Ezekiel14

Ezekiel 14 opens with elders of Israel seeking the Lord, but God reveals they harbor idols in their hearts, declaring He will answer them according to their idolatry. He calls for repentance, warning that He will cut off both the idolater and any deceived prophet. The chapter then emphasizes that even the righteousness of Noah, Daniel, and Job cannot save a grievously sinful land from God's four sore judgments: famine, noisome beasts, sword, and pestilence. A remnant will, however, be preserved from Jerusalem, whose lives will justify God's actions.
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God Refuses the Idolatrous Seekers

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Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. ​
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And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? ​
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Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel that taketh his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I Jehovah will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols; ​
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that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. ​
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Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. ​
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For every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that separateth himself from me, and taketh his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Jehovah will answer him by myself: ​
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and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ​
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And if the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, Jehovah, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ​
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And they shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him that seeketh unto him; ​
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that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

Inescapable Judgment on the Sinful Land

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And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, when a land sinneth against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of the bread thereof, and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast; ​
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though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​
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If I cause evil beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the beasts;
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though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.
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Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and beast;
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though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.
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Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast;
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though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
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For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!
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Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
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And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Study Notes for Ezekiel 14

Verse 1

These elders were the leaders of the exiled community in Babylon. Their coming to Ezekiel suggests a desire for divine guidance, but God immediately challenges their sincerity.

Verse 3

Idolatry is condemned not merely as external worship of statues, but as internal spiritual disloyalty ('idols in their heart'). The 'stumblingblock of their iniquity' refers to the sin that prevents them from truly seeking the Lord.

Verse 4

God promises to answer, but the answer will be a judgment confirming their self-deception. Instead of correcting them, God allows them to be trapped by the very desires (idols) they cherish, a form of judicial hardening.

Verse 5

God’s judgment is designed to expose and dismantle their internal false loyalties, bringing them to account for their deep estrangement from the covenant relationship.

Verse 6

Even in the midst of impending judgment, God provides a clear call to repentance. The required turning must be radical, moving away from both internal and external 'abominations.'

Verse 7

The standard of holiness applies equally to native Israelites and to the resident alien ('stranger that sojourneth'), emphasizing the universal scope of the covenant requirements.

Verse 8

The judged individual will become 'a sign and a proverb,' a public example illustrating the severity of God's wrath against hypocrisy and divided loyalty.

Verse 9

This difficult verse illustrates God’s sovereign control over judgment. God uses the prophet’s willingness to speak falsely (or the seeker’s desire for deceit) as a means of divine justice, delivering both parties to their chosen fate (cf. 1 Kings 22:23).

Verse 10

Divine justice ensures that both the false seeker and the false prophet are held equally accountable for their mutual corruption and rejection of truth.

Verse 11

The ultimate purpose of the severe judgment is redemptive: to purify the people and restore the covenant relationship ('that they may be my people, and I may be their God').

Verse 13

To 'break the staff of the bread' is a common biblical metaphor for famine, indicating the total destruction of the food supply and the subsequent economic collapse of the land.

Verse 14

Noah, Daniel, and Job represent the peak of individual righteousness across different eras. Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel, known for his piety, while Noah and Job were ancient paradigms.

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