Chapter commentary
Ezekiel Chapter 13
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简体中文
English original
Mention had been made, in the chapter before, of the vain visions and flattering divinations with which the people of Israel suffered themselves to be imposed upon (Eze 13:24); now this whole chapter is levelled against them. God's faithful prophets are nowhere so sharp upon any sort of sinners as upon the false prophets, not because they were the most spiteful enemies to them, but because they put the highest affront upon God and did the greatest mischief to his people. The prophet here shows the sin and punishment, I. Of the false prophets, Eze 13:1-16. II. Of the false prophetesses, Eze 13:17-23. Both agreed to sooth men up in their sins, and, under pretence of comforting God's people, to flatter them with hopes that they should yet have peace; but the prophets shall be proved liars, their prophecies mere shams, and the expectations of the people illusions; for God will let them know that "the deceived and the deceiver are his," are both accountable to him, Job 12:16.
1-9
The Guilt of False Prophets (593 BC)
简体中文
假先知的罪（主前593年）
¹ 耶和华的话临到我说：
²「人子啊，你要论到以色列中那些说预言的先知，对那些凭己心发预言的说：你们当听耶和华的话！
³ 主耶和华如此说：那些随从自己的灵、未曾有所见的愚顽先知有祸了！
⁴ 以色列啊，你的先知好像旷野中的狐狸。
⁵ 你们没有上去堵挡破口，也没有为以色列家重修墙垣，使他们在耶和华的日子能在阵上站立。
⁶ 他们所见的是虚假，是谎诈的占卜，说：『耶和华如此说』；耶和华却并没有差遣他们。他们倒使人指望那话必定应验。
⁷ 你们岂不是见了虚假的异象，岂不是说了谎诈的占卜，又说『耶和华如此说』，其实我并没有说吗？
⁸「所以主耶和华如此说：因你们说的是虚假，见的是谎诈，所以主耶和华说：看哪，我与你们为敌。
⁹ 我的手必攻击那见虚假、行谎诈占卜的先知；他们必不在我民以色列的会中，也不得以色列家的登记册上记录，也不得进入以色列地；你们就知道我是主耶和华。
这里受预言攻击的假先知，有些在耶路撒冷（耶23:14）：「我在耶路撒冷的先知中曾见可憎恶的事」；有些在被掳到巴比伦的人中，因为耶利米写信给他们（耶29:8）：「你们中间的占卜者，不要让他们欺骗你们。」正如神的先知虽然彼此在地点或时间上相距甚远，却传讲同样的真理——这正证明他们受同一位圣善之灵引导；照样假先知也预言同样的谎言，因为他们受同一位谬妄之灵所驱使。使他们悔改的希望不大，因为他们在罪中已经如此刚硬；然而以西结仍要对他们预言，盼望百姓可因此受警戒，不致听从他们；这样，反对他们的见证也必留在记录上，他们便无可推诿。
以西结奉明确命令「对以色列中说预言的先知说预言」；他们如此自称，仿佛唯独他们才配得以色列先知之名，其实他们乃是欺骗以色列的人。但可注意的是，以色列从未被那些假冒说预言之人所欺哄，直等到他们已经拒绝并虐待了真先知之后；正如他们后来从未被那些假冒的弥赛亚所迷惑，直等到他们已经拒绝并弃绝了真弥赛亚之后。这些假先知必须「听耶和华的话」。他们擅敢像奉神的名讲论关乎别人的事；如今让他们也听奉他名讲论关乎自己的事。先知受指示作两件事：
一、向他们揭露其罪，并尽可能使他们知罪，或藉此阻止他们再行错谬——使「他们的愚妄在众人面前显明出来」（提后3:9）。他们在此被称为「愚顽先知」（结13:3），他们对自己所声称的职分毫无所知；为要愚弄百姓，他们愚弄了自己，并把自己的灵魂置于最大的欺哄之下。让我们看看这里对他们的控告。1. 他们妄称有神的差遣，其实他从未差遣他们。他们擅自闯入先知的职任，没有从「众圣先知的主」之神那里得着凭据——这是愚妄的事；因为他们怎能指望神在一项他从未呼召他们的工作上承认他们呢？他们是「凭己心」说预言的先知（结13:2 margin），是人自己所设立的先知（结13:6）。「他们说『耶和华如此说』，他们假冒是他的使者，但耶和华并没有差遣他们」，并没有给他们任何命令。他们伪造天上的印信，这是他们对人类所能行的极大侮辱之一；因为他们这样把羞辱加在属天启示之上，削弱其信用，损害其可信度。当这些假冒者被发现是欺哄人的，无神论者和不信者必据此推断：他们都是这样。「耶和华并没有差遣他们」；因为他们在别的事上虽狡猾如狐狸，在世事上虽精明，但他们是「愚顽先知」，对神的事毫无经历的相识。注意：愚顽的先知不是神所差遣的，因为他所差遣的，他或使他们合宜，或使他们成为合宜。凡他赐凭据之处，他必赐智慧。2. 他们妄称从神得着启示，其实他从未向他们显明自己和自己的心意：「他们随从自己的灵」（结13:3）；他们把自己所发明的话当作神的信息传讲——这些话或是出于他们狡猾的发明，为着自己的利益；或是出于他们癫狂狂热的想象，为要发泄一种幻想。因为他们「未曾有所见」，并没有真正得着任何属天的异象；他们假冒他们所说的「耶和华如此说」，但神不承认：「我并没有说这话，我从未说过这话，从未有此意。」他们所传的并不是他们所见所闻的，如基督的仆人所传的（约壹1:1），而是他们所梦见的，或是他们认为能讨好他们想要争取之人的话；这被称为「见了虚假、谎诈的占卜」（结13:6）；他们假冒见了他们所未见之事，并以他们明知为假的事作为属天的真理传讲。同样意思（结13:7）：「你们见了虚假的异象，说了谎诈的占卜」，这话并无属天的来源，也必毫无果效，必被事情的发展所证伪；字句稍改（结13:8）：「你们说的是虚假，见的是谎诈」；他们所见的和他们所说的全是一样，完全是骗局；他们什么也没看见，什么也没说到点子上，没有什么可以倚靠、值得注意的。又说（结13:9）：「他们见虚假、行谎诈占卜」；他们假冒得着了异象，如同真先知所得的一样，其实并没有；或那是他们自己的幻想所生（他们以为自己看见了异象，正如癫狂之人所作的那样——那是「见虚假」）；或是他们自己的谋略所虚构，并明知没有，那时他们便是「见谎言、占卜谎言」。参看耶23:16等。注意：撒但既普知为说谎之人的父，那些说谎又把谎言归给神的人，便是对神所能加的最大侮辱。