Ezekiel 14

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Chronologically, where should the sermons and symbols of Chapter s 12-14 be placed?

By what symbolic act did Ezekiel portray the deportation of Jerusalem’s inhabitants? How did this action relate to King Zedekiah in particular?

Ezekiel prophesied that King Zedekiah would never see the land of Babylon. How was this prophecy fulfilled?

What positive benefits would result from the shattering of the theological notion that Jerusalem could never be destroyed?

How did Ezekiel portray the fear and astonishment which would befall the inhabitants of Jerusalem when the city came under siege?

What did the people mean by the proverb the days are prolonged and every vision has perished? How did Ezekiel respond to this proverb?

What second proverb was common among the Jews? How did Ezekiel respond to this proverb?

How were Jerusalem’s prophets like foxes among the ruins?

What was the wall which surrounded God’s people? What should a prophet have done when that wall began to collapse?

Were the false prophets sincere in their predictions, or were they playing the role of hypocrites?

What punishment would befall the false prophets for presuming to speak in the name of God?

In what sense do God’s modern-day spokesmen whitewash the wall about God’s people?

What objects were used by the prophetesses in their magic rituals? What is thought to have been the purpose of these objects?

What punishment would befall the prophetesses?

What two objections to divine judgment were raised by Ezekiel’s auditors? How did Ezekiel answer these objections?

What threat is made against those who were half-hearted in their commitment to the Lord?

In what sense had God enticed the prophets into their delusions?

What three men are named as being righteous men and great intercessors? Is there any significance in the order in which they are named?

What four types of judgment were about to fall upon Jerusalem?

Ezekiel 14:1-11

IV. TWO OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 14:1-23

In chapter 14 Ezekiel deals with two theoretical objections which might be raised against his announcement of Jerusalem’s judgment. The first is this How can God punish His people for sins into which they have been led by men claiming to be prophets? (Ezekiel 14:1-11). The second objection raises the question of how God could destroy the Holy City when there were still some righteous men within (Ezekiel 14:12-23).

A. Deception by the False Prophets 14:1-11

TRANSLATION

(1) And certain men of the elders of Israel came unto me, and sat before me. (2) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (3) Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and the stumblingblock of their iniquity they have placed before their face. Should I ever permit them to make inquiry of Me? (4) Therefore, speak unto them, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and places the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and comes unto the prophet I the LORD will respond to him that comes according to the multitude of his idols; (5) in order that I may take the house of Israel in their heart because all of them have been turned aside from Me through their idols. (6) Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Return and turn yourselves[298] from your idols and from all your abominations turn away your face; (7) because every man of the house of Israel and of the stranger who dwells in Israel who has turned aside from Me, and erected his idols in his heart, and has set the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and comes unto the prophet to inquire by him of Me I the LORD will respond to him by Myself. (8) And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him a sign and proverb; and I will cut him off from the midst of My people, that you may know that I am the LORD, (9) And as for the prophet, when he is enticed and speaks a word, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel. (10) And they shall bear their iniquity, the iniquity of the prophet shall be like that of the one who inquires; (11) that the house of Israel might not again go astray from Me, nor defile themselves with all their transgressions; but they shall be My people, and I shall be their God (oracle of the Lord GOD).

[298] Lit., turn them, i.e., your faces referred to in the next clause

COMMENTS

False prophets could not and would not exist without people willing to patronize them. Ezekiel now turns his attention to the masses who had ears itching to hear pious platitudes and flattery. In an alien land and far from the Jerusalem Temple the exiles faced the temptation to engage in idolatry while at the same time not abandoning Yahwism. To this situation Ezekiel addresses himself in chapter 14. During the period of the exile the elders were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the nation. The elders of Israel[299] now came to Ezekiel to seek a message from the Lord. They were probably anxious to be enlightened about the future of their homeland. In sitting before the prophet the elders were acknowledging him as a genuine teacher from God (Ezekiel 14:1).

[299] Blackwood (EPH, p. 99) thinks these elders of Israel are the same as the elders of Judah mentioned in Ezekiel 8:1. Plumptre (PC, p. 247) thinks there may have been two groups of elders, These elders would then be a deputation from the earlier group of exiles taken captive by the Assyrians.

