Again an Old Testament Prophet inveighs against false revelation. Here some of the very techniques used to seek an answer are improper. Methods of divination here include the use of idolatrous images (תְּרָפִים teraphim), and fortune tellers (קֹּוסְמִים kosmim). The Kosmim are never presented in a positive light in the bible. Here they have visions and dreams, but they "have seen a lie" and "told false dreams." The use of teraphim to cast a fortune has only "spoken vanity" (אָוֶן aven, nothingness, falsehood - a word often used as a synonym for idols themselves).
As in the other Old Testament prophetic passages decrying false dreams, the underlying cause is a desire to receive a pre-determined outcome. They seek to comfort, not to understand truth. They have an axe to grind, not a desire to truly know what God wants to say. The implication is that these are professionals, divining for cash, and they KNOW what their customers want to hear. That comfort is הֶבֶל hevel, a vanity, something as insubstantial and fleeting as a puff of air.
In our own search for divine answers, we have to be wary of the answer we want to receive.
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