Ezekiel 13:15, commentary and pictures

The wall is false teaching that offers a deceptive sense of safety, and coating its weakness with unsound counsel cannot make it sound. Its untempered mortar is smooth words, false praise and glossing over wrongdoing that calls evil good and keeps souls in delusion, a covering God will not accept in place of pure truth. To daub the wall is to heal the hurt slightly and cry peace when there is no peace, covering wrongs with false reassurance instead of calling to repent, confess and forsake them. Faithfulness therefore forbids softening reproof, whitewashing heinous sin or withholding plain dealing, and requires a direct, cutting testimony that searches deep, purges evil and calls things by their right name. Upon both the false wall and all who daub it God will accomplish His wrath until neither remains, while those who bear a decided testimony for truth and reform will carry His work onward.

False Wall and Its Doom

The wall is false teaching that gives people a deceptive sense of safety and security, and coating its weakness with untempered mortar does not make it sound. To cover spiritual faults with unsound counsel is futile, for God exposes the work, brings His wrath against both the wall and those who coated it, and brings it to an end. Teachers must therefore guard their own character and seek the Holy Spirit's cleansing before guiding others, and must handle Bible truth neither carelessly nor falsely. Concealing deficiencies with a false covering leaves real faults undisguised before God, who holds the daubers accountable and destroys the wall.

The untempered mortar is smooth words that cover wrongs, weaken plain testimony, and make it ineffective, and those who provide such false support share in the judgment with the wall itself. It is glossing over wrongdoing and impenitence, false praise and support that presents evil as good and sustains a person in delusion until judgment exposes the truth. God does not disguise sin or impenitence with such a covering, but distinguishes pure truth from false, misleading doctrines. Both the faulty wall and its daubers come to nothing under His wrath.

The wall is also the large Sanitarium rebuilt at Battle Creek where it should not have been rebuilt, after God swept it away and with no design that it ever be built again in that place and in that large size. It stands contrary to repeated messages to divide the work and establish smaller memorials in many places so the light of present truth might shine forth. The daubing is the work of associates who had no part in the move yet stand ready to plaster up the breach that was made, covering over transgression and mistake, excusing, justifying and defending it instead of making the best of the situation by humbling the soul before God. God's wrath will be accomplished upon both the faulty wall and those who daub it. Those who keep daubing must get out of the way, let God work upon their hearts, humble their souls before Him, and strive with all their might to bring the light of heaven upon their own souls. Those who took the rebuilding responsibility on their own shoulders can still be pardoned in mercy for their transgressions and mistakes for the sake of His cause and His name's glory if they are converted and humble their hearts before Him.

The wall is every restriction and obstruction raised to keep reproof, rebuke and exhortation from coming to God's people and to block the truth. Such walls cannot stand and cannot obstruct the truth, for the truth goes onward and upward to the end. God has men waiting prepared to do His bidding, and when He puts His Spirit upon them they go straight through the walls. They work and proclaim the word of the Lord and lift up the voice like a trumpet, showing the people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins, and the truth is not diminished and does not lose its power in their hands.

Plain Testimony, Not Daubing

To daub is to heal the hurt only slightly and cry peace where there is no peace, leading others into wrong and then covering those wrongs with false reassurance instead of calling to repent, acknowledge wrongs and forsake them. Such flattering and sympathizing with unconsecrated people harms them, and giving false reassurance to a dying man whose sins remain unconfessed can ruin him. God's wrath brings both the wall and those who covered it with weak mortar to an end, so that the wall and its plasterers will not endure under His judgment. Faithfulness requires the opposite thorough work of searching, digging deep, stirring up and purging away pestilent matter, dying to self and becoming Christlike in every sense, in malice children but in understanding men, and separating from those who doubt and reject correction so the stain and reproach can be wiped away and the church can live. Concealing or weakening the truth in this way brings accountability before God.

The verse forbids softening reproof and covering false views with words that make them seem acceptable, requiring instead a plain, cutting message that exposes error. This applies to views that take away the power of the third angel's message, such as the age to come, and to spiritual union views that lead to the worst spiritualism and to spiritual wifery. It applies to views that could lead to spiritualism, as in the case of Henry Allen, where a direct, severe message had to be given, the views had to be given up, and fellowship was withdrawn until he did so. The accursed thing must be put out of the camp or Israel will be sickly, lest it be left in the camp.

