The prophets whose messages run counter to those of Yehezkel are divided into different groups, whose order in the text may reflect their respective popularity.
The first argument that was commonly used against Yehezkel’s prophecy was that, with time, his words would lose their relevance. It was enough for these opponents to remind their listeners that warnings as to the destruction had also been voiced in the past, and the passage of time showed that “that which was, is that which shall be”: Jerusalem would not be destroyed. God’s response is that before long their own claim will lose its relevance. The prophecies of the Destruction of Jerusalem will be realized soon, in their own days.
The second group that Yehezkel targets with his words consists of those who claim that their message is prophecy from God, while in fact they are making up their prophecies from their hearts. This shows even more clearly how complicated Yehezkel’s prophetic mission was. The difficulty in differentiating between true prophets and false ones arose from the fact that these were not two completely distinct and separate groups; they were not easily distinguishable from each another.
In this prophecy Yehezkel compares the false prophets to foxes reminiscent of the lamentation that follows the destruction in Eikha. Through their misleading words, the prophets have made themselves like the foxes that would soon wander among the ruins of the Temple. Yehezkel thereby connects the false prophecies with their results. Over the generations the fox came to symbolize the cause of the Destruction, the Destruction itself, but also the hope of a future redemption and rebuilding.
