They drank the Kool-Aid.

On November 18, 1978, Jim Jones, founder & leader of the People’s Temple cult, orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana. More than nine hundred members “drank Kool-Aid” laced with cyanide.^[1]

We say a person or persons “are drinking the Kool-Aid” to refer to blindly accepting or following ideas, beliefs, or instructions without question.

The Jews in Jerusalem were drinking the Kool-Aid.

They were being served a steady diet of false, foolish prophecy from false, foolish non-prophets.

They were offering God’s people “peace when there is no peace” (v10, 16). Judah would experience  judgment, not jubilee.

Throughout our lives we are served a steady diet of false prophecy, bad religion, foolish philosophy, fake news, the hubris of humanism, corrupt politics, absurd scientific theories, etc., etc. Their proponents promise personal peace, but there is no peace outside of a relationship with God.

The devil is a liar, and the father of lies. He is the ruler of this world. You can expect there will be as much falsehood as is absolutely possible.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 The Liars Seduce You With False Peace, and #2 The Lord Sustains You With His Peace.

#1 – The Liars Seduce You With False Peace (v1-9 & v17-23)

It was the sixth century BC. About 120 years prior the Northern Kingdom, Israel, had been conquered and taken captive by the Assyrian Empire. The Southern Kingdom of Judah was a vassal state to Babylon. Twice the Babylonian forces had descended upon Jerusalem. They threatened to come a third time to loot & level the walls and the Temple. What should the Jews do?

God’s major prophets were Jeremiah, in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon. They urged Judah to submit to mighty Babylon. If they refused, or tried subterfuge, the Temple & the City would be destroyed and the casualties & captives would be extensive.

False prophets were promising that the LORD would never allow the Temple to be razed to the ground. He would… He did.

Ezk 13:1  And the word of the LORD came to me…

How did the Word come to OT prophets? By Direct Speech; in Visions; in Dreams, by Angel Messengers; and by Inner Inspiration.

God’s Word and the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit are everything you require to obey Jesus and live a godly life. That does not negate God from communicating in these other ways Remember two things:

1. If you, or someone else, claims God spoke to them in one of those ways, what was said must be tested using the canon of Scripture.
2. There is no office of the Prophet in the NT Church – only the gift of prophecy.

Ezk 13:2  “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the LORD!’ ”

Your unregenerated heart “is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Any human attempt at self-knowledge, or self-improvement, or salvation, will fall way short. It’s not wrong to call them lies.

• Sigmund Freud – “Liar!”
• Joseph Smith – “Liar!”
• Charles Darwin – “Liar!”

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

John Flavel wrote, “By entertaining of strange persons, men sometimes entertain angels unawares. By entertaining strange doctrines, many have entertained devils unawares.”

Ezk 13:3  Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

Ezk 13:4  O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.

Ezk 13:5  You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD.

This is a typical stone wall protecting  a vineyard. The cute but cunning foxes squeeze through weak spots to devour the fruit.

Vice-President Harris was criticized for not visiting the border when it was her responsibility to oversee it.

The non-prophets didn’t visit the proverbial wall. They didn’t do much of anything that contributed to the good and growth of the Jews.  Later the LORD will say, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one” (22:30).

Charles Spurgeon commented, “God will hear His people if they can but stand in the gap; but there must be one to plead, there must be a heart that feels, a man who is heart-broken with sorrow for sin, and therefore comes to God with holy boldness to ask Him to be merciful. Where are such intercessors now?”

Ezk 13:6  They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed.

One of our standards for judging a ministry is encapsulated in the question, “Is you sent? Or did you just went?”

The person or Bible study or Church you are considering, What is its story? You’re going to find that many groups are really splits, formed out of division. That doesn’t always mean you shouldn’t get involved, or that the Lord won’t bless the work. But talk about red flags!

Ezk 13:7  Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The LORD says’ but I have not spoken.”

Ezk 13:8  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezk 13:9  “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

They would be cast out, treated as if they had never been born to Israel.   

Does that seem harsh? It isn’t. Like everything He does, God’s discipline is perfect.   

Drop down to verse seventeen…

Ezk 13:17  “Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them,

Ezk 13:18  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?

We could call them ‘non-prophetesses,’ but the greater emphasis is on their occult practices.

