Futility, False Divination and Utter Nonsense

Ezekiel 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.
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."
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.


When?  When does all this take place?  When do the prophets speak nonsense and envision futility?


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.


When it matters most.  When millions...billions...of souls are at stake.  The Day of the Lord.  The tribulation period.  Our day.  The last days...the latter days.  The time of the end of this age.  The last few years before Jehovah says "Enough!, I will now stand up and enter into judgment with the world."


Recently someone emailed me to point out something peculiar about Prince Charles' birth date, or his sons' birth dates, or something like that.  She wondered if I should modify my timeline based on the revelation.  If you peruse the christian "end-time" websites, blogs, and message boards, as I used to, you'll find all kinds of nonsense just like it.  People are talking about the numbers on receipts or license plates or the Dow and saying it means this or that about the end-times.  Others are predicting a rapture date every few months based on whatever futile thought pops into their head.  Some can't wait to tell everybody their dreams; but they do so foolishly. (Jeremiah 23:32)  Still others are taking a verse here or there out of context and building all sorts of theories around it.  Most of them are looking at, and writing about, everything EXCEPT the truth of God's word.  And the 'professional' expositors of end-time scripture are even worse.  People actually trust them to tell the truth.  But they are just as blind as the rest.


If only people would study the Bible...in truth.


I once had an email conversation with someone about Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 13 and Isaiah 28.  I just presented the scripture and asked "who are these false prophets proclaiming a message of 'peace' in the latter days?"  After a few exchanges he said "I can't believe people would be condemned for looking forward to the promise of the rapture."  Wha??  I didn't say anything about a rapture!  When I pointed this out to him, I never heard from him again.  I also didn't say anything about people "looking forward to" anything.  I just repeated what the Bible already says: people who are actively (whether knowingly or not) deceiving people with a message of peace in the latter days.  This gentleman was bright enough to see that the pre-trib rapture theory is discussed by the Old Testament prophets.  But he didn't want any part of it.  He went on along his merry way like someone who bites into a bitter herb, spits it out, takes a drink and goes back to his meal.


There are serious consequences for deceiving people:


Ezekiel 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.


I know what some of this verse means.  "Nor shall they enter into the land of Israel."  I know what this means.  When America is destroyed, you are out of luck...and time.  You will not return to Zion with the rest of us. (Jeremiah 50:4)  You will be allowed to go no further.  Your friends may even try to bring you out (Micah 6:14) but there will be no way to escape for you (Jeremiah 25:35) because the hand of the Lord is against you.


I had harsh words for the woman who wrote to me about Prince Charles.  Not because I wanted to be mean, but because I wanted her to know the seriousness of the situation.  Did it help?  Nope.  I'm still on her spam list, getting all her emails (to my trash folder) about everything except what the Bible has to say about the end-times.


Other parts of Ezekiel 13:9 I don't even want to speculate what it means.  Will these prophets of peace, lies, nonsense and futility lose their salvation?  I really don't know and I'm not sure I want to know.  However, the warning is repeated in Jeremiah 23.


39  'therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and [will cast you] out of My presence.
40  'And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.' "


An everlasting reproach.  Your great folly will be recorded for all of time.  It will be written in the chronicles of man, that in the days leading up to the Great Tribulation, there were those who refused to take God's Word seriously.  Instead, they invented all kinds of nonsense and led many astray who would have otherwise repented.  On the day that "city" (America) is taken away, you will be too.  And if you take the time to look, you might see that this warning to the shepherds and prophets of our day is repeated over and over again.  It's actually very hard to miss all the warnings to these people.  You could plaster the pages of the prophetic books on a wall, throw a dart, and chances are very good you'd hit a text with a warning to these people.


How do I know this is talking about our day?


Jeremiah 23:20
The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.


How do I know some would have repented had these false prophets and pastors not misled them?


Jeremiah 23:22
But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.


"My words."..."MY words!!!"  What, exactly, are God's words about the latter days?


Folks, you seriously need to dig in and study the word of God.  Don't take my word for it.  And stop listening to the lies of the false teachers (pastors and prophets) of our day. (Ezekiel 13:19)  These false teachers will receive the stricter judgment (James 3:1).  But is there really any good excuse for not understanding the days in which we're living?  Is your twenty hours in front of the TV every week really more important than understanding the great and dreadful day of the Lord, which is fast approaching?