In this verse, God uses the young prophet Ezekiel, who was taken to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem (2 Kings 24.10-14). The Lord felt betrayed by the prophetesses, who took part in blood crimes. They made a wrongful living, earning money from their transgressions. By giving the authorship of their sins to God, saying that they acted and spoke in His Name, they dishonored Him (Ezekiel 13.17). From what we have seen, the audacity of many people reaches this level, because their lies are unlimited.

This biblical text shows how certain individuals practiced evil, blaming the Lord for the harm caused to those who, in some way, sought to live in that land. Faced with this, God turned to the prophets and prophetesses, who often engaged in illicit practices and did whatever they wanted to destroy others. Let's remember that all of humanity will come to judgment, where they will be held accountable for their actions (Revelation 20.11-15).

In order to get a handful of food, the people of Judah didn't hold back and even desecrated the Lord. Unfortunately, those who act in this way show a lack of fear of God. They disregard the fact that, when they stand before the Most-High, they will have to explain their deceitful practices (2 Corinthians 5.10). Now, many people don't know the difference between right and wrong, but those prophetesses knew that they were defiling the Lord. What will be of the lost?

The wickedness of the prophetesses went far beyond the money and food they snatched from their victims: they led them to eternally doom. Such cruelty would not go unpunished. Those unwary people were on the road to salvation - something that would happen with Christ's death on Calvary, when He would take upon himself everyone's sins (Isaiah 53.4-6). However, because of their wickedness, they went deeper into error. Be careful not to lead anyone astray (Luke 17.1,2)!

The deception was total, because people who didn't deserve to live were taught that nothing would keep them away from eternal happiness. Even today, this kind of guidance is risky and, taking advantage of it, Satan has done his destructive work. The devil led the prophetesses to do something dangerous: guarantee life to souls who were not going to live. Any mistake leads to the result we have just seen. Why do some people allow themselves to be led astray by the evil one? Well, God speaks through His Word!

Unfortunately, many people know that they are going to eternal perdition. Despite this, they try to deceive the Lord and themselves, inventing that, because of God's mercy, they will be spared from the lake of fire. The worst sin is the one committed consciously. The Scriptures state that whoever is not born again and does not persevere in the doctrine of the Lord will be heading for damnation, and there will be no second chance (Hebrews 10.26-31). Why would anyone give in to the devil?

People must be taught not to listen to lies, and this is easy to do. When the Word is preached, we feel good, but when deception is spread, we don't have the testimony of Heaven that this is the way we should walk (John 14.6). Whoever listens to lies will be lost!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares