Skip to main content

Preacher! Preach Against Preachers who Preach!

Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy (Ezekiel 13:2)


Preaching against other religions, denominations or even “styles” of our own denomination is thought to be bad taste preaching. It is “sour grapes” preaching. It is picking on sincere people’s choice of worship. It is taboo.

Why all of the hub-bub? This type of preaching is really nothing new and is exactly what a good biblical preacher should be doing. Look at none other than the prophet Ezekiel for example. I know, I know! Ezekiel is an Old Testament prophet. He’s from a different dispensation. If you believe in the dispensations that is. If not, he still is.

Ezekiel’s message to his own people came from the LORD and its purpose was so that Israel would know that, Jehovah was the Sovereign God. The “Sovereign LORD” theme is repetitious in the Old Testament. Three thousand years later we still believe that Jehovah is the Sovereign LORD, right? Right.

Well, we who believe in God at all believe that Jehovah is sovereign. God’s message to His people through Ezekiel was, roughly translated, “Preacher! Preach against preachers who preach false messages that misrepresent the Sovereign LORD!”

There was no beating around the proverbial bush. There was no small talk. There was no, political correctness. God’s directive was clear, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing (13.3).

My study of this passage revealed interesting insights into the word foolish that God used to describe these false prophets. Here is a quote from The Expositor’s Bible Commentary,

The word “foolish” (nābāl) implied more than our concept of stupidity. It was a broad term that encompassed spiritual and moral insensitivity contrary to the nature of a wise man. The word was used to describe people who blasphemed (Ps 74:18), who were arrogant (1 Sam 25:25), who were atheistic (Ps 14:1), and who lacked self-discipline and humility. Ezekiel described the basic cause of their foolishness as their reliance on their own hearts and failure to seek God’s revelation (cf. Jer 23:16-22; ch. 29).

I doubt that Ezekiel’s message was well received in the “religious community” but it was received. Ezekiel preached to preachers. He preached to those preacher’s congregations as well. His message to both groups was ignored and disaster was the consequence. Most in those audiences died as a result of their selective hearing and ignoring. They came to see that God was sovereign but that understanding came as they entered Hell’s gates.

Think on these things and let’s talk more tomorrow.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God Made Clothes

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:21 I have always heard the following explanation of this verse.  Because Adam and Eve had sinned, they died spiritually. They also lost the right to be in the Garden of Eden and were cursed in other ways. For example, they had made clothes out of fig leaves, but God sacrificed a lamb; thus, God shed blood and made clothes. This sacrifice of an innocent lamb symbolized what Jesus Christ would do in the distant future.  Is this what you have heard? I don't know; it seems like this interpretation is stretching what Moses wrote in the above text. The text says that  God made clothes for Adam and his wife from skins.  We see no blood, we don't know what kind of skins, nor can I imagine God making an animal sacrifice. Did God have to skin animals to make these clothes? Or could he have just made them like he had everything else in the universe just a little while earlier?  To th...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who did What?

We see Abraham lying at times. He twice told people that his wife was his sister. He was worried that someone might kill him because his old wife was so beautiful. In the text that I read today, he comes into territory ruled by Abimelek and tells the great fib. Not too long afterward, the king takes Sarah into his harem.  Lately, I have become interested in real estate investing and have learned quite a bit in the last few years. One crucial lesson acquired was that I need to treat investing as a business and not have too many sentimental attachments. Years ago, I would rent with a "charitable" mindset. I kept the rent low on my only rental because I was "helping people (friends) out." I kept that rent low for 20 years. For those years, that rent never moved from $650 a month.  Granted, we could keep the property and barely pay the maintenance and taxes, but the rent was low. It wasn't until I turned that property over to a property manager that I realized what ...
Post a Comment
Read more