We just moved into a new house and (knowingly) had to replace all the plumbing. Several years ago a new type of pipe was all the rage because it was cheaper and faster for builders to install — that is until everybody’s pipes bursted and insurance refused to cover it. Certain parts of your house you really want to hold up well over time. Plumbling was kind of important to us.
Ezekiel speaks of a false prophet who deals in whitewash. When Israel’s walls are damaged and vulnerable, she comes along and applies a lovely coat of plaster. It’s cheap, it’s quick, and for a while it looks exactly like the real thing. No one can tell the difference. Until it rains.
In recent years, I’ve seen false teaching permeate women’s ministry culture. Influencers spread a crossless, wordless, churchless coat of plaster over sin and suffering. It’s sweet, it’s easy, it’s cheap, and few can tell the difference, until it rains.
Guess what. It’s raining.
In Ezekiel 13:14 God says, “I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare.”
These trying times expose the kind of teaching that will endure and the kind that will crumble to the ground. The plaster is cracking. The foundation is exposed. Now is the time to look and see what we’re building our lives on.
Ezekiel gives us three kinds of plaster that cannot bear up under the weight of suffering.
- “Speaking From Your Heart” Plaster: Ezekiel 13:17: “Set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own hearts.” Woe to entertaining personalities who share their journeys and give colorful opinions but never crack open the word of God. They speak from their own hearts and whitewash their followers. A house that endures the storm is a word-saturated, word-obeying, Christ-delighting house. Ezekiel 16:30 says, “How sick is your heart?”
- “Peace, Peace” Plaster: Ezekiel 13:22 says “you have encouraged the wicked, that he should NOT turn from his evil way to save his life.” There is no peace between God and our sin. We need a savior. God loved us so much, he sent his son to pay the penalty for our sins. God’s love and his wrath met at calvary where Christ suffered and died and rose from the dead. We find our lives by losing it (Gal. 2:20) in Christ.
- “Grieving the Righteous” Plaster: Ezekiel 13:2 says, “You have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him.” False teachers generate anxiety and unrest among those who are truly saved. Those who belong to Christ have lasting joy, peace, and eternal security. We are truly guiltless before God in Jesus. We have joy unspeakable and secure peace. We find this great salvation through grace alone, not through any good works.
- “Platitudes” Plaster: Ezekiel 13:5 says, “You have not…built up a wall for the house of Israel that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord.” This kind of plaster is the feel-good, syrupy sweet messages that might not be altogether false, but won’t nourish or build up our souls for the day of battle. Pithy Insta-sayings make cute T-shirts, but they are no remedy for deep pain and loss so many are walking through right now. Jesus is the remedy. The cross is the remedy. The word shows us the remedy.
Friends who are hurting and scared in this storm, run to the word of God. Find peace at the cross of Christ. Drink deeply of living water and all other fountains will lose their flavor. Whatever plaster this storm has washed away for you, resolve now not to pick it back up later. Praise God who is able to build us up on the Corner Stone of his Son, our sure and strong Foundation in today’s raging storm.