Deeper Commentary

 

Ezekiel 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me- They could have been the elders from Judah sent at the time of Jer. 51:59; but probably they were the elders of the Jewish community with Ezekiel in captivity. They are called "the elders of Judah" in Ez. 8:1; 20:1. But Ezekiel seems to intentionally use the terms Judah and Israel interchangeably, because it was the prophetic intention that the restoration from exile would finally end the division between them. They were to be bound together, as we should be, by the wonder of a common experience of repentance, entry to the new covenant, the gift of the Spirit, and participation jointly in the things of grace resulting in the restored Kingdom of God. These elders apparently came to ask things from God through Ezekiel (:3); they had recently placed Ezekiel under house arrest and bound him. But now they come seeking God's word from him. This is typical human behaviour; acting aggressively toward those whom we in another part of our lives recognize to be genuine servants of God.

Ezekiel 14:2 The word of Yahweh came to me saying- This was in response to the 'coming' of the elders in :1.

Ezekiel 14:3 Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their wickedness before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?- As mentioned earlier, it is incorrect to assume that the Jews quit idolatry in Babylon. They did not; it took a few generations after the restoration for them to do so. The Jews in Babylon with Ezekiel had "their idols", and yet God perceived that the essence of their idolatry was in their heart, their mental attitude. They, like many today, would never make spiritual progress because those attitudes were a stumblingblock to them, and before their face in their mental vision was their idolatry. God would not be inquired of by those who psychologically were focused elsewhere, despite their apparent desire to hear His word. And this is why so many complain that the Bible 'does nothing' for them and they find God somewhat unresponsive and distant. Indeed He will be, if our mental focus is upon other gods.

Ezekiel 14:4 Therefore speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his wickedness before his face, and comes to the prophet; I Yahweh will answer him according to the multitude of his idols- God would not be inquired of by these people (:3) but instead would allow their core beliefs and psychological focus be their answers. They were to lay stumblingblocks before themselves; but the contemporary Jer. 6:21 along with Ez. 3:21 says that God would lay the stumblingblocks before them. He confirmed them in the path they chose. Ez. 7:19 defines the stumblingblock as being specifically their love of wealth. Ez. 44:12 says that it was the priests who caused the people to stumble upon the stumblingblocks of idols just prior to the exile. Putting this information together, we can conclude that the underlying mental, spiritual reason for their idolatry was because they thought the fertility gods would give them immediate wealth, and the avaricious priesthood encouraged the people in this. For they too stood to benefit materially from it. Although physical idols may not be our temptation in these days, the spiritual essence of idolatry as portrayed here remains; for our society is focused upon wealth, and this is the stumblingblock which blocks mental vision, it is 'before his face', it is the idol of the majority of hearts.

Ezekiel 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols- Israel had not become atheists nor had they formally rejected Yahweh. The elders had come to Ezekiel in order to hear God's word. But the essence of their literal idolatry was a mental attitude by which they were estranged from God. "Estranged" means literally to become as a stranger or Gentile; and they had done this through giving themselves to strange gods (Jer. 3:13 s.w.) and therefore they were to be taken into an estranged or strange, Gentile land (Jer. 5:19). By doing so they had estranged themselves from Yahweh by as it were marrying other gods (Ez. 16:32 s.w.).

Ezekiel 14:6 Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Return and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations- Quitting the literal idols is paralleled with no longer having the psychological idols before their faces, as they had in :4. If they 'returned' from those idols they had in Babylon, then they would be returned to Zion. They were restored, by grace, even though they didn't return from those idols. But they refused to respond even to that initiative. The question is what we turn our faces towards, the overall direction of our lives, the passion of our hearts- rather than individuals acts of obedience or disobedience, spiritual success or failure.

Ezekiel 14:7 For each one of the house of Israel or of the foreigners who live in Israel- To "live in Israel" can as well be translated "who sojourn among Israel". The context refers to Jews in Babylonian captivity, and perhaps there some Gentiles had come to 'sojourn among' them. Perhaps they were Gentiles placed in the same camps by the Chebar river.

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 Yahweh will answer him by myself- There was to be no response from Ezekiel; God would answer these people directly by condemning them. The words of the 'answer' in :8 are in fact quotations from the law of Moses about the punishment for idolatry, so the idea may be that God will not give any fresh answer as He has already answered in His word. But the LXX has "I the Lord will answer him, according to the things wherein he is entangled". The answer would be from their idols, and they would follow that answer to their condemnation. Their 'inquiry', coming to a prophet like Ezekiel, was at variance with the fact they had separated themselves from God by their mental fixation upon other gods. They 'came to' God externally, when they had gone away from Him and separated themselves from Him. Such contradictions are common amongst those who are solely religious and not spiritual.

