FBC Morning Light (11/4/2023)

Good Saturday morning, people of faith. We're going to be looking at Ezekiel chapter 13 this morning, and let me read. And the word of the Lord came to me, this is Ezekiel, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. 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.

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. Have you not seen a futile vision? And have you not spoken false divination?

You say, The Lord says, but I have not spoken. This, my friends, was a common problem in the day of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is around at the time of the Babylonian invasion, and many people were saying, Oh, the Babylonians are going to come to ruin, and Jerusalem's going to stand, and everything's going to be okay.

And then after Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, and they were in exile, they were saying, It's not going to be a very long time. We're going to be back really soon, maybe even tomorrow. And yet, Jeremiah had prophesied, Take for yourselves husbands and wives, and plant fields and build homes, because you're going to be there for a while.

And they were. So these people are giving these false prophecies, and this is something that still happens to the people of God to this day. False prophecies are abundant, I would say, in today's age.

And I wanted to give you some areas to look for, or to watch out for. I don't want you to not say, Look for false prophecy. I'm saying, Watch out for false prophecy. Political predictions. How many political predictions have been wrong in the last 10 years?

Think perhaps about Trump being elected, or not going to be elected in 2016, or Trump for certain going to be elected in 2020, and both of those were wrong. Economic forecasts. People that forecast either doom, gloom, or wealth and prosperity.

Truth is, you don't know. End of the world predictions are bountiful. 2012 had a lot of predictions for the end of the world. And since this is 2023, they were obviously wrong. You know, the different predictions, I think it was 88 reasons why the Lord was coming back in 1988, a popular book back in the day.

When someone is predicting the day and time of the end of the world, or of Christ's return, chances are about 100 that they're wrong. Environmental predictions. How many of the environmental predictions of the last half century have been completely.

False?

Back in the 1970s, they predicted that the next ice age would come, and then global warming around 2000 was going to just devastate the planet, so certain cities would be underwater, and yet they're not.

Environmental predictions. Technology predictions. How many of us were alive during the Y2K scare, right? There were so many even well-meaning Christians saying to watch out, stock up on food because you're not going to be able to buy gas, you're not going to be able to do this or that.

So many of the computers are not going to be able to function, right? And they were all wrong. They were. And then predictions about health in particular. People who prophesy that you're going to get better.

These things we have to remember are in the Lord's hands. They're not in the hands of people who live by wishful thinking as the Jews were at the time, the Israelites were at the time, living by wishful thinking, hoping that their prophecies of a quick return to the land would come true.

And we have to be the same way. We need to rely on the real Word of God, not what a false prophet would say to us. Let's take a moment and pray. Lord, this morning, help us to rely on you through your Word, through the true written Word of God and not listen to fables and stories and wishful thinking of those who want to tickle our ears.

Help us to rely on you and to walk faithfully with you this morning. It's in your Son's name, Jesus we pray, Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.