Evening at the plank door of a mud-brick house: reed mats laid in a half circle in the small courtyard, four pairs of worn sandals at the threshold, a clay lamp lit inside the open door.

False hopes

Ezekiel 14

What do you bring to God that you have never let go of?

23 verses≈ 5 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–3Visions of gloryBy the Kebar, about 593 BC: the throne, the scroll, the watchman
4–7Signs of the siegeA brick, a ration, a razor: the end has come
8–11The glory departsAbout 592 BC: the temple’s abominations, the mark, the glory goes east
12–15False hopesExile acted out, false prophets, a useless vineChapter 14
16–19Parables and lamentsAn unfaithful bride, two eagles, the one who sins
20–24The sword drawnRebellion retold; the siege begins, about 588 BC
25–32The nations judgedAmmon to Egypt: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
33–36A new heartThe city falls; the Good Shepherd; cleansed and made new
37–39Dry bones liveOne people raised up, and Gog of Magog defeated
40–48The LORD is thereAbout 573 BC: the new temple, the river, the land

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

Ezekiel

Ezekiel

Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.

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God

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?

God

Close in a dim mud-brick room: a small carved stone figure of a god half hidden at the back of a wall niche, behind a clay water jar and a folded cloth.

Therefore speak to them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry, so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel. For because of their idols, they are all estranged from Me.’

God

Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations.

Ezekiel 14:6

God

For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.

God

I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

God

But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

God

The same mud-brick wall niche in morning light, empty and swept clean, a lit clay lamp alone in it and a fresh round loaf on the shelf below.

They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer will be the same as that of the prophet— in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Question

Quick question

Look again at the elders who came and sat before Ezekiel.

What did the elders carry with them when they came to Ezekiel?

Four Dire Judgments

God

A storeroom in a Judean house: bare wooden poles across the wall where loaves once hung, a tall clay grain jar beside them cracked and empty, dust on the floor in a shaft of dry light.

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast, then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.

God

God

Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts, then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

God

Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast, then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered.

God

Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast, then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters.

God

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?

God

God

Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it.

God

Evening over a wide, still canal in a flat plain: reed beds and date palms low in the frame, a few lamps lit in low mud-brick houses, a pale empty sky above.

They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all these things within it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

0:11

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

Lord, search my heart for the idols I keep hidden. I cannot lean on anyone else’s righteousness. I come to You and turn. Be my God, and make me Yours. Amen.

Four judgments, three righteous men

Whiteboard

No one’s goodness can cover another. Only God’s mercy spares the survivors.

You’ve experienced

Ezekiel 14

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A verse to carry with you

Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations.

Ezekiel 14:6

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