然而那些在敬拜魔鬼时把神的性情归给撒但的人，最终竟到了如此不敬虔的地步，竟把撒但的性情归给神。3. 他们毫不关心如何防止正要侵入这国的神的审判。他们「好像旷野中的狐狸」，跑来跑去，似乎十分忙碌，其实是为要逃走、为自己脱身，并非为要行什么善：「雇工逃走，撇下羊群」。他们又如狐狸般贪婪猎物为己，狡猾残忍，喂养自己。但（结13:5）：「你们没有上去堵挡破口，也没有为以色列家重修墙垣。」他们的篱笆被打开了破口，审判正要从那里倾注在他们身上，那时正是应当帮助他们的时候；你们却没有帮助他们。他们本该为他们代求，好叫神的烈怒转消；但他们不是祷告的先知，在天上没有势力，也不与天有交通（如先知们惯常有的，创20:7），所以在那方面不能帮助他们。他们本该藉着传讲和劝戒，使百姓悔改归正，从而「重修墙垣」，止住神的审判；但这并不是他们所关心的：他们所筹算的是怎样讨好百姓，不是怎样使百姓得益。他们看见不虔不敬的洪水侵入这地，与美德和圣洁争战，要压垮它们、颠覆它们，那时他们本该「前来帮助主，帮助主攻击勇士」——为当时当地那个时代的邪恶作见证；但他们以为那样作如同站在破口上抵挡围城者一样危险，所以推辞不作，毫无制止潮流之力，不与邪恶和不道德作战，却卑鄙地抛弃了信仰与改革的事业——「在耶和华的日子」，就是宣告「谁站在主一边？谁肯起来为我攻击作恶的人？」（诗94:16）之时。那些对罪看得如此宽厚、对神和公共福祉如此缺少热心的人，不配称为先知。4. 他们谄媚百姓，使他们生发虚妄的盼望，以为神所警告的审判必不会来到——这样他们便刚硬了那些本该努力使之转离罪的人（结13:6）：「他们倒使人指望那话必定应验。」他们常说：「我们保你这些患难必快快止息，我们又要再享繁荣」——仿佛他们的保证能证实虚假的预言，甚至违逆神自己。
二、他受指示因这些罪向他们宣告神的审判——他们假冒先知之名并不能使他们免罪。1. 总而言之，这里有「祸」临到他们（结13:3），这祸是什么也告诉我们了（结13:8）：「看哪，我——主耶和华与你们为敌。」注意：那些与神为敌的人处在祸患之中。与那使自己为敌之人为敌的人有祸了，千重之祸。2. 特别要说的，他们被判从以色列共同体的一切特权中被排除，因为他们被判定已尽失这些特权（结13:9）：神的「手必攻击他们」，捉拿他们，把他们带到他的审判台前，把他们关在他的面外——他们必发现「落在神手中」是可怕的事。他们假冒是先知，是天上特别的宠儿，并奉命在地上他教会的会中主持；但因假冒他们本不配得的尊荣，他们失去了原本可以享用的（太5:19）。他们的判决是：（1）被逐出圣徒的交通，不再被视为属于这交通：「他们必不在我民以色列的会中」；他们的愚妄必如此显然地显明，以致永不再被咨询，他们的意见也不再被求问；他们必不在任何公共事务的辩论中出席。或更恰当说，他们必不在神的百姓敬拜的会中，因为当事情的发展证明他们是假先知时，他们必羞于在那里露面，并像该隐那样「从耶和华面前出去」。受他们欺骗的百姓必弃绝他们，决心不再与他们相干。那些篡夺摩西座位的人，连守门之位也不得占。在大日，当神「招聚他的圣徒归向他」（诗50:5、16），「永远与他同在」之时，他们「必不得站在义人的会中」（诗1:5）。（2）从活人册上被涂抹。他们必在被掳之地死去，并且无子而死，不留后裔来传他们的名，因此他们的名必不在那些自己或其后裔从巴比伦归回的人中间被发现——这些归回之人的名字有详细的登记在一本公共册子上，称为「以色列家的登记册」，如我们所见（拉2:1-70）。他们也必不在耶路撒冷的活人中被寻见（赛4:3）。或者，他们必不写在那些神从亘古所拣选、要他们永远作他怜悯之器皿的人中间。我们读到那些「奉基督的名说预言」的人，他却要对他们说「我从来不认识你们」（太7:22-23），因为他们不在那些「赐给他的人」中间。叙利亚文译本如此读：「他们必不得写在为以色列家义人所写之永生之册上。」参看诗69:28。（3）永远被排除在以色列地之外。神已「在他怒中起誓」：他们「必不能」随归回的被掳之人进入迦南地——那第二次为他们存留的安息。注意：那些反对神警告之旨意、不肯被其警戒所约束的人，便丧失了他应许之福，不能指望从其中得着安慰与鼓励。
English original
The Guilt of False Prophets (593 BC)
¹ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
² Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
³ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
⁴ O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
⁵ Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
⁶ They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
⁷ Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
⁸ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
⁹ And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
The false prophets, who are here prophesied against, were some of them at Jerusalem (Jer 23:14): I have seen in the prophets at Jerusalem a horrible thing; some of them among the captives in Babylon, for to them Jeremiah writes (Jer 29:8), Let not your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you. And as God's prophets, though at a distance from each other in place or time, yet preached the same truths, which was an evidence that they were guided by one and the same good Spirit, so the false prophets prophesied the same lies, being actuated by one and the same spirit of error. There were little hopes of bringing them to repentance, they were so hardened in their sin; yet Ezekiel must prophesy against them, in hopes that the people might be cautioned not to hearken to them; and thus a testimony will be left upon record against them, and they will thereby be left inexcusable.