These black magic women wore charmed clothing. You recognized their adherents by their veils.

Some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) really do wear a type of sacred undergarment – the Temple garment. Magic Mormon Mentionables come in a two piece, or you can get a onesie.

Mormons testify how their underwear saved their lives in car wrecks & natural disasters. Think of it as spiritual Kevlar.

Ezk 13:19  And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die, and keeping people alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?”

“Barley” & “bread” were payment for occult services. These were not valuable commodities until the final Babylonian siege. It lasted 18 months and brought starvation.

I want you to note something. The LORD flat-out tells us that there was a change in His administration of providence. Some who were foreordained to live, died; and some foreordained to die, lived. God reacted to the free-will choices of His people. If you think I’m looking for verses that fortify our position on free-will, I always am!

Ezk 13:20  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds.

Ezk 13:21  I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Moving here in 1985 from Southern California, there was a lot to learn. Like the opening day for dove hunting. I heard gunfire; I thought it was Red Dawn!

The LORD portrays the false prophets as hunters going after prey. Christian, you are being hunted, and will be all your live-long days. Snares and traps and fiery darts and stumbling blocks are just a few of the ways malevolent supernatural beings are seeking to capture and kill believers.

Aragorn described the Nazgûl who were seeking the One Ring of Power. He told Frodo, “They will never stop hunting you.”

Believers are unusual prey. We don’t run, or hide, or withdraw. We stand, or at least that is what we can do. Our weapons are spiritual. Spiritual strength is measured by our corresponding weakness and subsequent dependence upon Jesus.

Ezk 13:22  “Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life.

Their message had the exact opposite effect of the Word of the LORD:

• The liars lulled the unrighteous into a false spiritual security. Don’t worry; be happy was the #1 song on their playlist.
• The righteous were “sad.” One commentator explained, “They had used deceptive and counterfeit means to dishearten the righteous, pulling them into their cultic snare and influence.”

Are you sad? It might be that you are allowing someone or something unbiblical to influence you. Prayer is an example we can all relate to. You pray, yet seemingly nothing happens. If you are not careful, lies will overwhelm you. You’re not worthy… God doesn’t hear you… You’re not saved…

Or maybe suffering comes into your life. Why, God? Why me?

Ezk 13:23  Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

The LORD lets things go on longer than we think He should, and longer than we would like – especially if we are being adversely affected by them. He has His divine timing.

Eventually He shuts down Madame Sophia.

#2 – The Lord Sustains You With His Peace (v10-16)

When I sold title insurance in Riverside & San Bernardino Counties, the Realtors I dealt with had a slogan. “Sellers aren’t tellers, and buyers are liars.”

You may have had the experience of purchasing a home only to discover that its condition is not as advertised. New homes are not exempt.

Ezekiel tells us about shoddy construction on a wall.

Ezk 13:10  “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace – and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar –

We enjoy a love relationship with God. He is spiritually jealous over us. When we begin to entertain things in our lives that are false it is spiritual adultery.

Ezk 13:11  say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down.

Ezk 13:12  Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’ ”

False teaching constructs a brick wall without mortar that is finished by a thin plaster coat. Looks good; won’t last.

The false prophets assured them that the city, its wall, and the Temple would stand. This false hope was the plastered-over brick wall without mortar. It was a veneer. A storm was coming, a violent storm in the person of King Nebuchadnezzar. They could have been strengthened by listening to Jeremiah & Ezekiel.

The always popular health and wealth false Gospel is a whitewash. You cannot speak into existence healings. Storms will hit your life. It will crumble unless you have sound doctrine.

Ezk 13:13  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it.

Ezk 13:14  So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 13:15  “Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it,

Ezk 13:16  that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ ” says the Lord GOD.

C.S. Lewis made this observation: “God cannot give us… peace apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

Do we sing,

He has made me sad,

O He has made me sad

I will lament for He has made me sad

God doesn’t make you sad.

George Müller, the 19th-century Christian evangelist and founder of orphanages, wrote, “The first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day is to have my soul happy in the Lord.”

Is your God the Lord?

If He is, then here is a word from Him, a prophecy in the sense of it being an encouragement.

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD

Psalm 144:15