Ezekiel 14:1 - Meaning and Application

Some of the elders of Israel came to the prophet and sat before him to ask the Lord for guidance through him (Ezekiel 14:1). They were likely not the regular captives who always listened to Ezekiel, but visitors from Jerusalem who had come to Babylon on some business, perhaps as part of an embassy from the king. They had heard about Ezekiel and wanted to see whether he had a message from God that could help them.

Their outward respect was real enough, but their hearts were wrong. God told Ezekiel privately that these men were idolaters who were using him like a pagan oracle, only to satisfy their curiosity. It may even be that they wanted to trap him or find something that seemed to clash with Jeremiah’s prophecies, so they could attack both prophets.

God said they had set up their idols in their hearts. That means their hearts were already given over to false gods, even if they looked religious on the outside. Some people keep idols in their homes, but others keep them in their hearts, where wealth, pleasure, or self become the real gods. God warns, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols."

They also put the stumbling block of their sin right in front of themselves. Their own idols and sinful desires became the very thing that made them fall. Sinners often become their own tempters and their own destroyers, because they keep choosing what will ruin them. Their hearts were saying, in effect, "I have loved my idols, and I will keep going after them."

So God told Ezekiel to answer them with a warning. This was not because God despised them as people, but because anyone in Israel who stays loyal to idols and still comes to ask God for help is insulting Him. God will answer such a person according to his real sin, not according to his empty show of devotion.

God said He would answer them according to the multitude of their idols. That means He would let them face the full result of what they had chosen. He would give them up to their own hearts’ desires and let them go on in their sin until they had filled up the measure of it. He would also deal with them according to what idolaters deserve, as He often does by sending people back to the false gods they have chosen (Judges 10:13-14).

The purpose of this judgment was to expose the house of Israel for what they really were, and to bring shame and ruin on them if they would not turn back. God judges people by what they are in their hearts, not by their outward show. In the end, their own hearts are the snare that traps them. Their own sin, their own conscience, and their own choices testify against them. If God takes hold of them, exposes them, or condemns them, it is because they have destroyed themselves.

The house of Israel has brought ruin on itself, because all of them have turned away from God through their idols. Two things stand out here. First, sinners come to ruin because they drift away from God. Second, that drift usually happens through some idol, some created thing that has taken the place that belongs to God alone.

This answer from God is meant for the whole house of Israel, as well as the stranger living among them, the foreigner who has settled in Israel. Such a person should not think his idol worship will be excused because it is the religion of his upbringing. He should not expect any help from Israel’s prophets unless he truly gives up his idols. Even those who join themselves to God’s people will not be accepted if their change is only outward. A pretended conversion is no real conversion.

These people cut themselves off from God by their bond with idols. They break their fellowship with him and put distance between themselves and him. Those who attach themselves to idols separate themselves from God, and only such people will finally be separated from the joy of seeing him and sharing in him. Yet they still come to the prophets with a show of respect, asking about God, while really wanting to satisfy curiosity, quiet their conscience, or keep up appearances before others.

God says he will answer such a person himself. Let God deal with him directly, because the answer will bring shame and conviction. It will not come through the prophet’s words, but through God’s judgments. God says, “I will set my face against that man,” which means deep anger and a firm decision to bring him down. The hypocrite wanted to save face and even gain praise, but God will make him a warning and a proverb. His misery will become a lesson for others, showing what happens when someone tries to mock God.

God will cut that person off from among his people. He will expose him and pull him out from the crowd. In this way, God says, “You will know that I am the Lord.” When hypocrites are exposed, we see that God knows everything. Ministers cannot read hearts, but God can. When hypocrites are punished, we see that God is jealous for his honor and cannot be fooled.

The same judgment falls on the false prophets who encourage these pretenders to piety. These people may not get a comforting answer from Ezekiel, but they may look for another prophet who will flatter them. If they do, they should know that God has allowed that deceiver to be deceived as part of their punishment. God is not the source of sin, but he rules over all things and often uses one wicked person to punish or mislead another wicked person. Both men are guilty for what they do, yet God also uses these actions as judgments on those who deserve them.

Scripture gives clear examples of this. Ahab’s prophets were deceived by a lying spirit, which God allowed to speak through them (1 Kings 22:23). Others are given over to powerful delusions so that they believe a lie, because they refused to love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11). The lying prophet will face a fearful end: God will stretch out his hand against him and destroy him. After God has used him for his own just purpose, God will judge him for his false purpose.

We must remember that God’s judgments are very deep. We are not fit to judge them fully. We may not be able to answer every critic in a way that satisfies him, but a day is coming when God will be shown to be right before the whole world. That will be true here as well. The punishment of the prophet who flatters the hypocrite will match the punishment of the hypocrite who seeks only smooth words (Isaiah 30:10). The blind guide and the blind followers will fall into the same pit.

So God gives them sound counsel to keep them from this terrible judgment: “Repent, and turn away from your idols.” Let what separates them from God also separate them from their idols. Since those idols have turned God’s face against them, they must turn their own faces away from the idols too, not just leave them, but turn from them with disgust and hatred. Turn from them as from things that are truly foul. Then they will be welcome to ask for the Lord’s help. Then they may come and reason together with him.

The good result of all this for the house of Israel is that the false prophets and the false saints will perish together under God’s judgments. By making some people examples, God intends to reform the whole nation, so that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me (Ezekiel 14:11). The punishment of some is meant to warn others away from sin. When we see what happens to people who turn from God, we should be moved to stay close to him.

If the house of Israel no longer goes astray, they will no longer be polluted. Sin is a defiling thing. It makes the sinner hateful in the sight of the pure and holy God, and it also stains the sinner’s own conscience when conscience is awakened. That is why they will no longer be polluted, so that they may be my people and I may be their God. Those whom God brings into covenant, that is, his binding relationship of promise, must first be cleansed from sin’s pollution. Those who are cleansed will not only be saved from ruin, but will also receive all the privileges of God’s people.