A soft, false or unclear testimony that covers grave sins cherished among professed Sabbathkeepers is daubing, and testimony must be clear cut to expose sins of a grave character instead of hiding them. Unless plain reproof brings an awakening that convicts and converts, the guilty will die in their sins. Those who have received great light and precious opportunities but remain earthly-minded and corrupt in thoughts and practices, and have not purified their souls by obeying the truth, face a punishment heavier than that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

To daub is to whitewash heinous sin, regard it lightly, cover it up and smooth it over as though no great wrong had been committed, call darkness light and make evil appear good, treat serious sin as a small thing, uphold the offender instead of correcting him, and permit guilty sinners to remain in the church. Such approval fosters evil and leaves the offender unrebuked. Such covering kindles God's anger against the one who does it, brings stain and heavy reproach upon the cause, and leaves him unfit for any leading responsible position until he entirely reforms and views sin and sinners from altogether a different standpoint.

Daubing the walls of Zion is the work of men in responsible positions of trust and as faithful stewards who act in an underhanded manner, withhold the plain straightforward message, neglect frank open dealing, and cover up wrongs and turn away from counsel instead of speaking plainly. It is failing to come close to the erring, pray with and for him, perseveringly set matters before him as pointed out, strive to save his soul, when the lost soul might have been saved from the tempter's power if duty had been faithfully done at the right time years ago, for every soul is worth saving. It is framing flimsy excuses when action should be taken, telling men who have worked counter to the Holy Spirit and resisted light until their souls are well-nigh ruined that they are unfit for their place only in a way that covers up the impression to be made, burying reproofs, putting a false construction on correction to escape it, and acting indifferently and self-sufficiently. Such miserable work hurts souls, mars the work, gives it a wrong mold, and brings disorder and dissension instead of unity, with the censure of God upon the unfaithful stewards. Neglect is held accountable, things are required to be set in order, and there is call for men of decided fidelity who will lay the hand upon a wrong work and say this is not according to the will of God, with no use in an emergency for two-sided men.

To daub is to cover faults with smooth, flattering words instead of calling things by their right name, mincing the matter about betrayal of holy trust, making favorable remarks about one who has proved a traitor, giving him influence and sympathy, and telling a man everything he has done is all just right when it is not right. Those who do so show they are on the enemy's side, do halfhearted work that brings the frown of God, by smooth words and fair speeches deceive many to their ruin, and unsettle wavering souls. Duty requires the opposite of covering faults: bearing a straightforward living testimony as it is in Jesus, speaking plain truth just as it is without self and without a harsh denunciatory spirit, speaking and writing very plainly to point out mistakes, standing stiffly and speedily for truth, and withholding trust from a man as a shepherd of the flock until he has opportunity to be enlightened in the Scriptures. Clear testimony that points out mistakes is needed so the person can correct errors and come into a position where the Holy Spirit can work with him and he knows it, for to repress needed reproof leaves responsibility for souls who stumble and fall, while faithful reproof saves souls from loss.

Daubing means giving undue attention, flattery and effort to pacify and please self-willed, jealous, unconsecrated members instead of giving faithful dealing mingled with kindness and plain truth appropriate to their condition. Such daubing does only injury and taxes time and strength that belong to more important work. It puts the flattered ones in a position of temptation, leads them to expect the same consideration from others, excites jealousy when they are not flattered, and makes them think they are not appreciated, that they are very essential to the church, and that their judgment should be respected above the judgment of the church.

Daubing is a superficial covering over lack of conversion that leaves no decided break and no reformation, without the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, a condition only the Spirit of God can undo. To countenance evil without discernment and conceal unconfessed, unrepented sin is like daubing souls with untempered mortar, covering over evil with a false appearance of safety. The proper response is to weep, pray, confess, and deal plainly with wrongdoing.

Daubing is a half-and-half, tame testimony instead of a decided call for reform, and in this age of apostasy there is to be no such daubing now. Co-workers must bear a distinct, decided testimony that witnesses for the downtrodden law and uplifts the standard left to trail in the dust, laboring to secure reformation in the churches and reforms in every town and city. All followers participate in this work of reform for the suffering and oppressed in the spirit of Christ, for no compromising witness will have saving influence.

There must be no daubing with untempered mortar in the work of physicians and teachers, which means handling the subjects of Bible truth wisely, carefully and truthfully rather than presenting it carelessly or falsely or without wise, sound instruction. Every talent is to be used to meet unbelievers with wise counsel and instruction, learning to handle truth wisely and presenting its importance on every possible occasion, showing a decided influence for righteousness and truth. In this way prejudice is broken down and souls are reached and led to conversion.