How shocked those elders must have been when the prophet through revelation from God disclosed the spiritual condition of their hearts. They were guilty of setting Up their idols in their hearts. This does not necessarily mean that these elders were actually worshiping idols, but that they were longing after the old pagan practices which they had observed prior to the exile. Their thoughts were influenced by magic spells, divination and the like. This internalized idolatry was a stumblingblock which these elders had willfully set before themselves.[300] No special divine direction would be forthcoming for men who do not exclusively devote their heart to the Lord. To express this fact, God used a rhetorical question couched in the most emphatic terms. Should God allow Himself to be inquired of by hypocrites? A strong negation is implied (Ezekiel 14:3).

[300] The phrase, the stumblingblock of their iniquity, is peculiar to Ezekiel 7:19; Ezekiel 14:3-4, Ezekiel 7:18; Ezekiel 30; Ezekiel 44:12) and usually refers to idols. For God’s people at this stage of history idols were the chief occasion of sin.

Because idolatry was so firmly rooted in their hearts, these elders need not expect an oral answer from the Lord through His prophet. Rather, the Lord Himself will bring Himself to answer,[301] i.e., He will answer personally, not through an intermediary. He will answer them by deeds by acts of judgment. Furthermore, the judgment which He metes out to each individual will be according to the multitude of his idols (Ezekiel 14:4).

[301] The verb is Niphal or reflexive.

God’s great priority was to take the house of Israel in their heart, i.e., to win complete allegiance from His people. All of them, like the hypocritical elders, had divided hearts hearts still estranged from God because of idolatry (Ezekiel 14:5). By exposing the paganistic inclinations of the elders, and by bringing judgment upon them for their lack of full commitment to Him, the Lord would force all members of the house of Israel to acknowledge Him alone as God.[302]

[302] Others interpret the verb take in Ezekiel 14:5 to be equivalent to expose or hold responsible. Still others see Ezekiel 14:5 simply as a threat that the hypocrites of the nation would be caught Up in a snare of their own making.

As always in the economy of God, a call for repentance precedes the execution of judgment. They must completely abandon their idols which are abominations in the sight of God (Ezekiel 14:6). God now says to the visitors what He previously said to Ezekiel. Those who play the role of the hypocrite, who harbor idolatrous inclinations in their heart, will receive a message from God when they appear before a prophet; but it will not be the kind of message they expect. Instead of a spoken answer by the mouth of the prophet, there will be an answer in the discipline of life. This applies to the stranger that sojourns in Israel Gentile converts carried away by Nebuchadnezzar as well as to native born Israelites (Ezekiel 14:7). Foreigners who lived in the Israelite theocracy were as much bound by the laws against idolatry as native born citizens.[303]

[303] Cf. Leviticus 17:10; Leviticus 20:1-2.

Ezekiel 14:8 sets forth four things which God will do to show His rejection of those whose heart is divided regarding Him:

1. He would set His face against that man, i.e., He would assume a posture of hostility toward that hypocrite.

2. God would make that man a sign and proverb, i.e., He would inflict upon that man an exemplary punishment which would become proverbial and act as a deterrent to others inclined toward idolatry (cf. Deuteronomy 28:37).

3. God would cut off that man from the midst of His people, i.e., excommunicate him from the people of God.[304]

[304] The Law of Moses also set forth the first and third penalties which are threatened here. See Leviticus 17:10; Leviticus 20:3; Leviticus 20:5-6,

4. When men witnessed this righteous judgment they would recognize that Yahweh had intervened in the affairs of men. Some so-called prophets did give responsive oracles to hypocritical inquirers. But such men were false prophets. It must have been hard for people in the closing decades of Old Testament kingdom history to distinguish between true and false prophets. Several tests are suggested here and there in the Scriptures, and here is yet another such test. These hypocrites sitting before Ezekiel knew their own hearts. They knew that inwardly they had not surrendered their idols. Since God would not give guiding counsel to such people, the prophet who pretended to do so was not inspired of God. The prophets who were causing such confusion in Jerusalem and Babylon had been enticed. God declares here that He had enticed that prophet, i.e., He had permitted the enticement to take place. This does not mean that the prophet who spoke falsely was not a free moral agent. He bore complete responsibility for his actions. The idea here is that men who reject the truth of God have opened their mind for such judicial enticement to false thinking.[305] One must distinguish here between the permissive and active will of God. Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and yet the Scripture declares that God hardened his heart as well. Part of the punishment which God metes out to sinners is that He permits them to be led into ever greater sin. When men obstinately refuse the truth, God gives them over to falsehood. These prophets had been enticed to falsehood, and shortly they would experience divine judgment. God would stretch out His hand against them, and they would be destroyed from the midst of Israel (Ezekiel 14:9).[306]

[305] For Yahweh as a deceiver of prophets see 1 Kings 22:19-23 and Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:11. Secondary causation has here been eliminated as in Isaiah 45:7 and Amos 3:6.