Ezekiel 14:8 I will set My face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb- This is a quotation from Lev. 20:3,6 about what should be done to those in Israel who worshipped idols. Clearly literal idolatry was going on amongst the exiles, although the essence of idolatry is within the mind, as the preceding verses made clear. See on :7.

And I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- Being cut off from God's people is a common threat in the law of Moses. It could mean premature death by direct Divine intervention, or at least having no descendants; or that God would remove the person from the book of life; or it may solely refer to condemnation at the last day. We note from the Leviticus passages which speak about this that it is always God who removes members from His people; and not some disciplinary process amongst the person's brethren and fellow believers. This sets an important precedent for the church today, who have no power to excommunicate anybody from the body of true believers.

Ezekiel 14:9 If the prophet is deceived when he speaks a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel- Angels can give those who are closing their minds to the clear truth of the word the temptation to believe wrong things, in a similar way to which God through the Angels hardened Pharaoh's heart as a result of his own already hardened heart, and also were a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets in 1 Kings 22. Jeremiah says that "O LORD Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived (mg. 'enticed')" (Jer. 20:7); although Jeremiah was not actually deceived in the prophecy he was given, it seems that he sensed there was a possibility that he had been, which is backed up by the Ezekiel reference. In  1 Kings 22:22, the Angels made the false prophets of Ahab to prophesy falsely. This fact is picked up in the New Testament by Paul saying it was possible for an Angel from Heaven to preach a wrong Gospel to them (Gal. 1:8). If it was fundamentally impossible for an Angel to do this, why does Paul say it? See on 2 Thess. 2:2; 1 Tim. 4:1; Is. 19:13,14; Ez. 20; 1 Jn. 4:1.

Ezekiel 14:10 They shall bear their wickedness- To carry sin means to bear and experience condemnation for sin. In this sense the Lord Jesus carried our sins; His death was a representative death for all those in Him. And thereby the punishment for our sins, death, was carried by Him in His death "for us". Unique amongst men, the Lord did not sin, and therefore was raised from that death, and thereby becomes the path to death and resurrection for all who in faith are baptized into Him and abide in the spirit of His death and resurrection.

The wickedness of the prophet shall be even as the wickedness of him who seeks him- It was not simply that the people were innocent and had been misled by the false prophets. There was an unconscious mutuality between people and false prophet; for the prophet said what he knew the people wanted to hear, and they came to him for confirmation in their evil way. Therefore all sectors of society were punished.

Ezekiel 14:11 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 Yahweh- The Divine intention was that Israel would never again go astray because the false prophets and influences were to be destroyed. But they did; the intended restoration and reestablishment of God's Kingdom in Israel didn't happen as it could have done. Being God's people and His being their God is the language of covenant relationship; a new covenant was offered to the exiles, but for the most part they refused it.

Ezekiel 14:12 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying- See on Ez. 12:1.

Ezekiel 14:13 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- This is one of a series of allusions in this section to the curses for breaking the covenant in Lev. 26. The connections are: "trespass" = Lev. 26:40; 'breaking the staff of bread' = Lev. 26:26; "wild animals" (:15) = Lev. 26:22; animals depopulating the land (:15) = Lev. 26:22; cutting off man and animal (:13,17,19) = Lev. 26:22; the land desolate (:16) = Lev. 26:33; a sword upon the land (:17) = Lev. 26:25; the sword passing through the land (:17) = Lev. 26:6; the plague (:19) = Lev. 26:25; the four judgments of :21 = Lev. 26:21,22. The old covenant was broken, by Israel; and this paves the way for God's offer of a totally new covenant to them in Ez. 20 and elsewhere. Had they built and operated the temple system as commanded in Ez. 40-48, they would thereby have accepted the terms of that new covenant; which was markedly different to the law of Moses.

Ezekiel 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord Yahweh- For the sake of our prayers, in some cases sins of others can be forgiven when otherwise they wouldn’t be; see on Mk. 2:5  For the sake of our conversion of our erring brethren, they can be saved from eternal death and have their sins covered. The Lord’s prayer says as much- we ask God to forgive us our  sins; not ‘me my sins’. Likewise only once Israel had passed a certain level of sinfulness was Jeremiah told to cease prayer for them (Jer. 7:16 cp. 11:14). Until that point, God seems to have been willing to read Jeremiah’s prayer for them as their prayer (his “cry” was seen as theirs). And Ez. 14:14,18 imply the same- Noah, Daniel and Job could have delivered Israel up to a certain point, but they were so hardened in sin at Ezekiel’s time that even those men wouldn’t have saved a nation which otherwise, for a lower level of sin as it were, they could otherwise have saved. If we have any grain of love in us, we will likewise dedicate ourselves to fervent prayer for our brethren, seeing it does have effect and validity within certain boundaries.

