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Ezekiel 14 and 15: Idolatry and Judgment

We left off last week describing false prophets. They look good on the outside but areunstable on the inside. This week we peek into the idolatry of the elders.Idolatry has been defined as anything that takes the place of the Lord. It can be as big asworshiping idols or as little as making your family first instead of God. Sometimes it is blatant, sometimes idolatry sneaks in without a person being aware. After seeing the judgment God is placing on the people of Israel, many of the elders gathered aroundEzekiel to seek advice from God. But unlike our human eyes, God sees individuals fromthe inside out. God knew these elders who were coming to Ezekiel seeking advice werenot living a life of faith.Jeremiah 7:8-11“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commitadultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have notknown, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name,and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has thishouse, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, Imyself have seen it, declares the Lord.God is telling the remnant, how dare you claim you are delivered and come before me inthis holy place when at the same time you are praying to idols.

God answers the elders in this way:

1.God will expose their deepest sinful thoughts.2.They will be separated from God.3.He tells the elders in Ezekiel 14:6 they need to repent first.If the elders do not repent and are seduced to speak falsely, they will suffer along with thedeceived. God also told them even if great men lived during their time, they could notstop the judgment of Israel.

Ezekiel 14:13-14 And the word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, when aland sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it andbreak its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man andbeast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they woulddeliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.

God promises

1. Famine - Ezekiel 14:132. Desolation - Ezekiel 14:153. War - Ezekiel 14:174. Pestilence - Ezekiel 14:19But to answer Ezekiel’s previous prayers, he reminds Ezekiel that He promises to reservea remnant (Ezekiel 14:22-23). A small number who stayed behind originally (aka "badfigs") will join those already in captivity. When the captives see these new captives, theywill be reminded that God is faithful and just. (Daniel 9:14). Faithful because He isdoing what he said he was going to do. At first many people believed during this timethat God would never allow the city to fall or the temple to be desecrated. But when thecaptives saw some of the people who chose to stay now join them, the first set of captivesrealized everything is happening just as God said it would.Moving to Ezekiel 15 we see the first of three parables that are used to confirm the factthat Israel would not escape judgment. Do you get the feeling God wanted to make surethe people “get it?”Ezekiel 15 (Parable of the Useless Vine)

“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch thatis among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make anything? Dopeople take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? 4 Behold, it is given to the fire forfuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is ituseful for anything? 5 Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. Howmuch less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used foranything! 6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among thetrees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up theinhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them. Though they escapefrom the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the Lord,when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because theyhave acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Just as a vine is useless if it produces no fruit, without fruit it is good only for lumber andfirewood. God is telling the people because Israel is not bearing fruit He will destroy it by casting it into the fire and being consumed. This would make the land desolate.(this prophesy was fulfilled in 2 Chronicles 36:11-21)