Ezekiel14
New International Version
1Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.
2Then the word of the Lord came to me:
3“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?
4Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry.
5I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
6“Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
7“‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself.
8I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9“‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.
10They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him.
11Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
12The word of the Lord came to me:
13“Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals,
14even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15“Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts,
16as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.
17“Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals,
18as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
19“Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals,
20as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.
21“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals!
22Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it.
23You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 14.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Threatenings against hypocrites. (1-11). God's purpose to punish the guilty Jews, but a few should be saved. (12-23).
vv1-11
No outward form or reformation can be acceptable to God, so long as any idol possesses the heart; yet how many prefer their own devices and their own righteousness, to the way of salvation! Men's corruptions are idols in their hearts, and are of their own setting up; God will let them take their course. Sin renders the sinner odious in the eyes of the pure and holy God; and in his own eyes also, whenever conscience is awakened. Let us seek to be cleansed from the guilt and pollution of sins, in that fountain which the Lord has opened.
vv12-23
National sins bring national judgments. Though sinners escape one judgment, another is waiting for them. When God's professing people rebel against him, they may justly expect all his judgments. The faith, obedience, and prayers of Noah prevailed to the saving of his house, but not of the old world. Job's sacrifice and prayer in behalf of his friends were accepted, and Daniel had prevailed for the saving his companions and the wise men of Babylon. But a people that had filled the measure of their sins, was not to expect to escape for the sake of any righteous men living among them; not even of the most eminent saints, who could be accepted in their own case only through the sufferings and righteousness of Christ. Yet even when God makes the greatest desolations by his judgments, he saves some to be monuments of his mercy. In firm belief that we shall approve the whole of God's dealings with ourselves, and with all mankind, let us silence all rebellious murmurs and objections.
Key Words
אֱנוֹשׁ: a man in general (singly or collectively)
זָקֵן: old
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
יָשַׁב: properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
Cross References
Ezekiel 14Parallels the assertion that even supreme intercessors (Moses/Samuel, here Noah/Daniel/Job) cannot save a doomed nation.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Illustrates God's judicial permission of a lying spirit to deceive false prophets as judgment.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Direct verbal link to the curse of becoming a 'sign and a proverb' for rebellion.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The severe warning formula of God setting His face against a sinner and cutting him off.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
NT parallel where God sends strong delusion to those who refuse the truth.
Supported by JFB
Moses' original covenant curse of sending wild beasts to rob them of children and desolate roads.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel account of the elders of Israel coming to sit and inquire of Ezekiel.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies their silver and gold/idolatry explicitly as the 'stumblingblock of their iniquity.'
Supported by JFB
Uses the exact phrase of setting God's face against them in judgment.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Affirms God's sovereignty over both the deceived and the deceiver.
Supported by JFB
Torah foundation for God allowing false prophets to test the loyalty of His people.
Supported by JFB
Pentateuchal source for the judgment of 'breaking the staff of bread' during famine.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jeremiah's parallel list of the sword, famine, and pestilence sent on Jerusalem.
Supported by JFB
Historical example of Job successfully interceding for his friends, contrasted here.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels the remnant remembering God when they go into captivity and seeing their ways.
Supported by Matthew Henry