“Son of man, He said, I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against Me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, This is what the Sovereign Lord says! And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for remember, they are rebels—at least they will know they have had a prophet among them.
For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You said, Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it! And today I have told you exactly what He said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past.
The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God.
Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, ‘Come on, let’s go hear the prophet tell us what the Lord is saying!’ So My people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.
You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it! But when all these terrible things happen to them—as they certainly will—then they will know a prophet has been among them.”
{Ezekiel 2:3-5; Jeremiah 42:20-21; Hosea 9:8; Ezekiel 33:30-33}