Daily Prophets
Day 145
“Thus said the Lord God; Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! They have spoken falsehood and divined a lie, they say, Says God when God has not sent them. Because they have led my people astray…Because with lies you have cowed the heart of the righteous, 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;”(Ezekiel 13:3,6,10,22)
Ezekiel is railing against false prophets and false prophecy in this chapter. He begins with the statement “woe to” in order to get the people’s attention as well as call out the pretenders. He makes the distinction between false prophets and himself and the other prophets in that true prophets don’t ask for the job, are overcome with an experience of God and speak only what God tells them-their own spirit does not enter into the words God has them speak.
False prophets, according to the verses above, are dangerous because they are so believable. They speak falsehood and divine a lie, yet the people follow them and believe them. Why? I think it goes back to the Kotzker Rebbe and Rabbi Heschel’s teachings about mendacity and the desire we all have for self-deception as well as our wanting to hear “good news” rather than truth. It is very hard for people to look at their part and their responsibility in life. It is much easier to blame, proclaim innocence and deny responsibility, as well as sell false hope rather than effect change in ourselves and in another(s).
Yet, what happens is the false prophets lead all of us astray, even the ones wrestling to speak truth. Truth seekers and speakers are led astray because they are scorned, they speak louder, get frustrated and, eventually are drowned out and their spirits are so sad and heavy, many of them just give up under the weight of it all. For the ones who suffer from the disease of self-deception, they are led to and want to believe lies and no change has to be made. They cannot return to God, as the prophets demand, because in their mind they haven’t left God. How these false prophets still rule today. So many people would rather buy the lies of these false prophets who lead every nation they gain control of away from God and towards ruin and destruction.
The deeds are to “cow the heart of the righteous…and strengthen the hands of the wicked”. Herein lies the issue with false prophets, they convince people that the message of their souls, the decent behavior that God has ordained, are not true-decency is wrong and indecency is right in this topsy-turvy world. They help the cons, the thieves, the powerful and the rich keep doing the things that God is calling evil, that the prophets are damning and demanding return from! They do this for their own power, for their own prestige and for their own pocketbooks. False prophets then as well as now, don’t believe the lies they spew, they spew them for their own personal gain. Ezekiel is telling us that a true prophet doesn’t gain anything material, they only gain spiritually. They sing the song that is in their soul, they speak the words of God they were created to speak and they live to serve.
In recovery, one of our deeds is to spread the message to others who still suffer from ills stemming from pride, prestige, mendacity, etc. It is an honor to speak to a group and a privilege to carry the message that God gives us to spread. In recovery, we search out our beings every single day for the lies we are telling ourselves so we can let them go in order to serve God and another(s). Each day we surrender our false pride and false ego to God because we know how insidious both of these negative attributes can be. Each day, we open our eyes a little more and see more clearly the things we can change and those that we are powerless over, spending our time and energy in the former and letting go of the need to control the latter. In recovery, we get to show up for God in truth, kindness and love-life doesn’t get any better than this.
I have experienced Ezekiels rage and anger at the mendacity of myself as well as another(s). I have been known to ‘fly off the handle’ when I witness the mendacity that will “cow the heart of the righteous” and “lead the people astray”. While I am not condoning inappropriate anger, I also know righteous anger is needed at times, as Ezekiel demonstrates in this chapter towards the false prophets. Having dealt with falseness in myself and in another(s) for years, I realize that my righteous anger towards the liars and the false prophets has been used against me-while I am seething with anger from God, toward the liars who are trying to destroy people and organizations for their own enjoyment- the liars are calm and collected. Hence they are believed by the people who engage in and relish in their own self-deceptions! I am not always correct nor appropriate in my righteous anger and neither am I always wrong. We are afraid of righteous anger because we are afraid that we have been found out and God is calling us back when we want to stay in power and control. Let’s all stop our wicked ways and return to God’s ways so we don’t have to have as much stress and strife and be responsible for our part, rather than blaming another(s) for our errors. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark