Commentary - Ezekiel 13:17-23

Bird's-eye view

In this latter portion of Ezekiel 13, the Lord turns His prophetic denunciation from the male false prophets to their female counterparts. The issue is fundamentally the same: prophesying out of their own hearts, speaking peace where there is no peace, and leading God's people astray for paltry gain. But the methods described here are distinct, involving what appears to be a form of folk magic or witchcraft, using "magic bands" and "veils" to ensnare souls. God's judgment is severe and pointed. He is against their methods and their message. He promises to tear away their occultic paraphernalia and deliver His people from their hands. The central crime is a profound reversal of God's moral order, they were killing the souls who should live and keeping alive the souls who should die. This is what happens when God's word is abandoned for human invention, and the result is always bondage for the people and judgment for the false teachers.

The passage serves as a stark warning against any form of spiritual guidance that originates from the human heart rather than from God's revealed Word. It demonstrates God's fierce jealousy for His people and His authority. He will not tolerate rivals, especially those who use spiritual-sounding means to hunt and devour the flock. The refrain, "and you will know that I am Yahweh," underscores the ultimate purpose of this judgment: the vindication of God's own name and character in the face of such profane rebellion.

Outline

The Text

17 “Now as for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own heart. Prophesy against them...

The Lord now directs Ezekiel's attention to another facet of the same rebellion. It is not just the men who are playing fast and loose with the prophetic office. Here we have "the daughters of your people." Sin is an equal opportunity employer. The problem is not their gender, but the source of their prophecy. Just as with the men earlier in the chapter, their words come "from their own heart." This is the fountainhead of all false teaching. Man, thinking to be his own god, generates his own "truth." He consults his own desires, his own fears, his own ambitions, and then baptizes it with a "Thus says the Lord." Ezekiel is commanded to "set his face against them," a posture of determined opposition and judgment. True prophets must not be ambivalent in the face of lies that lead people to Hell.

18 and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to hunt down souls! Will you hunt down My people’s souls, but preserve your own souls?

Here we get into the specifics of their methodology. It is a form of folk magic, a cottage industry of occultism. They are sewing "magic bands" and making "veils." The precise function of these items is debated, but their purpose is not. It is "to hunt down souls." This is predatory spirituality. They are not shepherds; they are hunters. They are not feeding the flock; they are trapping it. These bands and veils were likely amulets or charms, promising protection or delivering curses, ensnaring people in superstition. Notice the retail nature of their operation, they have something for "persons of every stature." They have customized their snares for everyone. The question God poses is dripping with righteous irony. "Will you hunt down My people's souls, but preserve your own souls?" They act as though they have the power of life and death, but they are utterly powerless to save themselves from the judgment that is coming.

19 For handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death souls who should not die and to keep other souls alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.” ’ ”

And what is the motivation for this damnable trade? It is for "handfuls of barley and fragments of bread." They are selling eternal souls for pocket change. They are trading in damnation for a meal. This is the tawdry price of apostasy. In doing this, they have "profaned" God among His people. To profane means to treat something holy as common. They have taken the things of God, the language of prophecy and spiritual guidance, and dragged it through the mud of their own greed. And the result is a complete inversion of justice. They "put to death souls who should not die," meaning they discourage and condemn the righteous with their lies. And they "keep other souls alive who should not live," by which they comfort the wicked in their sin, promising them peace and life when they should be repenting. This all happens because they are lying to a people who, it must be said, "listen to lies." A lying prophet requires a listening people. The disease is in the whole body.

20 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt souls there as birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let their souls go, the very souls whom you hunt as birds.

Now comes the judgment. God declares Himself to be personally against their tools of the trade. "Behold, I am against your magic bands." God takes this personally. He sees their occultic trinkets not as harmless superstitions, but as weapons deployed against His people. The imagery here is vivid, they hunt souls "as birds." They are fowlers, setting nets and snares. But God is the great liberator. He will personally "tear them from your arms." He will rip the tools of their trade away from them. And He will "let their souls go." The captives will be set free. The birds will be released from the snare. This is the gospel promise. Where men build prisons of lies, God comes to demolish them and lead the captives out into the light.

21 I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am Yahweh.

The destruction of their enterprise will be total. Not just the bands, but the veils also will be torn off. The entire apparatus of their deception will be dismantled by God Himself. The result is deliverance for God's people. "They will no longer be in your hands to be hunted." God is reclaiming His flock. He is asserting His ownership. And the great purpose behind this divine intervention is the revelation of God's own character. "And you will know that I am Yahweh." The false prophetesses will know it in their judgment. The liberated people will know it in their salvation. God's actions in history are always aimed at making His name known.

22 Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have strengthened the hands of the wicked not to turn from his evil way and preserve his life,

Here God circles back to the central crime, the great moral inversion. Their sin had two edges. First, they "disheartened the righteous with falsehood." They spoke words of doom and condemnation to the very people God was sustaining. They made the narrow way seem impossible and joyless. They were agents of discouragement, which is the devil's work. Second, they "strengthened the hands of the wicked." They did this by promising him peace in his sin. Their lies prevented him from turning "from his evil way" to save his life. They were spiritual enablers, patting sinners on the back on their way to destruction. This is the essence of all false teaching. It afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted, but in precisely the wrong way. It afflicts the righteous and comforts the wicked.

23 therefore, you women will no longer see worthless visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh.”

The judgment is therefore fitting. Their entire operation will be shut down. "You women will no longer see worthless visions or practice divination." Their supply of lies will be cut off. The wellspring of their own deceitful hearts will run dry. The final word is one of promise and purpose. God will deliver His people, and He will be known. This is the pattern throughout Scripture. God allows His people to be tested by false prophets, but He never abandons them to the lie. He rises up to defend His own name, to rescue His flock, and to demonstrate through His acts of judgment and salvation that He, and He alone, is the Lord.

Application

The church in every age is tempted by the same sort of nonsense. The methods may change from magic bands and veils to seeker-sensitive marketing schemes and therapeutic deism, but the source and the effect are the same. The temptation is always to prophesy from our own hearts, to tell people what they want to hear for some kind of personal gain, whether it be barley, bread, or book sales.

We must be a people who are rigorously committed to the Word of God as our only source of authority. We must test every spirit, every prophecy, and every teaching against the straight-edge of Scripture. Does it comfort the wicked in his sin? Does it dishearten the righteous in his walk? If so, it is a lie, no matter how spiritual it sounds.

And for those who have been ensnared by such teachings, this passage is a glorious promise. God is a God who tears away the snares. He is a God who delivers His people. Our ultimate security is not in our ability to perfectly discern every lie, but in the faithfulness of our Shepherd, who knows His sheep and will lose none of them. He will act, He will deliver, and in the end, all the world will know that He is Yahweh.