The Park Forum

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 13:6, 10
6 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…

10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace.

Reflection: What is a False Prophet?
By Erin Newton

There is no single word in Hebrew to designate a false prophet from a legitimate prophet. In the New Testament, the Greek language provides a word, pseudoprophetes. Quite clearly, we see the two words combined: pseudo + prophet. This is a phony, fake, counterfeit speaker for God.

In the Old Testament, they are referred to generically as “prophets” without a specific qualifying word to denote falsehood. How do we know it is a false prophet?

In Ezekiel, false prophets spoke out of their own imagination but claimed they had the words of God. They spoke about peace when there was none. They created a sense of security, that was merely a façade, a prop. God speaks against these imposters and declares their coming ruin.

There is a good warning here from the lack of a Hebrew word for false prophets. They have the same titles as legitimate pastors, priests, reverends, and leaders. By name, they are just like those who speak the words of God, the words of truth. How will we know if those among us are false prophets?

When every religious leader claims to be speaking truth, declaring the words of God, heralding their interpretation as “gospel,” what will be the litmus test for all these words? The example in Ezekiel reveals two things to look for: ignoring the reality of suffering and avoiding convicting or uncomfortable messages.

False prophets will tickle the ear of their audience with words of false peace. When injustice or abuse are in their midst, a false prophet will ignore these issues and downplay their significance. They speak peace when there is no peace.

False prophets build a sense of security for their audience by erecting walls that are nothing more than paper mâché. This may look like claims of financial or physical blessings as a way to ward off suffering in life. This may be the call to rely on political parties or elected officials to keep evil from encroaching on one’s way of life. They will claim that nothing can harm you as long as you [fill in the blank.]

These messages cannot be supported by the whole of Scripture. Look at Job. Look at Esther. Look at Paul. These were all righteous people who suffered personally or had to walk through the hardship of suffering around them.

False prophets call themselves authentic; we must learn the difference.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel. — Psalm 69.7

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 13 (Listen 4:14)
Romans 16 (Listen 3:30)

Read more about Sufferings and False Prophets
False prophets today may be religious or political…what they have in common is telling us exactly what we want most to hear.

Sufferings and False Prophets

Read more about Cut and Run from False Prophets
Zechariah’s audience knew that lying prophets were deadly. Their lies killed.

Cut and Run from False Prophets

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 12:27-28
27 “Son of man, the Israelites are saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’
28 “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Reflection: Falling on Deaf Ears
By Erin Newton

They have ears to hear but do not hear. When Jesus spoke parables, he often concluded with, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” For the most part, everyone has ears and most people with ears can hear. Metaphorically, to have ears is an ability to understand, think critically, and humbly accept teaching that might seem counterintuitive.

God speaks to Ezekiel, “They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear…” The cause of their metaphorical deafness is their rebellion. It is a self-inflicted spiritual deafness. God has been speaking. In fact, Ezekiel has been using visual performances to relay the message of God. They are not only deaf, but they are also blind.

At moments, it seems that they can hear God, but they refuse to accept it. The prophet’s words are dismissed, brushed aside. They prefer to live in ignorance, assuming that everything will continue as normal. Judgment had been prophesied for years, centuries in fact, but they continued to ignore it as some mythic future.

The prophetic message is not encouraging. The vision of judgment is not comforting. To accept the message is to admit one’s failure. Hearts that cannot accept teaching, blind to the word of God, are proud and rebellious. Calls to repentance are met with a shrug and a wave, “That’s good for thee, but not for me.”

Why is it easy to hear a convicting message and quickly lay it aside? Sometimes we think it is something we might need to deal with later but certainly not now. We detach ourselves from culpability either by calling it a future problem or someone else’s problem.

Like the Israelites, we cannot feign ignorance. God has sent many messengers to preach and to perform. For us, we have the Word of God and the Spirit of God which speaks to us each day.

The Israelites had a proverb, “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing.” It was common knowledge that God had delayed his judgments. But in his delay, which Peter later calls loving patience (2 Peter 3.8-9), they had continued in rebellion. Perhaps they assumed they could clean their lives up for God later but continue in sin now.

We err in our assumption about God’s delay. It is foolish to rely on his mercy to forgive us tomorrow while we pursue sin today.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth. — Psalm 46.11

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 12(Listen 4:53)
Romans 15(Listen 4:32)

Read more about Puking Prophets of Success
We must open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear, and open our hearts to feel the uncomfortable, the painful, the hurtful truths.

Puking Prophets of Success

Read more about Turn Out the Lights
God covered false prophets with darkness…If we ignore the light long enough, God will blind us.

Turn Out the Lights

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 10.18-22
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 
20 These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like human hands. 22 Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead. 

Reflection: When God Leaves the Building
By John Tillman

Ezekiel’s visions of cherubim and “whirling wheels” are as confusing as they are captivating—as befuddling as they are beautiful.

Many study the details of Ezekiel’s vision. Many paintings, many theories, and many words have come from this imagery. Some think Ezekiel was hallucinating or on drugs. Some think his vision describes an alien spaceship. (Easier to believe in than God, I suppose?) But Ezekiel isn’t some poor, inept, ignorant, ancient fool. His literary skill is beyond ours. It’s better to admit we don’t understand what we are reading than to accuse him of not understanding what he saw.

What Ezekiel saw is less important than what he is telling us. In seeking to define the objects he described, many have missed the object of his argument.

The point of Ezekiel’s vision is not to describe the kind of vehicle God drives. The point is to tell us God is leaving. God is moving out—leaving the house David and generations of followers had worshiped in. The glory is departing from the temple. 

The “car”, if God drove one, is pulling out of the garage. No matter how well appointed the temple may be, without God’s presence, it’s as pointless as an empty garage. Its tools have no meaning. It smells vaguely of gasoline and rubber but there’s no horsepower, no purpose. It’s just an empty room.

God did not leave without reason or without many, many warnings and pleadings with his people. Yet people were surprised at God’s leaving. They missed the warnings. They ignored the pleadings.

If God can leave the Temple Solomon built, he can surely leave our churches, our organizations, and our nations. That’s the scary part. The beautiful part is that God didn’t leave his people. He just left their corrupted places. His people, including Ezekiel, were either already in exile or on their way. God went with them just as he was with them in Egypt. Then he heard their cries and brought them out, repentant and joyful.

Let us never be so prideful, so unheeding, that we are surprised to turn around and find that God has left the building. Let us never be so despairing over God abandoning a building, a country, or an organization that we forget that God remains close to his faithful remnant. Even if everything falls and burns, God can restore, if we will simply be faithful.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse
Open, Lord, my eyes that I may see.
Open, Lord, my ears that I may hear.
Open, Lord my heart and my mind that I may understand.
So shall I turn to you and be healed.


– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 10(Listen 3:16)
Romans 13(Listen 2:35)

Read more about Hearts God Moves
In Ezra we will see God’s work to, stone by stone, reconstruct the Temple of Jerusalem to bear his name.

Hearts God Moves :: Epiphany

Read more about A Temple for Exiles
God is measuring out a temple of living stones which rest upon the chief cornerstone of Christ.

A Temple for Exiles