization. A leader’s emotional certainty, spiritual vocabulary, or popularity cannot relieve the congregation of the duty to examine what is being taught.

Matthew 7 adds a necessary qualification to the original’s account of fruit. Doctrine certainly matters, but Jesus does not exclude behavior. The people rejected in Matthew 7:23 are identified with lawlessness; the chapter ends by contrasting hearing-and-doing with hearing-without-doing (Matthew 7:24–27). Likewise, Luke 6:43–45 links speech with the heart and then asks why people call Jesus Lord without doing what he says (Luke 6:46). Sheep’s clothing is deceptive appearance, not proof that all observable conduct is irrelevant. Accurate theological language can coexist with exploitation, and generous-looking activity can coexist with distorted teaching. Discernment must examine both over time.

First John 4:1–6 supplies a specifically Christological test in the setting of disputes about Jesus. The confession of the incarnate Christ belongs to the apostolic witness; it is not a magical phrase that makes every other claim safe. Elsewhere the same letter tests profession by love and obedience (1 John 2:3–6; 3:16–18). Taken together, these passages resist the temptation to isolate either correct terminology or impressive experiences as an exhaustive credential.

The author’s judgments about particular public figures should therefore be handled with the same evidential care he asks of prophetic claims. A quotation needs its date, context, and source; a person’s position should be distinguished from an inference about it. A meeting’s excitement establishes neither its orthodoxy nor its falsity. Criticism becomes stronger when it identifies a precise teaching, explains the relevant biblical text, and allows a fair response, rather than making association alone decisive.

For a congregation, practical safeguards include making leaders’ reasoning visible, welcoming questions, correcting predictions openly, and ensuring that allegations of harm can be examined without retaliation. First Corinthians 14:29 itself calls for evaluation of prophetic speech, even within a church that exercised the gift. Cessationists and continuationists explain that practice differently, but neither should turn “God told me” into an exemption from accountability. The aim is a church in which Christ’s truth and Christlike conduct protect the flock together.

"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: 'Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, "The Lord declares," and expect him to fulfill their words. Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, "The Lord declares," though I have not spoken? (Ezekiel 13:2, 3, 6, 7 NIV)

Friends, while the people of Israel had ultimate responsibility for their own false beliefs and wicked behavior, the prophets that guided them were also guilty, and their guilt was greater because they claimed to speak with God's authority. They claimed "God said..." when God did not speak to them. Therefore, the LORD says that what they uttered were false and lies, and for these they would be judged most severely.

I am reminded of the warnings Jesus gave to His disciples regarding the coming of false prophets:

At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:23, 24 NIV)

Paul also warned,

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3, 4 NIV)

Today, we still have people going around saying that God spoke to them, or that God gave them a vision, or even that God told them something about someone else. A few people have taken the trouble to document some of the more famous and bolder claims and found them false or, at the very least, exaggerated. I wish there was a prophecycheck.org for self-proclaimed prophets, even as there is a factcheck.org to expose inaccuracies, exaggerations and outright lies by politicians. Right along with this, a healingcheck.org might be another good site. The problem is that there is no accountability; therefore, uncontested claims are taken as fact, or worse, as actually spoken or given by God.

While we might give credit to God for every good thing (James 1:17), and even attribute to God's sovereignty every disaster (Amos 3:6), this is far different than saying, "God said..." or "God revealed to me..." or "God gave me a vision..." or "God gave me a dream..." Yet, preachers, teachers, evangelists, and self-proclaimed apostles and prophets do this repeatedly. And when their claims are shown to be false, rather than stop, they either conveniently forget about them, or they try to explain them away as the fault of others' unbelief, or they try to claim a kind of partial or spiritual fulfillment. What is worse, they try to defend their false prophecies from Scripture, so that adding to their false prophecies, they also eschew the Word of God.

Friends, as I said from the start, everyone will ultimately be responsible for themselves. Even if you were led astray, you are still responsible. That is why I never try to tell people to trust me or to follow my words or to shut them up because they disagree with what I teach. Instead I direct everyone to the Word of God. Everyone must read, study, and understand the Scriptures for themselves.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezekiel 13 identifies a particularly serious abuse of religious authority: prophets follow their own spirit while presenting their speech as the Lord's declaration. Some even expect God to fulfill the words they have invented. The reversal is striking. Instead of receiving a message and serving it, they produce a message and expect divine power to validate it. Confidence becomes a substitute for commission.

The chapter's later image of a flimsy wall covered with whitewash makes the danger concrete. A reassuring exterior hides structural weakness until the storm exposes it. False prophecy is therefore not merely an intellectual mistake that affects only the speaker. It can encourage people to build decisions, loyalties, and hopes upon something unable to bear their weight. The responsibility of a teacher increases with the authority claimed and the dependence invited.