Ezekiel had express orders to prophesy against the prophets of Israel; so they called themselves, as if none but they had been worthy of the name of Israel's prophets, who were indeed Israel's deceivers. But it is observable that Israel was never imposed upon by pretenders to prophecy till after they had rejected and abused the true prophets; as, afterwards, they were never deluded by counterfeit messiahs till after they had refused the true Messiah and rejected him. These false prophets must be required to hear the word of the Lord. They took upon them to speak what concerned others as from God; let them now hear what concerned themselves as from him. And two things the prophet is directed to do:—
I. To discover their sin to them, and to convince them of that if possible, or thereby to prevent their proceeding any further, by making manifest their folly unto all men, 2Ti 3:9. They are here called foolish prophets (Eze 13:3), men that did not at all understand the business they pretended to; to make fools of the people they made fools of themselves, and put the greatest cheat upon their own souls. Let us see what is here laid to their charge. 1. They pretend to have a commission from God, whereas he never sent them. They thrust themselves into the prophetic office, without warrant from him who is the Lord God of the holy prophets, which was a foolish thing; for how could they expect that God should own them in a work to which he never called them? They are prophets out of their own hearts (so the margin reads it, Eze 13:2), prophets of their own making, Eze 13:6. They say, The Lord saith; they pretend to be his messengers, but the Lord has not sent them, has not given them any orders. They counterfeit the broad seal of heaven, than which they cannot do a greater indignity to mankind, for hereby they put a reproach upon divine revelation, lessen its credit, and weaken its credibility. When these pretenders are found to be deceivers, atheists and infidels will thence infer, They are all so. The Lord has not sent them; for though crafty enough in other things like the foxes, and very wise for the world, yet they are foolish prophets and have no experimental acquaintance with the things of God. Note, Foolish prophets are not of God's sending, for whom he sends he either finds fit or makes fit. Where he gives warrant he gives wisdom. 2. They pretend to have instructions from God, whereas he never made himself and his mind known to them: They followed their own spirit (Eze 13:3); they delivered that as a message from God which was the product either of their subtle invention, to serve a turn for themselves, or of their own crazed and heated imagination, to give vent to a fancy. For they have seen nothing, they have not really had any heavenly vision; they pretend that what they say the Lord saith it, but God disowns it: "I have not spoken it, I never said it, never meant any such thing." What they delivered was not what they had seen or heard, as that is which the ministers of Christ deliver (1Jo 1:1), but either what they had dreamed or what they thought would please those they coveted to make an interest in; this is called their seeing vanity and lying divination (Eze 13:6); they pretended to have seen that which they did not see, and produced that as a divine truth which they knew to be false. To the same purport (Eze 13:7): You have see a vain vision and spoken a lying divination, which had no divine original and would have no effect, but would certainly be disproved by the event; the words are changed (Eze 13:8): You have spoken vanity and seen lies; what they saw and what they said was all alike, a mere sham; they saw nothing, they said nothing, to the purpose, nothing that could be relied on or that deserved regard. Again (Eze 13:9), They see vanity and divine lies; they pretended to have had visions, as the true prophets had, whereas really they had none, but either it was the creature of their own fancy (they thought they had a vision, as men in a delirium do, that was seeing vanity) or it was a fiction of their own politics, and they knew they had none, and then they saw lies, and divined lies. See Jer 23:16, etc. Note, Since the devil is universally know to be the father of lies, those put the highest affront imaginable upon God who tell lies, and then father them upon him. But those that had put God's character upon Satan, in worshipping devils, arrived at length at such a pitch of impiety as to put Satan's character upon God. 3. They took no care to prevent the judgments of God that were breaking in upon the kingdom. They are like the foxes in the deserts, running to and fro, and seeming to be in a great hurry, but it was to get away and shift for their own safety, not to do any good: The hireling flees, and leaves the sheep. They are like foxes that are greedy of prey for themselves, crafty and cruel to feed themselves. But (Eze 13:5), "You have not gone up into the gaps, nor made up the hedge of the house of Israel. A breach is made in their fences, at which judgments are ready to pour in upon them, and then, if ever, is the time to do them service; but you have done nothing to help them." They should have made intercession for them, to turn away the wrath of God; but they were not praying prophets, had no interest in heaven nor intercourse with heaven (as prophets used to have, Ge 20:7) and so could do them no service that way. They should have made it their business by preaching and advice to bring people to repentance and reformation, and so have made up the hedge, and put a stop to the judgments of God; but this was none of their care: they contrived how to pleased people, not how to profit them. They saw a deluge of profaneness and impiety breaking in upon the land, waging war with virtue and holiness, and threatening to crush them and bear them down, and then they should have come in to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty, by witnessing against the wickedness of the time and place they lived in; but they thought that would be as dangerous a piece of service as standing in a breach to make it good against the besiegers, and therefore they declined it, did nothing to stem the tide, stood not in the battle against vice and immorality, but basely deserted the cause of religion and reformation, in the day of the Lord, when it was proclaimed, Who is on the Lord's side? Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Ps 94:16. Those were unworthy the name of prophets that could think so favourably of sin, and had so little zeal for God and the public welfare. 4. They flattered people into a vain hope that the judgments God had threatened would never come, whereby they hardened those in sin whom they should have endeavoured to turn from sin (Eze 13:6): They have made others to hope that all should be well, and they should have peace, though they went on still in their trespasses, and that the event would confirm the word. They were still ready to say, "We will warrant you that these troubles will be at an end quickly, and we shall be in prosperity again." as if their warrants would confirm false prophecies, in defiance of God himself.
II. He is directed to denounce the judgments of God against them for these sins, from which their pretending to the character of prophets would not exempt them. 1. In general, here is a woe against them (Eze 13:3), and what that woe is we are told (Eze 13:8). Behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God. Note, Those are in a woeful condition that have God against them. Woe, and a thousand woes, to those that have made him their enemy. 2. In particular, they are sentenced to be excluded from all the privileges of the commonwealth of Israel, for they are adjudged to have forfeited them all (Eze 13:9): God's hand shall be upon them, to seize them and bring them to his bar, to shut them out from his presence, and they will find it a fearful thing to fall into his hands. They pretend to be prophets, particular favourites of heaven, and authorized to preside in the congregation of his church on earth; but, by pretending to the honours they were not entitled to, they lost those that otherwise they might have enjoyed, Mt 5:19. Their doom is, (1.) To be expelled from the communion of saints, and not to be looked upon as belonging to it: They shall not be in the secret of my people; their folly shall be so clearly manifested that they shall never be consulted, nor their advice asked; they shall not be present at any debates about public affairs. Or, rather, they shall not be in the assembly of God's people for religious worship, for they shall be ashamed to show their heads there, when they are proved by the events to be false prophets, and, like Cain, shall go out from the presence of the Lord. The people that are deceived by them shall abandon them, and resolve to have no more to do with them. Those that usurped Moses's chair shall not be allowed so much as a door-keeper's place. In the great day they shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous (Ps 1:5), when God gathers his saints together to him (Ps 50:5,16), to be for ever with him. (2.) To be expunged out of the book of the living. They shall die in their captivity, and shall die childless, shall leave no posterity to take their denomination from them, and so their names shall not be found among those who either themselves or their posterity returned out of Babylon, of whom a particular account was kept in a public register, which was called the writing of the house of Israel, such as we have Ezr 2:1-70 They shall not be found among the living in Jerusalem, Isa 4:3. Or they shall not be found written among those whom God has from eternity chosen to be vessels of his mercy to eternity. We read of those who prophesied in Christ's name, and yet he will tell them that he never knew them (Mt 7:22,23), because they were not among those that were given to him. The Chaldee paraphrase reads it, They shall not be written in the writing of eternal life, which is written for the righteous of the house of Israel. See Ps 69:28. (3.) To be for ever excluded from the land of Israel. God has sworn in his wrath concerning them that they shall never enter with the returning captives into the land of Canaan, which a second time remains a rest for them. Note, Those who oppose the design of God's threatenings, and will not be awed and influenced by them, forfeit the benefit of his promises, and cannot expect to be comforted and encouraged by them.
