Scrolling through Instagram the other day, I landed on a post that was both startling and encouraging. It was written by a Christian woman I follow, and it contained forthright words of biblical wisdom targeted to other female believers. In essence, she called out our recent exaltation of glass-ceiling-crashers as idolatry. It was startling at first, because it was not the female-Christian-influencer post I typically see. Please don’t get me wrong, though. I’m grateful for the freedoms and opportunities afforded to women in this country. And the Instagram posts are not all bad, of course, but they often promote self-focus and are meant for feel-good inspiration rather than bold truth, let alone rebuke.
And I don’t know about you, but I’m longing for something to anchor my soul in over fleeting, flowery inspiration right now.
It all reminded me of something I read in the book of Ezekiel recently. I probably wouldn’t normally just pick up the book of Ezekiel, but it was where I was in my Bible reading plan for the year, and despite all of its strangeness, it quickly moved to the top of my favorite Old Testament books. I actually found myself dreading the day I got to chapter 48, because that would mean it was time to move on to the next book. (But I have to say, now Daniel has me equally enraptured!)
Ezekiel is a prophet tasked with the very difficult and absolutely thankless job of pointing out all of Israel’s grave failures and sins. Sometimes he’s even required to act out these rebukes with his own body or other illustrative objects – or both. (Remember when he had to eat a scroll? Shave his head and divide his hair in thirds? Lie on his left side for 390 days? Carry around the baggage of exile on his shoulder? Bake some bread?)
One of the things God asked Ezekiel to confront Israel about was their false prophets, “because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace.” (Ezekiel 13:10) In other words, the prophets were not being honest about Israel’s future should they continue to reject God. After a general rebuke to all false prophets in the beginning of chapter 13, God turns Ezekiel’s attention to a more specific group of false prophets: women. Specifically, he asks Ezekiel to prophesy against the women who “sew magic bands upon all the wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls!” (Ezekiel 13:18)
These women were selling two things: special wristbands (probably small pillows) meant to offer luxury and comfort when reclining and also veils meant to adorn and seduce. While it may seem a benign practice in light of Israel’s glaring rebellion, God views it as a grievous affront:
“You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die, and keeping alive souls who should not live by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.” (Ezekiel 13:19)
These prophetesses were peddling lies with the sale of their products, and there were other women ready and willing to listen to the lies, spend money on the lies, and put their hope in the lies.
Does this sound familiar? Though I enjoy social media, I sometimes come across what seems to be a version of the false female prophet there – or else those who are under their influence. Usually they are promoting self-focus in the form of self-care or guarding personal boundaries rather than the others-focused, self-sacrificing obedience Christ exhorts us to in His Word. (Not that there’s anything wrong with biblical rest or boundaries per se.) Occasionally they offer outright lies and promote skepticism regarding the clear truths of Scripture.
Where do the lies originate? Ezekiel 13:1 reveals their source. Speaking to Ezekiel regarding these women, God says:
“And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts.”
The prophet who speaks the very words of God is being asked to confront the prophetesses who do not speak the words of God. Rather, they speak their own words from out of a deceptive and sick place – the human heart. (See Jeremiah 17:9) Some of them probably believed they were being helpful. Others were likely intentional in their deception of other women due to the financial benefits.
As women, our hearts – or the biblical seat of our will and affections – can be an especially difficult place to navigate. On one hand, our God-given tendency to nurture and extend compassion can lead us to look very much like Christ in our thoughts and actions, but on the other hand, those very same tendencies can lead us to believe wrong things and act in unhelpful, even rebellious ways. Eve’s heart was deceived. She sincerely believed the wrong thing and the wrong person. The serpent spoke what seemed like perfectly logical words to her. By presenting her with something that seemed sensical and of great benefit, she was beguiled into rebellion against her Creator, and she invited her husband into the same rebellion.
The Instagram post I landed on the other day was challenging, forthright, and unapologetic. It confronted the sin of idolatry in a female-specific way. It was not flowery or fleeting, but powerful and piercing. Rather than catering to my comfort, it called me out. The woman who wrote it wasn’t peddling a product that promised peace or power; she was persuading me to follow Jesus. She was not offering feminine inspiration in a ceiling-crasher, but holding forth hope in the serpent-crusher.
It’s how I knew the author was not “prophesying out of her own heart” but rather offering a truly prophetic voice in a social media sea of female prophets. (It was void of a selfie, too.) It’s why I was both startled and encouraged. It was truth I could anchor my soul in.