Daniel was contemporary with Ezekiel and would have been known for his deliverance of his friends. But he is not named chronologically last. The order of mention is therefore significant. Noah saved his three sons and their wives; Daniel saved somewhat fewer, just his three friends; but Job could not save his own sons and daughters.

Ezekiel 14:15 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- See on :13. The "If I cause..." suggests that the judgments in mind were still potential; they could have been averted by the repentance of the exiles.

Ezekiel 14:16 Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate- The emphasis perhaps is upon those three men being "in it", within the land. The idea seems to be that even if such righteous men were found within the land of Judah, they could not avert the judgments planned- but the repentance of the exiles with Ezekiel could do so. This would be in line with the implications of this noted so far throughout the prophecy. This was why Ezekiel was telling the captives in Babylon in such detail about the fate of Jerusalem and the Jews still in the land. The exiles could affect the potential outcomes for that group by their repentance.

Ezekiel 14:17 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- See on :13. As noted on :15, the "If..." suggests that this level of destruction was still not concretely decided upon. And indeed it seems that God did to some extent relent. For not all men and animals were cut off. There is archaeological evidence that agricultural activity continued in Palestine after the sacking of Jerusalem. Indeed, the inhabitants brought grain offerings to the site of the temple (Jer. 41:5).

Ezekiel 14:18 Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves- I suggested on :16 that the emphasis perhaps is upon those three men being "in it", within the land. The idea seems to be that even if such righteous men were found within the land of Judah, they could not avert the judgments planned- but the repentance of the exiles with Ezekiel could do so.

Ezekiel 14:19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My anger on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal- See on :13. As noted on :15, the "If..." suggests that this level of destruction was still not concretely decided upon. And indeed it seems that God did to some extent relent. For not all men and animals were cut off. There is archaeological evidence that agricultural activity continued in Palestine after the sacking of Jerusalem. Indeed, the inhabitants brought grain offerings to the site of the temple (Jer. 41:5).

Ezekiel 14:20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness- I suggested on :16 that the emphasis perhaps is upon those three men being "in it", within the land. The idea seems to be that even if such righteous men were found within the land of Judah, they could not avert the judgments planned- but the repentance of the exiles with Ezekiel could do so. It is worth noting that Ezekiel spells "Daniel" slightly differently to how the word occurs elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. Some have suggested a reference to the king Daniel mentioned in Ugaritic texts who was famed for his wisdom. But the context of saving others by personal righteousness seems to point to the Biblical Daniel.

Ezekiel 14:21 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send My four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and savage animals, and the plague, to cut off from it man and animal!- See on :13. These are four similar judgements to those ministered by the four living creatures in Rev. 6 and by the four Angel chariots of Zech. 6. There is reason to think that these creatures and chariots represent Angels; so it is worth speculating that whenever a group of four judgements are mentioned, there is a reference to the four cherubim Angels bringing them. Ezek. 6:15,17 mentions the same four judgements as 14:21, and describes them as "the evil arrows" sent by God- His "Angels of evil" (Ps. 78:49)? The context in Ez. 14 is God saying that even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the land, they would not stop the judgements coming (v. 14,20). This seems to be directly referring to the Angels deciding to bring their judgements on Sodom (which typifies Jerusalem- Is. 1:10) despite a handful of righteous being there (Gen. 18:24). It is even possible that the "noisome beasts" of Ez. 14:15 which were to spoil the land in judgement are the four beasts/ living creatures of Dan. 7 controlling the various nations used to execute these judgements.

Ezekiel 14:22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a few who shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters. They shall come forth 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- The prophetic message to the exiles was "Comfort My people!" (Is. 40:1). Yet this comfort is that spoken of here in Ez. 14:22,23, where we read that the exiles would be comforted when they recognized the evil of Judah's ways and recognized that the judgment upon her had been just. But Is. 40 appears to be a message of unconditional comfort to the exiles- without specifically demanding their repentance. But even then, they still failed to accept it and respond; they preferred to stay in Babylon.

Ezekiel 14:23 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 Yahweh- The arrival of the final group of exiles was intended to elicit repentance in the group who were already there. They were intended to quit their position that the land and people of God were suffering unjustly, and to be provoked thereby to repentance. And yet they didn't. God has so many potential plans and hopes for us His people which don't come about. This is the greatest tragedy of the cosmos; and yet we who do seek to respond, albeit in weakness, are therefore His special joy.