10-16
The Punishment of False Prophets; The Doom of False Prophets (593 BC)
简体中文
假先知的刑罚；假先知的结局（公元前593年）
¹⁰ 因为他们诱惑我的百姓，说：『平安！』其实没有平安；有人筑墙，看哪，别人用未泡透的灰抹上；
¹¹ 所以你要对那抹未泡透之灰的人说：『墙必倒塌。』必有暴雨漫过；你们大冰雹啊，要落下；狂风也要撕裂它。
¹² 看哪，墙既然倒塌，人岂不问你们说：『你们抹上的是什么呢？』
¹³ 所以主耶和华如此说：我要在发怒中使狂风撕裂它；在烈怒中使暴雨漫过；又要使大冰雹在烈怒中毁灭它。
¹⁴ 我要这样拆毁你们用未泡透之灰所抹的墙，使它平塌于地，以致根基露出；墙既倒塌，你们也必在其中灭亡；你们就知道我是耶和华。
¹⁵ 我要这样向墙，并用未泡透之灰抹墙的人，成就我的烈怒；又要对你们说：『墙没有了，抹墙的人也没有了。』
¹⁶ 这就是为耶路撒冷说预言、看见为她平安之异象的以色列先知——其实没有平安。这是主耶和华说的。」
我们在此看到更多对假先知坦率的揭露，以及他们结局的更多条款。我们已经看见百姓因假先知而羞愧（虽然有时他们也曾宠爱他们），并如抛弃他们的假神一样，愤然抛弃他们；如今我们看见他们对自己的假预言同样羞愧，这些假预言他们有时曾大肆倚仗。请观察：
一、百姓如何被假先知所欺骗。那些奉承者诱惑他们，说「平安，其实没有平安」（结13:10）。他们假装「看见了平安的异象」（结13:16）。但这不可能，因为「没有平安，主耶和华如此说」。没有为他们预备的兴旺，所以他们的安稳没有根据；但他们告诉他们，神与他们和好，已为他们存留怜悯，他们与迦勒底人所进行的战争不久必以荣耀的和平告终，他们的地必享受幸福的安宁与太平。他们告诉偶像崇拜者和其他罪人，他们所行的道既无危害也无危险。如此他们就「诱惑了神的百姓」；他们欺骗了他们，引他们陷入错误，把他们从悔改与改正的路上引开——那是别的先知正竭力引领他们进入的路。注意，那向罪人提供能减少他们对罪之畏惧、并减少对神之敬畏之话的人，是最危险的诱惑者。如今这被比作建造一堵轻浮朽烂的墙，或者按我们救主的比喻（与此同义，太7:26），「把房子盖在沙土上」，这似乎在一段时间内是避难所和保护，但暴风来时必倒塌。一个假先知筑了墙，立起「神完全不悦纳耶路撒冷」的观念——这城必在其兴旺的状态中得以坚固，并要胜过如今威胁它的势力。这观念十分讨人喜悦，提出它的人因此大受欢迎，人人都宠爱他，这就吸引别人也说同样的话。他们使这说法看起来更有理、更有指望；他们「抹墙」，就是头一个人所筑的，却是用「未泡透的灰」抹的，是拙劣的材料，不能黏合也不能把砖固定在一起；他们对自己所说的话毫无根据，本身也无内在的一致性，犹如沙绳。他们没有加固这墙，也不设法使之坚固，不察看他们是否建立在稳妥的根基上；他们只是抹上以遮盖裂缝，使之在眼中看起来好看。这样建造的墙，一旦承受任何重压，更不用说任何患难，就会凸出、摇摇欲坠，并逐渐坍塌。注意，毫无根据的教义，虽然再悦人，若非建立在圣经根基上、也非用圣经的水泥黏合的，无论多么貌似有理、多么讨人喜欢，都毫无价值，也不能在人身上站立得住；那些没有神之道为保证的平安与幸福的指望，只会欺骗人，如同一堵抹得很好、却建造得很糟的墙。
二、他们不久将如何因神的审判而醒悟，这审判我们确知是按照真理的。1. 神要在怒中降下可怕的暴风，猛烈凶暴地打击这墙。迦勒底军队对犹大的进攻，以及他们对耶路撒冷的围困，必如「漫过的暴雨」，或如洪水（所罗门称之为「冲去粮食的暴雨」，箴28:3），必将一切冲去，如挪亚时代的洪水一样：「你们大冰雹啊，要落下」，这是天上的炮火，每一颗冰雹如炮弹，轰击这墙；并伴有「狂风」，其力有时大到足以「撕裂磐石」（王上19:11），更何况一堵建造不善的墙（结13:11）。但使这「雨」「冰雹」「风」最为可怕的，是它们源自神的忿怒，并被忿怒所加强；是忿怒差遣了它们；是忿怒推动了它们（结13:13）；是「发怒中的狂风」，是「烈怒中的漫过暴雨」，是「烈怒中的大冰雹」。尼布甲尼撒和他臣仆的烈怒——他们因西底家的背信而深感愤恨——使这次入侵十分可怕，但与神的不悦相比就算不得什么。「他们手中的杖就是我的恼怒」（赛10:5）。注意，发怒的神有风有暴风在命令之中，用以惊醒安逸的罪人；他的忿怒使它们实在可怕有力；因为「他发怒的时候，谁能站得住呢？」2. 这暴风必倾覆这墙：「它必倒塌」，风必「撕裂它」（结13:11），「冰雹」必「毁灭它」（结13:13）；「我必拆毁它」（结13:14），「使它平塌于地」，以致「根基露出」；建造者的虚假朽烂就要显明，使先知蒙羞。当迦勒底军队使犹大和耶路撒冷荒凉之时，这些先知的信誉和百姓的指望必一同倾覆；前者因奉承百姓而被发现是虚假的，后者因任凭自己被他们欺哄、以至于陷入更大的混乱而被发现是愚拙的，那时审判要在他们安逸中突然临到。注意，无论人想用什么来庇护自己免受神的审判，只要他们仍未改正，那都不过是「谎言的避所」，「在发怒的日子」不能使他们得益（赛28:17）。人的怒气不能动摇神所建造的（因为「强暴人的气焰犹如打在墙上的暴风」，响声虽大，却永不能摇动那墙；见赛25:4），但神的怒气必倾覆人为反对他而建造的。他们和他们一切的努力，他们和他们所赖以藏身的一切保障，必「如同歪斜的墙、摇摇欲坠的篱笆」（诗62:3,10）；当他们的虚妄预言被证伪、他们的虚妄指望落空之时，那时就要显明两者都没有根据（哈3:13）。「日子要将它表明」，「火要试验」各人的工程怎样（林前3:13）。3. 建墙的和抹墙的，自己也必埋葬在它的废墟之中：「墙既倒塌，你们也必在其中灭亡」（结13:14）。如此神烈怒的威胁，以及其中一切公义的旨意，必彻底成就在「墙」上和「抹墙的人」身上（结13:15）。证明假先知为虚假的同样审判，也必因他们的虚假而刑罚他们；他们自己必陷入那他们使百姓信其无危险的灾祸之中，成为他们所挑衅之公义的记念碑。如此，若「瞎子领瞎子」，瞎眼的领袖和瞎眼的跟从者都必「一同掉在坑里」。注意，欺骗别人的人至终必证明是欺骗了自己；不忠实的牧者奉承罪人犯罪，其结局比谁都可怕。4. 欺骗人的和受骗的，当他们如此同归于尽之时，理当被讥诮、被嗤笑（结13:12）：「墙既倒塌，人岂不问你们说」——那些信从真先知、敬畏耶和华之言的人要问——「如今你们抹墙的灰在哪里呢？你们用以奉承恶邻的一切美言甘语和好应许，以及你们向他们保证本国之患难不久必将终结的把握，如今都到哪里去了？」「义人必笑他们」，公义的神必笑，公义的人必笑，说：「看哪，这就是那不以神为他力量的人」（诗52:6,7）。「你们遭灾难，我必发笑」（箴1:26）。他们要对你们说（结13:15）：「墙没有了，抹墙的人也没有了；你们的指望已经消散，支持指望的人也消散了，就是『以色列的先知』」（结13:16）。注意，僭取不属于自己的尊荣的人，不久必充满当有的羞辱。
English original
The Punishment of False Prophets; The Doom of False Prophets (593 BC)
¹⁰ Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar:
¹¹ Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
¹² Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
¹³ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
¹⁴ So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
