False Prophecies of Peace

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Tolerance for Corrupt Leaders and People

Ezekiel 13:15-21  The Message

^15-16 “‘I’ll dump my wrath on that wall, all of it, and on those who plastered it with whitewash. I will say to them, There is no wall, and those who did such a good job of whitewashing it wasted their time, those prophets of Israel who preached to Jerusalem and announced all their visions telling us things were just fine when they weren’t at all fine. Decree of God, the Master.’
^17-19 “And the women prophets—son of man, take your stand against the women prophets who make up stuff out of their own minds. Oppose them. Say ‘Doom’ to the women who sew magic bracelets and head scarves to suit every taste, devices to trap souls. Say, ‘Will you kill the souls of my people, use living souls to make yourselves rich and popular? You have profaned me among my people just to get ahead yourselves, used me to make yourselves look good—killing souls who should never have died and coddling souls who shouldn’t live. You’ve lied to people who love listening to lies.’
^20-21 “Therefore God says, ‘I am against all the devices and techniques you use to hunt down souls. I’ll rip them out of your hands. I’ll free the souls you’re trying to catch. I’ll rip your magic bracelets and scarves to shreds and deliver my people from your influence so they’ll no longer be victimized by you. That’s how you’ll come to realize that I am God.

For Reflection 

We know what God thinks about those who profane God's name by distorting the catastrophic outcome of ignoring God's recommendations or minimizing the harm of disobedience.  Yet, many are willing to play down the consequences to bolster a selfish deviation from God's will.  Ezekiel advocates that we uncover the sham of whitewashing the false prophets.  Can we tolerate the perversion of God's promise or must we confront it and call it out for the damage such false promises and deception can generate?

Pray

that you will recognize false teaching for what it is.  Pray for the courage to speak against the trivialization of the consequence of sin.  Pray that those whose selfish attempts to seduce us into embracing that which will lead us away from God and God's intentions for our lives will fail and their deception will be revealed for the profane perversion that it is.