In chapter 12 Ezekiel moves his household goods. This is another symbolic action to emphasize Jerusalem's coming captivity. It contains an amazing detailed prophecy of Zedekiah's fate; his secret flight; capture; and removal to Babylon, without seeing it. Five years later this prophecy came to pass. Zedekiah attempted a secret escape, was capture, his eyes were put out, and he was taken to Babylon. It is readily seen that Ezekiel's prophecies are very closely knit with those of Jeremiah. God gave basically the same message and same prophecies to two men; they both delivered them; and the messages perfectly coincided.
Note in chapter 13 that there were numerous false prophets in Jerusalem and among the captives. These prophets were denounced because they spoke lies and were contaminated with paganistic beliefs. Ezekiel said their message was as useless as whitewash on a mud brick wall, placed there to protect it against a storm.
In chapter 14 we are shown some hypocritical inquirers. Idol-loving elders were answered by God with a swift and terrible destruction of idolatrous Israel. Unbelief of these elders is shown by the fact that they came to God with their questions. If they knew the true God, and had believed and trusted in Him, they would have known that He knew they were sinful; and they would have fallen on their faces before Him.
A hypocrite or counterfeit can so often fool men, and is many times very harmful to the cause of Christ. But no one can fool our all-seeing, all-knowing God. Many have made the mistake of trying, and many will continue to try, but the ultimate result will always be the same. God chastises sin. His methods of chastisement may vary, but the reality of the judgment will never vary. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He cannot change. He cannot lie, and He is always true to His Word.
