Ezekiel 13:8-12: a reflection

8“‘Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,” says the Lord GOD. 9“My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of my people, neither will they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither will they enter into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.” 10“‘Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, “Peace;” and there is no peace. When one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash. 11Tell those who plaster it with whitewash that it will fall. There will be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, will fall. A stormy wind will tear it. 12Behold, when the wall has fallen, won’t it be said to you, “Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?”

God pronounces judgment on false prophets who cried peace when there was no peace, giving the people a false reassurance that all was well when danger loomed. Ezekiel pictures their false comfort as whitewash smeared over a flimsy wall: the wall is weak and will fall, but they cover it with whitewash to make it look sound. And God warns: when the storm comes, the wall will fall, and then where will the whitewash be? The false reassurance covered the danger, but did not fix it.

Notice the image of the whitewashed wall. There was a real problem, a weak wall that would not stand; but instead of dealing with it, the false prophets covered it with whitewash, a superficial reassurance that made it look sound while leaving the real weakness untouched. Peace, peace, they said, where there was no peace. But whitewash does not strengthen a weak wall; when the storm came, the wall would fall, and the false reassurance would be exposed. The problem was covered over, not fixed.

That image warns against the folly of covering over real problems with false reassurance rather than dealing with them. We can be tempted to whitewash, to cover over real problems, in our lives, our relationships, our souls, with superficial reassurance, telling ourselves peace, peace when there is no peace, rather than facing and dealing with the real weakness. But whitewash does not fix a weak wall; the covered-over problem remains, and when the storm comes, it falls. Do not whitewash over the real problems in your life, covering them with false reassurance rather than dealing with them. Face the real weakness honestly, and deal with it, rather than smearing whitewash over it and telling yourself all is well. The whitewashed wall fell when the storm came; do not let a false peace keep you from facing and fixing what truly needs to be dealt with, lest it fall when the storm comes.

Lord, you pronounced judgment on false prophets who cried peace when there was no peace, and pictured their false comfort as whitewash smeared over a flimsy wall that would fall when the storm came; the reassurance covered the danger but did not fix it. Let that image warn me against covering over real problems with false reassurance rather than dealing with them. I can be tempted to whitewash, to cover over real problems, in my life, my relationships, my soul, with superficial reassurance, telling myself peace, peace when there is no peace, rather than facing and dealing with the real weakness. But whitewash does not fix a weak wall; the covered-over problem remains, and when the storm comes, it falls. Keep me from whitewashing over the real problems in my life, covering them with false reassurance rather than dealing with them. Help me face the real weakness honestly, and deal with it, rather than smearing whitewash over it and telling myself all is well. The whitewashed wall fell when the storm came; do not let a false peace keep me from facing and fixing what truly needs to be dealt with, Lord, lest it fall when the storm comes. Help me deal honestly with what needs dealing with.