Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 14

Verse 1

Eze 14:1. This action was done before and is explained at Eze 8: 1.

Verse 2

Eze 14:2. As these elders were sitting before Ezekiel, the Lord delivered another message which the prophet was to give over to the hearers. Whether any or ail of them were guilty of the things to be charged or not, the information was timely.

Verse 3

Eze 14:3, These elders had come to the prophet on the pretence of wanting some information from God. The heart is the intelligent part of a man and from which the motives of his actions spring, (See Mat 15:19.) These men sitting before Ezekiel could not always have an idol present before them, but their heart was devoted to them and thus they had set up their idols in their heart. Should 1 he en- gtiired of by them means that such men had no right to seek any com-munication from God.

Verse 4

Eze 14:4. God would not recognize such men in the usual manner, that is, through the established service of a prophet, with the expectation of obtaining any favor at his hands,. Instead, 1-Ie proposed to take charge of the case and handle the pretenders directly as they deserved as regarded such treatment that was coming to them.

Verse 5

Eze 14:5. Since these men bad set up their idols in their heart, that would be the place for God to make his attack. Such is the meaning of take the house of Israel in their own heart which He declared would be done.

Verse 6

Eze 14:6. This verse should be considered in connection with verse 4, It all means that God would answer these pretended enquirers through the prophet to some extent, but the answer would not be as a recognition of the rights of the evil men, for they were not entitled to such notice. But instead of this, the prophet was told to admonish them to repent and give up their love of idols.

Verse 7

Eze 14:7. This verse explains in what sense the Lord would answer by himself as lie announced in a preceding verse; it was to be by some direct judgment upon the wicked people of Israel. This was to be a practical rebuke to them because they thought they could by-pass Him and get tbeir information through the prophet.

Verse 8

Eze 14:8. Make him, a sign denotes that God would bring some humiliating punishment upon the man who had tried to ignore Him. This punishment would make him an example (“sign”) to others and cause him to be the object of their sneers.

Verse 9

Eze 14:9. I the Lord have deceived that prophet applies to a case where a man has so persisted in his false teaching that God would suffer him to believe Ills own falsehood. The result of such a course would be his own undoing. Paul reveals a similar attitude of God toward the followers of the “man of sin” in 2Th 2:11.

Verse 10

Eze 14:10-11. The most important thought in this verse is the joint responsibility of the false prophet and those who go to him for information. The passage declares that the punishment of the one will be even as that of him who seeketh unto him.

Verse 12

Eze 14:12-13, This passage again gives an explanation of the Lord’s statement to the prophet that he would answer the people by himself. He determined to punish the land by a shortage of the needs of life, this judgment to be considered to be against the country as a whole.

Verse 14

Eze 14:14. When general calamities are brought providentially on communities. the Lord provides special care for those who are personally innocent. But even they cannot extend the favor done because of their own virtues to those who are unrighteous; such is the teaching of this verse. It is another phase of the principle that responsibility is strictly individual as far as it pertains to moral conduct.

Verse 15

Eze 14:15. Noisome is from a Hebrew word that means "evil or bad," and here it is applied to beasts that are fierce and destructive, God sometimes used such means to punish persons who were guilty of wrong, (See 1Ki 13:24; 2Ki 2:24.)

Verse 16

Eze 14:16. This verse is identical in thought with verse 14.

Verse 17

Eze 14:17. The Lord brought the sword upon the land by having a foreign army to make a hostile attack, This has been done on numerous occasions in the history of Israel, such as the Assyrians in 2 Kings 17 and the Babylonians in chapters 24 and 26 of the same book.

Verse 18

Eze 14:18. The same principle of individuality is taught here as in verse 14.

Verse 19

Eze 14:19, A prominent instance of using a pestilence as a punishment Is recorded in 2Sa 24:15.

Verse 20

Eze 14:20. Once more the thought in verse It is repeated here.

Verse 21

Eze 14:21. Famine, pestilence and the sword were frequently threatened as a punishment upon Israel. In this verse another instrument is named, the noisome (bad) beasts. This would be especially applicable where the land In general was to be penalized, since wild beasts would not have much access to the citizens of the city.

Verse 22

Eze 14:22. The remnant consisted of the number left after the ravages of the captivity had done their work, and the record of it is in Ezr 2:64.

Verse 23

Eze 14:23. When all of the sad experiences have been suffered by the people of Israel, they will be able to look back over the history of their national conduct. When they do so and recall also the many warnings they were given but which were not heeded, they will realize that God did not punish them without cause.