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.

God Refuses the Idolatrous Seekers

Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.

the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

Therefore speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;

that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Return, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:

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 you shall know that I am the LORD.

If the prophet is deceived and speak a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks him;

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, says the Lord GOD.

Inescapable Judgment on the Sinful Land

the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;

though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord GOD.

If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals;

though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.

Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;

though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.

Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;

though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!

Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried out, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come out to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.

They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord GOD.

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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Ezekiel14

God Refuses the Idolatrous Seekers

Inescapable Judgment on the Sinful Land

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