¹⁵ Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
¹⁶ To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.
We have here more plain dealing with the false prophets, and some further articles of their doom. We have seen the people made ashamed of the false prophets (though sometimes they had been fond of them) and casting them away, as they shall do their false gods, with indignation; now here we find them as much ashamed of their false prophecies, which they had sometimes depended upon with much assurance. Observe,
I. How the people are deceived by the false prophets. Those flatterers seduce them, saying, Peace, and there was no peace, Eze 13:10. They pretended to have seen visions of peace, Eze 13:16. But that could not be, for there was no peace, saith the Lord God. There was no prosperity designed for them, and therefore there could be no ground for their security; yet they told them that God was at peace with them, and had mercy in reserve for them, and that the war they were engaged in with the Chaldeans should soon end in an honourable peace, and their land should enjoy a happy repose and tranquillity. They told the idolaters and other sinners that there was neither harm nor danger in the way they were in. Thus they seduced God's people; they put a cheat upon them, led them into mistakes, and drew them aside out of that way of repentance and reformation which the other prophets were endeavouring to bring them into. Note, Those are the most dangerous seducers who suggest to sinners that which tends to lessen their dread of sin and their fear of God. Now this is compared to the building of a slight rotten wall, or, according to our Saviour's similitude, which is to the same purport with this (Mt 7:26), the building of a house upon the sand, which seems to be a shelter and protection for a while, but will fall when a storm comes. One false prophet built the wall, set up the notion that God was not at all displeased with Jerusalem, but that the city should be confirmed in its flourishing state, and be victorious over the powers that now threatened it. This notion was very pleasing, and he that started it made himself very acceptable by it and was caressed by every body, which invited others to say the same. They made the matter look yet more plausible and promising; they daubed the wall, which the first had built, but it was with untempered mortar, sorry stuff, that will not bind nor hold the bricks together; they had no ground for what they said, nor had it any consistency with itself, but was like ropes of sand. They did not strengthen the wall, were in no care to make it firm, to see that they went upon sure grounds; they only daubed it to hide the cracks and make it look well to the eye. And the wall thus built, when it comes to any stress, much more to any distress, will bulge and totter, and come down by degrees. Note, Doctrines that are groundless, though ever so grateful, that are not built upon a scripture foundation nor fastened with a scripture cement, though ever so plausible, ever so pleasing, are not of any worth, nor will stand men in any stead; and those hopes of peace and happiness which are not warranted by the word of God will but cheat men, like a wall that is well daubed indeed, but ill-built.