[306] Some think that destroyed from the midst of My people (Ezekiel 14:9) is synonymous with cut off from the midst of My people (Ezekiel 14:8). It seems, however, that the former refers to death and the latter to excommunication

God is no respecter of persons when it comes to judgment. Both the prophet and the citizen who came to seek the counsel of these charlatans would have to bear their iniquity, i.e., suffer the same punishment (Ezekiel 14:10). The deceivers and those who cried out to be deceived would alike experience the judgment of God. The purpose of this divine judgment was not so much revenge as it was correction. The punishment was to serve as a deterrent so that God’s people would no longer go astray from Him to serve idols and thus defile themselves by such transgressions.[307] By thus discouraging defilement by idolatry, God is doing what is necessary to promote His relationship with His people. Free from the taint of idolatry they could be His people and He could be their God (Ezekiel 14:11). At this point hope clear and radiant shines through the otherwise gloomy discourse of Ezekiel. The prophet is a realistic optimist. He cannot deny the divine forecast of stormy judgment. But he sees a silver lining in those dark clouds. Some ultimate good would come of it. God’s eternal purpose would not be frustrated by the collapse of earthly Jerusalem.

[307] The priestly interest of Ezekiel is evident from the statement that transgressions (conscious rebellion against divine law) render one unclean, i.e., defile one.

Ezekiel 14:12-23

B. Presence of Righteous Men 14:12-23

TRANSLATION

(12) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (13) Son of man, when a land sins against Me by trespassing grievously, and I stretch out My hand against it, and break its staff of bread, and send against it a famine, and cut off from it man and beast; (14) though these three men Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, they would deliver only their own life through their righteousness (oracles of the Lord GOD). (15) If I cause a wild beast to pass through the land, and they bereave it, and it becomes so desolate that no man passes through her because of the beasts; (16) though these three men were in its midst, as I live (oracle of the Lord GOD), they would not deliver sons nor daughters; they alone would be delivered, but the land would become a desolation. (17) Or if I bring a sword against that land, and I say, Let a sword pass through the land, so that I cut off from it man and beast; (18) though these three men were in its midst, as I live (oracle of the Lord GOD), they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, for they alone would be delivered. (19) Or if I sent a plague against that land, and I poured out My wrath upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast; (20) though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live (oracle of the Lord GOD) they would not be able to deliver son nor daughter; they would deliver only their own life by their righteousness. (21) Because thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send My four calamitous judgments against Jerusalem sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence to cut off from it man and beast. (22) And if a remnant is left in it who are brought forth, sons and daughters, behold they shall come forth unto you, and you shall see their way and their deeds, and you shall be comforted concerning the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem, all that I have brought against her. (23) And they shall comfort you, when you see their way and their deeds, that you may know that I have not done all that I did against her without cause (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

Here Ezekiel addresses himself to a question that surely must have been on his mind as well as the mind of his auditors. Would not the presence of righteous men in Jerusalem spare that city from the threatened destruction? Abraham in his mighty intercessory prayer (Genesis 18:23 ff.) had used this as a ground to plead for the deliverance of Sodom and Gomorrah. But Israel was beyond the help of any human mediation. The presence of a righteous soul here or there cannot be a lucky religious charm, a community insurance policy which guarantees, if not immunity from judgment, at least a softened blow. So grievously had the land of Judah transgressed against God that not even the presence of super-saints like Noah, Daniel, and Job[308] would be able to deliver the land. The doctrine of personal responsibility here is carried to its logical conclusion. Judgment for unrepentant sinners is inevitable.

[308] Feinberg (PE, p. 81) suggests that the order of the names is climactic rather than chronological Noah delivered his family with himself; Daniel his friends; but Job, not even his own children.

