Ezekiel 13:3 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!"
Profitless Prophets
It is ironic that in a day when preaching seems to be greatly minimized, the world cannot get enough of authoritative speakers. There is an entire "herd" of leadership conferences, podcasts, and popular events in different venues across the country. When you hear what someone with authority has to say, how do you know what he says is good? Is it good merely because it sounds good? Is it good because, in some way, what is said actually works? What makes what you hear profitable?
That's an age-old question that Ezekiel 13 addresses. In Ezekiel's day, there were prophets who spoke from themselves (not from God), and therefore what they had to say was not useful. They were profitless prophets! They could have been well-trained, accomplished, dynamic speakers, but what they spoke was from their own spirit and not from God's. God said they "have seen nothing." What these false prophets had to say was empty and useless because they were the source!
Be sure to judge what you say and what you hear by the source, not by merely the substance. Sometimes things that are actually empty will sound substantial. The way to judge the quality of the substance is to judge the source. If God has said it, I can believe it. If I can believe it, the help I try to give other people should be the help that God Himself has given to me.
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