Ezekiel 14:1-11--Idolatrous Elders Condemned

Ezekiel 14:1-11
English Standard Version

Idolatrous Elders Condemned
14 Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? 4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.

6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the LORD will answer him myself. 8 And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 9 And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— 11 that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord GOD.”

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The LORD now warns Ezekiel that the elders that are gathered together with him are idolaters at heart.  They will not receive the words of his prophecy well because they are words of condemnation for these idolaters at heart.  Their idolatry has led them into all kinds of iniquity (intentional sin that we choose to commit--what we might call "High-handed sins of rebellion").  The LORD is no respecter of persons and will tell anyone who seeks the word of His prophet the same prophecy if their heart is full of idols--they can be rich or poor, strong or week, a leader or a servant.  The LORD's message is one that He hopes will drive some of HIs people to repentance.  He wants His people to return to Him.

The call for repentance starts with the elders of the people that were in front of Ezekiel at that time, but was for all of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.  They are turn away not only from the idols, but also from all the abominable practices they have been engaged in as part of their idol worship and their new "morality" they have found apart from the Law (licentiousness)  The LORD's face is set against any idolaters, even idolaters at heart.  Such people will become a byword and will be cut off from among the people of God (either being dispersed into the Gentile nations that they wanted to be like or being cut off from the land of the living).  This will be a sign to all the faithful who remain not to follow in the footsteps of the wicked.

As for those who seek the words of a false prophet for comfort, the LORD Himself will deceive the false prophets so that they will speak lies to comfort the hearts of the wicked where there is no comfort to be offered.  The false prophet will likewise be destroyed so that he can no longer lead the LORD's people in the way that leads to destruction.  The one making the inquiry of the false prophet will have just as much guilt and punishment as the false prophet himself, because the people knew they were seeking out words that would tickle their ears and soothe their hearts.  They were not looking for the truth.  If they were seeking truth, they would have sought it in the Law that was already given to them.  They would have been coming to Ezekiel as their priest and he would have instructed them in the Law and told them the truth about the consequences for sin and rebellion and called them to repentance, and the people would have listened.  No, they were looking for those who believed they could manifest their will over God's will and that this was a "gift" that was available for the right price.  No such gift exist.  God is sovereign.  The demons that empower those who practice these Dark Arts are inferior to Him in every way--they are created and limited.  He is uncreated and unlimited in His power and authority.  All creation in heaven and on earth is subject to Him and His authority.  One last time in this passage, the LORD calls His people to repent and turn back to Him.