Because Noah was a righteous man he and his family escaped the universal destruction by the Great Flood. Because of his steadfast loyalty to God, Daniel[309] survived deportation to Babylon and saved his friends from a royal edict to slay the royal magicians. Eventually he was elevated to high office in the Babylonian government. Though but a lad at that time, Daniel had already established himself as a pious man of God and a folk hero. Yet he had not been able to use his influence with Nebuchadnezzar to spare the people of Judah. Job was spared while his wayward children met with fatal accidents. In none of these cases did the righteousness of these great men of God induce God to spare the wicked.[310] And so it is that Noah, Daniel and Job would only be able to save their own lives through their righteousness (Ezekiel 14:14; Ezekiel 14:16; Ezekiel 14:18). Sons and daughters of the sinful inhabitants would die (Ezekiel 14:16; Ezekiel 14:18; Ezekiel 14:20). The combined goodness of all three men could not save Israel from divine destruction. As if the mere declaration of this fact in Ezekiel 14:14 were not sufficient, God three times in this passage underscores the solemnity of this declaration by repeating it in the context of an oath. As I live (Ezekiel 14:16; Ezekiel 14:18; Ezekiel 14:20) is a familiar oath formula in the Old Testament. God swears that under no condition can the righteousness of the most righteous men avert the destruction of a sinful nation.

[309] The notion that Ezekiel refers to a fifteenth century Phoenician hero named Daniel rather than the famous Biblical personage of the same name is common among those who do not accept the authenticity of the Book of Daniel.

[310] A similar argument is used by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:1).

Resorting to emphasis by repetition Ezekiel pounded home his point that Noah, Daniel and Job would not be able to deliver the land. In Ezekiel 14:13-20 he enumerates four types of judgment which God might on occasion send against His people:

1. Famine is frequently mentioned in Scripture as a means by which God punished His people. When God would break the staff of bread[311] (i.e., bring about a famine), innocent beasts who inhabited the land as well as sinful men would thereby be cut off, i.e., die (Ezekiel 14:13). Yet there was no deliverance for the sinful land merely because innocent animals suffered.

[311] Man’s life is sustained by bread even as his weight is sustained by a staff.

2. Evil beasts[312] might be brought against the land, attacking and destroying the inhabitants, bereaving them by robbing them of their children. Out of fear, the land would be deserted and become desolate. Men of other countries would loathe to pass through the land (Ezekiel 14:15). Still there would be no deliverance for the sinful land.

[312] Some have interpreted the evil beasts to be Gentile invaders. But there is no reason these cannot be literal beasts.

3. The sword (i.e., military invasion) might be used against the land. Such action would involve the indiscriminate slaughter of man and beast (Ezekiel 14:17). From such slaughter there would be no deliverance.

4. Pestilence might be the means of punishment. God’s fury poured out upon the land would manifest itself in blood, i.e., a high death rate. Still there would be no deliverance.

Ezekiel has set forth in Ezekiel 14:12-20 the general principle that the presence of even the most godly men cannot save a land from divine judgment. In Ezekiel 14:20 the prophet makes the application to Jerusalem. If when only one of the above mentioned punishments is inflicted upon a land the righteous are unable to save the wicked, how much more true will this be in the case of Jerusalem which must suffer all four (Ezekiel 14:21). The number four conveys the idea of completeness and universality because it reflects the notion of the four points of the compass.

Ezekiel 14:22 asserts that a remnant would survive the fourfold catastrophe which was to befall Jerusalem. They would be brought forth, i.e., carried into exile. Their survival should not be interpreted as indicating their righteousness. Far from it! These escapees would serve as an object lesson. When the earlier exiles observed the character and conduct of those who later would join them, they would be comforted concerning the calamity which Jerusalem experienced. They would acquiesce in the righteousness of the judgment of God. They would realize that God had no alternative but to destroy that city. His punishments had not been arbitrary or excessive (Ezekiel 14:22). Indirectly the future captives would comfort[313] those who were already in Babylon (Ezekiel 14:23). The kind of comfort referred to here is that which comes about when a person learns new facts which throw new light on what was perceived to be a disastrous situation.

[313] The Hebrew nacham does not mean comfort in sorrow, but comfort out of sorrow.