The original's desire for documented accountability is constructive. Claims can be recorded in their original wording, checked against what actually occurred, and evaluated without allowing an unsuccessful prediction to be endlessly redefined. Yet investigation must itself be fair. Distinguish a prediction from a prayer or hope, identify the speaker and setting accurately, and avoid treating rumor as evidence. In the case of claimed healing, a person's testimony deserves respectful hearing while medical conclusions require appropriate documentation and the person's consent to share private information.

Matthew 24:23–24 warns that impressive signs do not automatically establish a claimant's identity or authority. Second Timothy 4:3–4 adds the hearer's responsibility: people can select teachers who satisfy desires they do not want examined. These warnings do not mean that every unusual experience is fraudulent. They mean that experience, charisma, and popularity cannot replace testing the truth of what is taught.

The statement that misled people retain responsibility should also be applied with care. Deception can involve substantial manipulation, unequal power, and limited access to information. Scripture's accountability for hearers does not excuse the deceiver or justify blaming those harmed. A church seeking restoration should help people recover truthful judgment, not humiliate them for having trusted a respected leader.

The author's invitation to examine Scripture should govern his own teaching as well. No writer becomes exempt by repeatedly saying that the Bible is the authority. A faithful teacher identifies uncertainty, corrects mistakes publicly when necessary, and welcomes questions that test an argument. A faithful hearer remains willing to receive correction as well as detect error.

The practical aim is a community in which God's name is used with reverent restraint. We can give thanks for providence, pray boldly, and describe personal impressions honestly without elevating each one into revelation. Truthfulness about what we know, what we infer, and what remains uncertain protects people and honors the God whose speech we profess to trust.

We read in Ezekiel 14:22–23: yet there will be a remnant left in the city, brought out — sons and daughters — and when you see their ways and deeds, you'll be comforted concerning the disaster I've brought on Jerusalem; you'll be comforted when you see their conduct, and you'll know that I haven't done anything without cause, says the Lord GOD (a paraphrase of Ezekiel 14:22–23). Usually the word "remnant" refers to the righteous, but here it describes a selection from among the wicked, allowed to survive judgment — and even after judgment on the rest of the nation, these few will keep persisting in the same wickedness. When the exiles see just how bad that wickedness truly was, they'll understand why God judged the nation as He did; rather than remaining angry at God, they'll be able to accept His judgment. Paul describes a similar dynamic in Romans 9: what if God, wanting to display His wrath and make His power known, patiently endured vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make the riches of His glory known to vessels of mercy He'd prepared beforehand for glory (a paraphrase of Romans 9:22–23)? Here Paul gives a reason God doesn't immediately judge the wicked — they become an object lesson demonstrating His wrath and power. Recall that Pharaoh and Egypt weren't destroyed instantly when God brought Israel out of bondage; God used a drawn-out process to produce a kind of overwhelming, unmistakable impression on the Egyptians, Pharaoh, and especially Israel itself. Another purpose is contrast: the wicked, as "vessels of wrath," set the righteous "vessels of mercy" in relief, the way white stands out most clearly against black — God's mercy shows most clearly set against His judgment. Through all of it, God's own sovereign justice is vindicated. What we're really meant to focus on here isn't the people, but God Himself. Did God have to destroy the wicked? No — we know this because He preserved some to live. But He destroys most of them because it demonstrates His holiness to those still living. Did He have to preserve the righteous either? Also no — though whether the exiles were truly the "righteous remnant" is its own question, God nonetheless chose to preserve them to give Him glory. The central point of all this isn't ultimately the salvation or destruction of any individual, but what most glorifies God. We tend to hold too high a view of ourselves — let's focus instead on God, giving Him all the glory, since this reflects His own plan, and those who resist it will likely perish in their own stubbornness. Remember, John 3:16 doesn't say the world was so lovely that God gave His Son, nor even that the world was simply "so loved" — it says God loved the world in this way, meaning the focus falls on God's own character and action, not on any inherent loveliness in the ones being loved. To God alone be all the glory.

AI-Expanded Reflection

This comment applies Romans 9's language of "vessels of wrath" and "vessels of mercy" quite directly to individuals prepared in advance for either destruction or glory — a reading closely associated with a strongly Reformed, double-predestination understanding of election. As elsewhere in this project, it's worth noting that other faithful interpreters, including many within the broader Reformed tradition itself, read Romans 9 somewhat differently — emphasizing God's sovereign right to show mercy or judgment as He chooses, without necessarily concluding that specific individuals were eternally and unconditionally decreed for destruction in the same active sense as those decreed for mercy. Both readings agree completely on this comment's actual central claim, though: that the entire narrative, both in Ezekiel and in Romans, exists to display God's own character and glory rather than to center on human merit or human significance — a genuinely humbling point regardless of which side of the predestination debate a reader holds.