II. How they will be soon undeceived by the judgment of God, which, we are sure, is according to truth. 1. God will in anger bring a terrible storm that shall beat fiercely and furiously upon the wall. The descent which the Chaldean army shall make upon Judah, and the siege which they shall lay to Jerusalem, will be as an overflowing shower, or inundation (such as Solomon calls a sweeping rain that leaves no food, Pr 28:3), will bear down all before it, as the deluge did in Noah's time: You, O great hailstones! shall fall, the artillery of heaven, every hailstone like a cannon-ball, battering this wall, and with these a stormy wind, which is sometimes so strong as to rend the rocks (1Ki 19:11), much more an ill-built wall, Eze 13:11. But that which makes this rain, and hail, and wind, most terrible is that they arise from the wrath of God, and are enforced by that; it is that which sends them; it is that which gives them the setting on (Eze 13:13); it is a stormy wind in my fury, and an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in my fury. The fury of Nebuchadnezzar and his princes, who highly resented Zedekiah's treachery, made the invasion very formidable, but that was nothing in comparison with God's displeasure. The staff in their hand is my indignation, Isa 10:5. Note, An angry God has winds and storms at command wherewith to alarm secure sinners; and his wrath makes them frightful and forcible indeed; for who can stand before him when he is angry? 2. This storm shall overturn the wall: it shall fall, and the wind shall rend it (Eze 13:11), the hailstones shall consume it (Eze 13:13); I will break it down (Eze 13:14) and bring it to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered; it will appear how false, how rotten it was, to the prophetical reproach of the builders. When the Chaldean army has made Judah and Jerusalem desolate then this credit of the prophets, and the hopes of the people, will both sink together; the former will be found false in flattering the people and the latter foolish in suffering themselves to be imposed upon by them, and so exposed to so much the greater confusion, when the judgment shall surprise them in their security. Note, Whatever men think to shelter themselves with against the judgments of God, while they continue unreformed, will prove but a refuge of lies and will not profit them in the day of wrath. See Isa 28:17. Men's anger cannot shake that which God has built (for the blast of the terrible ones is but as a storm against the wall, which makes a great noise, but never stirs the wall; see Isa 25:4), but God's anger will overthrow that which men have built in opposition to him. They and all their attempts, they and all the securities wherein they intrench themselves, shall be as a bowing wall and as a tottering fence (Ps 62:3,10); and when their vain predictions are disproved, and their vain expectations disappointed, then it will be discovered that there was no ground for either, Hab 3:13. The day will declare what every man's work is, and the fire will try it, 1Co 3:13. 3. The builders of the wall, and those that daubed it, will themselves be buried in the ruins of it: It shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst thereof, Eze 13:14. And thus the threatenings of God's wrath, and all the just intentions of it, shall be accomplished to the uttermost, both upon the wall and upon those that have daubed it, Eze 13:15. The same judgments that will prove the false prophets to be false will punish them for their falsehood; and they themselves shall be involved in the calamity which they made the people believe there was no danger of, and become monuments of that justice which they bade defiance to. Thus, if the blind lead the blind, both the blind leaders and the blind followers will fall together into the ditch. Note, Those that deceive others will in the end prove to have deceived themselves; and no doom will be more fearful than that of unfaithful ministers, that flattered sinners in their sins. 4. Both the deceivers and the deceived, when they thus perish together, will justly be ridiculed and triumphed over (Eze 13:12): When the wall has fallen shall it not be said unto you, by those that gave credit to the true prophets, and feared