Listening to the Right Message

Listening to the Right Message

Ezekiel 11-15

“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing.”

                  In the last 60 years, the world shifted rapidly from the industrial age to the information age.  Previously, with the rapid growth of mechanical technology, the economy centered on industrial growth as the 20^th century began. However, in the middle of the 20^th century, there was a rapid shift to the growth of digital information and the information economy.  The latest advancement (AI) has both potential for incredible good but also incredible evil.  But technological advancement has further fueled the growth of misinformation and the risk of confirmation bias, in which our search for information is governed by our own biases. Thus, the greatest threat to our pursuit of what is true is ourselves.   

                  From the very beginning, when Adam and Eve first listened to the distortion of the serpent, we have faced the continual struggle to determine what is true and what is false.  This is the same struggle that the people of Israel were facing.  Because of their sin and their pursuit of idolatry, God warned the people that judgment was coming if they did not turn from their sin.  Yet even as God sent the prophets to warn the people, many false prophets promised peace and prosperity.  They rejected the warnings and continued to promise that God would not judge the people.  In chapter 13, God brings a harsh condemnation upon these prophets.  In Deuteronomy 18:18-22, God warned of the danger of false prophets who would arise and claim to be from God but would only proclaim what the people wanted to hear.  As we face the age of misinformation, how do we discern what is true and what is false, for there are many who claim to be a spokesperson for God and who are false teachers.

                  As we read through the prophets, we discover several helpful guidelines.  First, do they only affirm certain truths of the Bible while denying others?  The false teachers of Ezekiel’s day were ridiculing and disregarding the threat of God’s discipline. They claimed to be from God, but rejected His warnings by only affirming what they wanted to believe (13:1-3 ). If one claims to be a teacher of truth, but only affirms certain portions of Scripture while rejecting others, they are a false teacher.  

Second, do they warn of the dangers of sin and judgment, or do they justify sin and minimize the reality of judgment? Like many today, they affirm God’s blessings but disregard His warnings.  They promise peace without warning of judgment for sin. False teachers today affirm the existence of heaven while denying the existence of hell. They proclaim that God is loving but fail to recognize He is also holy and just.

Third, instead of pointing people to God alone and affirming there is only one way to God, and that is through the doorway of acceptance and surrender to Christ, they affirm all religions and promote the worship of other gods (14:1-8). God demands complete allegiance to Him, and He does not accept other religions. To worship other gods is to set up “an idol in his heart” (14:7).  

In our age of misinformation, we need to make sure that we follow the right message and the right truth, which is found in the pages of the Bible. In the age of information, we must also live in the age of discernment.