THEOSISJerome of Stridon
And the Lord's message was directed toward me, declaring, "O son of man! You must proclaim the prophecies of Israel and address those who speak from their own hearts, saying, 'Listen to the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God.' It is important to note that we have altered the original text slightly: instead of stating that they prophesy, we will now assert that you will prophesy and convey this to them, which does not appear in the Hebrew. This message confronts the false prophets who misled the people by delivering messages that contradicted God’s commandments.
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One should not be misled by their title of 'prophets,' as the Holy Scriptures commonly refer to anyone who delivers a prophecy or speaks autonomously as a prophet; similarly, the prophets of Baal and those of idols as well as the prophets of confusion are included. Consequently, the apostle Paul refers to the Greek poet as a prophet when he notes, 'A certain prophet of their own has said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons' (Titus 1:12). Hosea also testifies, 'Like a prophet, the watchman of Ephraim is with my God; a man of the spirit is a prophet' (Hosea 9:7). The messages delivered to ancient Israel are now relevant to the Church, where the true prophets are represented by the apostles and their successors, whereas the errant and wild prophets symbolize all heretics, whose leaders forge their teachings from their own hearts, while those who are misled by them place their trust in falsehoods.