the word of the Lord, "Now where is the daubing wherewith you have daubed the wall? What has become of all the fine soft words and fair promises wherewith you flattered your wicked neighbours, and all the assurances you gave them that the troubles of the nation should soon be at an end?" The righteous shall laugh at them, the righteous God shall, righteous men shall, saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, Ps 52:6,7. I also will laugh at your calamity, Pr 1:26. They will say unto you (Eze 13:15), "The wall is no more, neither he that daubed it; your hopes have vanished, and those that supported them, even the prophets of Israel," Eze 13:16. Note, Those that usurp the honours that do not belong to them will shortly be filled with the shame that does.
17-23
The Guilt of the False Prophetesses (593 BC)
简体中文
假女先知的罪（主前593年）
¹⁷ 人子啊，你要面向本国的女子，她们随自己的心说预言；你要向她们预言，
¹⁸ 说：主耶和华如此说：这些妇女有祸了！她们为众人的膀臂缝靠枕，为各人身高作头巾，为要猎取人的灵魂！你们要猎取我民的灵魂，又存留那来到你们这里之人的性命吗？
¹⁹ 你们为两把大麦、几块饼，在我民中亵渎我，置本不当死的人于死，存留本不当活的人的命，用谎言欺骗听你们谎言的我民吗？
²⁰ 所以主耶和华如此说：看哪，我与你们猎取灵魂、使人飞去的靠枕反对；我必将这靠枕从你们膀臂上撕去，释放这些灵魂，就是你们猎取使之飞去的灵魂。
²¹ 你们的头巾我也必撕碎，救我的百姓脱离你们的手；他们必不再在你们手中被猎取；你们就知道我是耶和华。
²² 因为你们用谎言使义人伤心——我并没有使他伤心；又坚固恶人的手，使他不禁回头离开他的恶道，应许他生命——
²³ 所以你们必不再看见虚幻，也不再占卜：因为我必救我的百姓脱离你们的手；你们就知道我是耶和华。
正如神应许过，当他把他的灵浇灌他百姓之时，他们的儿女都要说预言；照样，魔鬼当他作谎言之灵和虚假之灵行事之时，也不仅使用假先知之口，也使用假女先知之口；这些人就是先知在此受指派去预言攻击的欺骗者；因为她们并非卑贱得不堪一顾的神之真理的仇敌，她们性别的软弱也不能为她们的罪开脱，对她们当有的体恤和尊敬也不能使她们免受神话语的责备和威吓。不：「人子啊，你要面向你本国的女子」（结13:17）。神不愿认她们为自己的百姓。她们是你的百姓，正如出32:7所言。这些妇人妄称有说预言的灵，与男人们同唱一调，正如亚哈的先知那样：「去吧，必亨通。」她们也随自己的心说预言——想到什么就说什么，所说的她们自己一无所知。所以你要从神自己的口中向她们预言。先知要面向她们，试试她们能否正视他，并为她们所说的负责。当留意，当罪人极其厚颜之时，正是责备者当极其放胆之时。如今请观察，
一、这些假女先知的罪如何被描述，其中细节如何。1. 她们向那些来请教她们、来求问、来算命的人故意说谎：你们藉着向听你们谎言的我民说谎而行恶（结13:19）；他们来是要听真理，你们却向他们说谎；又因为你们在他们的罪上迁就他们，他们便乐意听你们。当留意，那些宁可听悦耳的谎言、不肯听逆耳的真理的人，光景就坏了；这也是那埋伏欺骗之人的试探——当他们发现人乐意听谎言时，便说谎，并以这话自宽：Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur——百姓若要受骗，就任他们受骗吧。2. 她们假装从神受了这些谎言，从而亵渎了神的名（结13:19）：「你们在我民中亵渎我的名」——你们以此袒护你们的谎言，以此为你们的谎言博取信用。当留意，那些以神之名为虚假和邪恶撑腰的人，大大亵渎了神的圣名。然而她们这样行，是为两把大麦、几块饼——是为利益而行；她们不在乎以谎言羞辱神的名，只要自己能从中得利。世上没有一样圣物，是贪财之人——爱世界的心作王之人——所不肯亵渎和出卖的，只要交易中能得钱。然而她们所得的却是微薄的利益；她们若得不着更多，宁可成交，也要把那能讨好你到恰到好处的假预言，卖给你换取讨饭的份儿——一块饼或两把大麦；然而这已经超过它的价值了。她们若为神的缘故讨这笔钱为赒济，本可得到，神也因此得荣耀；但她们把它当作假预言的酬金收下，神的名就被亵渎，而酬劳的微薄更增加了罪行。人因一块饼也会犯法（箴28:21）。她们的贫穷若引诱她们去偷窃，从而妄称耶和华的名，那还不及引诱她们奉他的名说假预言、从而亵渎他的名那样坏。3. 她们以她们的伪称使人畏惧惊恐：「你们猎取我民的灵魂」（结13:18），猎取他们，使他们飞去（结13:20），把他们猎进园子（旁注如此读）；你们用一切手腕引诱或强迫他们到你们宣告假预言的地方，或者你们对他们的影响如此之大，以致他们作你们所要他们作的一切，受你们辖制。百姓尊重他们，固然是百姓的过错；但他们以谎言和假话取得这种尊重，却是他们的过错。他们假装救那来到他们这里之人的灵魂（结13:18）。他们只要肯听他们，肯供给他们，就可以稳得拯救；这样他们便欺骗了那些不稳定的灵魂——这些人关心救恩为终局，却不明白那条路，因此听从那些最自信地向他们应许救恩的人。「然而你们竟敢假装救人灵魂，或向你们一党的人保证得救吗？」凡作此类声称的，理当受到怀疑。4. 他们使那些诚实良善的人灰心，却鼓励那些邪恶亵渎的人：你们置本不当死的人于死，存留本不当活的人的命（结13:19）。这话的解释是（结13:22）：你们使义人伤心——我并没有使他伤心；因为他们不肯、也不敢附和你们的伪称，你们就向他们发出雷鸣般的神的审判，使他们极其忧愁烦恼；你们给他们加上招人嫌的污名，使他们或被百姓所藐视、或被百姓所憎恶，又假装奉神的名如此行，这使他们多次怀着忧伤的心而行；其实神的旨意是要他们得安慰，并藉着给他们尊重而赐给他们勉励。但另一方面，更糟的是，你们坚固了恶人的手，壮他们的胆，使他们继续在恶道上、不从其中回转——而这正是真先知恳切呼召他们去作的事。你们向罪人在他们的罪中应许生命，告诉他们尽管继续前行却必有平安，这样他们的手就被坚固，他们的心就被刚硬了。有人认为这是指他们对那些已经被掳的人（他们在苦难之下谦卑，因此心被悲伤）所施的严厉责难，以及他们对那些背叛巴比伦王的人（他们在不敬虔上被刚硬，因此手被坚固）所加的称赞；或者因他们亵渎神的名，他们就使那些尊重、敬畏神话语的善人伤心，又使无神论者和不信者在他们藐视神圣启示的事上得着坚定，并为他们提供反对这启示的论据。当留意，那些叫善人的灵忧伤、叫善人的手发软、又满足罪人的情欲、挑唆他们抵挡神和信仰的人，有极大的账要交。再者，再没有比告诉罪人可以不悔改而在罪中得救，或告诉他们虽然不从恶道回转也可以悔改，更能坚固罪人的手了。5. 他们模仿真先知，为要说明他们的假预言而设记号（如哈拿尼雅所作的，耶28:10）；这些记号与他们的性别相符；他们为众人的膀臂缝小靠枕*，意思是他们可以安逸、可以安息，不必因临近的患难而烦扰。他们又为各人身高作头巾——为各种年龄的人，老少皆可，由身高而分别（结13:18）。这些头巾是自由或得胜的记号，意思是他们不仅必从迦勒底人手中得解救，而且必胜过他们。有人认为这是他们向那些受他们占卜之人所行的一些迷信仪式，把施过法术的靠枕放在他们臂下、头巾戴在他们头上，为他们领受这些事作预备，以提高他们的想象力和他们对大事的期望。又或者这些话是比喻：他们竭尽所能使百姓安逸——以使他们躺卧舒畅来象征；又使百姓骄傲——以用头巾把他们打扮华美来象征，这些头巾也许是盖在头上或绣在头上的。
二、神向他们所发的忿怒如何表达。这里有祸哉归与他们（结13:18），神又宣告他反对他们所用以欺骗迷惑人的方法（结13:20）。但神要怎样对付他们呢？1. 他们在企图上必被挫败，不能继续前行；因为（结13:23）你们必不再看见虚幻和占卜；这并不是说他们会以悔改的方式放下伪称，而是当事情的发展揭穿了他们的谎言时，他们就要因羞愧而沉默；或者他们的想象不再如从前那样容易受感动、以致帮助他们占卜；又或者他们自己要被剪除。2. 神的百姓必从他们手中被解救。当百姓看见自己被他们欺骗进入虚假的平安和愚人的乐园，看见自己虽不肯离罪、罪却离开了他们，不再看见虚幻和占卜之时，他们就要背弃他们，轻看他们的预言。义人必不再因他们而伤心，不，连恶人也不再因他们而得坚固：靠枕必从他们臂上撕去，头巾必从他们头上扯下；虚谎必被识破，欺诈必被察觉，神的百姓必不再在他们手中，不再如从前那样被猎取。当留意，能脱离对那些以神圣权威为名、欺骗并辖制人的良心、对人的灵魂说*「屈身下去，我们好走过去」*之人的奴役性惧怕，乃是极大的怜悯。但那些以这样的僭越为乐的人，一旦权势被折断、猎物被解救，便有极大的痛苦；罗马教会的改革正是如此。当神行这事之时，他便显明他是主，向人的灵魂立法乃是他的特权。
English original
The Guilt of the False Prophetesses (593 BC)
¹⁷ Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
¹⁸ And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?
¹⁹ And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
²⁰ Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
²¹ Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
²² Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
²³ Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
As God has promised that when he pours out his Spirit upon his people both their sons and their daughters shall prophesy, so the devil, when he acts as a spirit of lies and falsehood, is so in the mouth not only of false prophets, but of false prophetesses too, and those are the deceivers whom the prophet is here directed to prophesy against; for they are not such despicable enemies to God's truths as deserve not to be taken notice of, nor yet will either the weakness of their sex excuse their sin or the tenderness and respect that are owing to it exempt them from the reproaches and threatenings of the word of God. No: Son of man, set they face against the daughters of thy people, Eze 13:17. God takes no pleasure in owning them for his people. They are thy people, as Ex 32:7. The women pretend to a spirit of prophecy, and are in the same song with the men, as Ahab's prophets were: Go on, and prosper. They prophesy out of their own heart too; they say what comes uppermost and what they know nothing of. Therefore prophesy against them from God's own mouth. The prophet must set his face against them, and try if they can look him in the face and stand to what they say. Note, When sinners grow very impudent it is time for reprovers to be very bold. Now observe,
I. How the sin of these false prophetesses is described, and what are the particulars of it. 1. They told deliberate lies to those who consulted them, and came to them to be advised, and to be told their fortune: "You do mischief by your lying to my people that hear your lies (Eze 13:19); they come to be told the truth, but you tell them lies; and, because you humour them in their sins, they are willing to hear you." Note, It is ill with those people who can better hear pleasing lies than unpleasing truths; and it is a temptation to those who lie in wait to deceive to tell lies when they find people willing to hear them and to excuse themselves with this, Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur—If the people will be deceived, let them. 2. They profaned the name of God by pretending to have received those lies from him (Eze 13:19): "You pollute my name among my people, and make use of that for the patronising of your lies and the gaining of credit to them." Note, Those greatly pollute God's holy name that make use of it to give countenance to falsehood and wickedness. Yet this they did for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread. They did it for gain; they cared not what dishonour they did to God's name by their lying, so they could but make a hand of it for themselves. There is nothing so sacred which men of mercenary spirits, in whom the love of this world reigns, will not profane and prostitute, if they can but get money by the bargain. But they did it for poor gain; if they could get no more for it, rather than break they would sell you a false prophecy that should please you to a nicety for the beggar's dole, a piece of bread or a handful of barley; and yet that was more than it was worth. Had they asked it as an alms, for God's sake, surely they might have had it, and God would have been honoured; but, taking it as a fee for a false prophecy, God's name if polluted, and the smallness of the reward heightens the offence. For a piece of bread that man will transgress, Pr 28:21. Had their poverty been their temptation to steal, and so to take the name of the Lord in vain, it would not have been nearly so bad as when it tempted them to prophesy lies in his name and so to profane it. 3. They kept people in awe, and terrified them with their pretensions: "You hunt the souls of my people (Eze 13:18), hunt them to make them flee (Eze 13:20), hunt them into gardens (so the margin reads it); you use all the arts you have to court or compel them into those places where you deliver your pretended predictions, or you have got such an influence upon them that you make them do just as you would have them to do, and tyrannise over them." It was indeed the people's fault that they did regard them, but it was their fault by lies and falsehoods to command that regard; they pretended to save the souls alive that came to them, Eze 13:18. If they would but be hearers of them, and contributors to them, they might be sure of salvation; thus they beguiled unstable souls that had a concern about salvation as their end but did not rightly understand the way, and therefore hearkened to those who were most confident in promising it to them. "But will you pretend to save souls, or secure salvation to your party?" Those are justly suspected that make such pretensions. 4. They discouraged those that were honest and good, and encouraged those that were wicked and profane: You slay the souls that should not die, and save those alive that should not live, Eze 13:19. This is explained (Eze 13:22): You have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; because they would not, they durst not, countenance your pretensions, you thundered out the judgments of God against them, to their great grief and trouble; you put them under invidious characters, to make them either despicable or odious to the people, and pretended to do it in God's name, which made them go many a time with a sad heart; whereas it was the will of God that they should be comforted, and by having respect put upon them should have encouragement given them. But on the other side, and which is still worse, you have strengthened the hands of the wicked and emboldened them to go on in their wicked ways and not to return from them, which was the thing the true prophets with earnestness called them to. "You have promised sinners life in their sinful ways, have told them that they shall have peace though they go on, by which their hands have been strengthened and their hearts hardened." Some think this refers to the severe censures they passed upon those who had already gone into captivity (who were humbled under their affliction, by which their hearts were made sad), and the commendations they gave to those who rebelled against the king of Babylon, who were hardened in their impieties, by which their hands were strengthened; or by their polluting the name of God they saddened the hearts of good people who have a value and veneration for the word of God, and confirmed atheists and infidels in their contempt of divine revelation and furnished them with arguments against it. Note, Those have a great deal to answer for who grieve the spirits, and weaken the hands, of good people, and who gratify the lusts of sinners, and animate them in their opposition to God and religion. Nor can any thing strengthen the hands of sinners more than to tell them that they may be saved in their sins without repentance, or that there may be repentance though they do not return from their wicked ways. 5. They mimicked the true prophets, by giving signs for the illustrating of their false predictions (as Hananiah did, Jer 28:10), and they were signs agreeable to their sex; they sewed little pillows to the people's arm-holes, to signify that they might be easy and repose themselves, and needed not be disquieted with the apprehensions of trouble approaching. And they made kerchiefs upon the head of every stature, of persons of every age, young and old, distinguishable by their stature, Eze 13:18. These kerchiefs were badges of liberty or triumph, intimating that they should not only be delivered from the Chaldeans, but be victorious over them. Some think these were some superstitious rites which they used with those to whom they delivered their divinations, preparing them for the reception of them by putting enchanted pillows under their arms and handkerchiefs on their heads, to raise their fancies and their expectations of something great. Or perhaps the expressions are figurative: they did all they could to make people secure, which is signified by laying them easy, and to make people proud, which is signified by dressing them fine with handkerchiefs, perhaps laid or embroidered on their heads.
II. How the wrath of God against them is expressed. Here is a woe to them (Eze 13:18), and God declares himself against the methods they took to delude and deceive, Eze 13:20. But what course will God take with them? 1. They shall be confounded in their attempts, and shall proceed no further; for (Eze 13:23) you shall see no more vanity nor divine revelations; not that they shall themselves lay down their pretensions in a way of repentance, but when the event gives them the lie they shall be silent for shame; or their fancies and imaginations shall not be disposed to receive impressions which assist them in their divinations as they have been; or they themselves shall be cut off. 2. God's people shall be delivered out of their hands. When they see themselves deluded by them into a false peace and a fool's paradise, and that though they would not leave their sin their sin has left them, and they see no more vanity nor divine divinations, they shall turn their back upon them, shall slight their predictions. The righteous shall be no more saddened by them, no, nor the wicked strengthened: The pillows shall be torn from their arms, and the kerchiefs from their heads; the fallacies shall be discovered, their frauds detected, and the people of God shall no more be in their hand, to be hunted as they had been. Note, It is a great mercy to be delivered from a servile regard to, and fear of, those who, under colour of a divine authority, impose upon and tyrannise over the consciences of men, and say to their souls, Bow down, that we may go over. But it is a sore grief to those who delight in such usurpations to have their power broken and the prey delivered; such was the reformation to the church of Rome. And, when God does this, he makes it to appear that he is the Lord, that it is his prerogative to give law to souls.
前一章已提到以色列百姓任凭自己被虚妄的异象和奉承的占卜所欺骗（结13:24）；现在整章都是针对这些事而发。神忠心的先知，对任何一类罪人的攻击，都不如对假先知的攻击那样尖锐；这不是因为他们是先知们最恶毒的仇敌，而是因为他们对神极其侮辱，对神的百姓造成最大的祸害。先知在此指明了：一、假先知的罪与刑罚（结13:1-16）。二、女假先知的罪与刑罚（结13:17-23）。他们同谋在罪中安抚人，又假意要安慰神的百姓，用虚假的平安希望来奉承他们；然而这些先知必被证明是说谎的，他们的预言纯属虚谎，百姓的期望尽是幻觉；因为神要叫他们知道，「受欺哄的和欺哄人的都是属他的」，两者都要向他交账（伯12:16）。