Chapter 14

1 God answereth idolaters according to their own heart. 6 They are exhorted to repent, for fear of judgments, by means of seduced prophets. 12 God’s irrevocable sentence of famine, 15 of noisome beasts, 17 of the sword, 19 and of pestilence. 22 A remnant shall be reserved for example of others.

1. Elders of Israel. Probably not to be distinguished from the elders of Judah mentioned in ch. 8:1. The existing nation was becoming known as Israel, though where distinction was intended the designation Judah was retained. The object of inquiry is not mentioned, nor is it even expressly stated that the elders made any inquiry. It appears to have been their custom to sit before the prophet, awaiting any message that might be sent to him from the Lord (see ch. 33:31).

3. Idols. Heb. gillulim, a favorite word of Ezekiel (see on ch. 6:4). The LXX has dianoeµmata, “thoughts [of their hearts],” perhaps to express the yearning after the idolatry of former times. Instructed by the Spirit, the prophet read the hearts of those who sat before him. He was probably not striking at open idolatry among the captives, but rather at the sinful condition and alienation of their hearts.

Stumblingblock. Heb. mikshol, “a means [or occasion] of stumbling,” “an obstacle.” Here, the occasion that leads to iniquity.

At all. In the Hebrew the emphatic iteration of the verb makes the question imply a strongly negative answer.

4. That cometh. This is the reading of the text according to Masoretic tradition. The Hebrew text itself is obscure. The Targums read “by myself.” This idea is supported by the form of the verb for “answer,” which may convey the reflexive idea, showing that the Lord will answer by Himself, and not the prophet.

No man can hope fully to know what God would have him do unless his own heart is truly submissive to the divine will. This is because an unregenerate heart, uncontrolled by the Holy Spirit, cannot understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14). Even if the carnal mind were instructed, it would misunderstand, misapply, and distort, for men believe only what they want to believe. God, who never coerces the human will, permits these self-willed creatures to cling to their delusions (see John 7:17; 2 Thess. 2:11, 12).

6. Repent. The words for “repent” and “turn” are two different verb forms of the same root, the combination giving emphasis. The announcements of the previous verses form the basis for the earnest call to true repentance. There can be no hope for Israel in any merely outward reformation. The nation has to do with the Searcher of hearts, and the only repentance acceptable to Him is that which reaches down into the innermost recesses of the soul.

Yourselves. A supplied word. According to the context the passage should read, instead, “your faces.”

7. Stranger. Compare Lev. 17:10; 20:1, 2; etc. The resident aliens had shared in the light and privileges entrusted to Israel, and would be judged as equally guilty.

8. A sign. His punishment would be an example that would serve to deter others from a similar course.

9. The prophet. The reference here is to the false prophets whose practices are reproved in ch. 13.

I the Lord. That is, the Lord permits the evil prophet to be deceived in the same sense in which He hardened Pharaoh’s heart, by permitting the seed of obstinacy to spring up and bear fruit (see on Ex. 4:21; 1 Kings 22:22).

Will destroy him. The sinner brings destruction upon himself by his own impenitence (see 5T 120). When a person once neglects to heed the invitations, reproofs, and warnings of the Spirit of God, his conscience becomes partly seared, and the next time he is admonished, it is more difficult to yield obedience than before. He is like a man who is sinking under disease, yet refuses medicine. However, in the Scriptures, God, the physician, is often represented, in figure, as sending also the results of the disease upon those who refuse His remedy. For example, He is represented as sending a lying spirit into the mouth of the prophets that they might counsel a king to undertake the wrong course he was already determined to pursue (1 Kings 22:19–23). Thus also when Saul’s heart became alienated from God and the “Spirit of the Lord departed from” him, the evil spirit, which came instead, is said to have come “from the Lord” (1 Sam. 16:14). However, this must not be taken to mean that God can ever be the author of sin and deceit. But in His plan He simply does not work the miracle that would be required to prevent the results of sin. From the heart that rejects Him, He withdraws His Spirit, gives up that soul to its own delusions, and permits sin to bring forth its inevitable fruitage, death. “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help” (Hosea 13:9 GC 36, 37; see on 2 Chron. 22:8).

10. Even as. The false prophets and those who inquire of them had participated mutually and were held alike guilty.

11. May go no more astray. A ray of hope in the dark night of apostasy—the people of God walking once more in truth. The object of the discipline may be here discerned, namely, that Israel may be brought to true repentance, be reunited, and restored to its former privileges.

13. The land. Literally, “a land.” The whole verse may be included in the supposition: “When a land sinneth … and I stretch out … and break the staff … and send famine … and cut off.”

The present communication seems to be directed against a belief current among the people that Jerusalem would be spared for the sake of the righteous in it as Sodom and Gomorrah would have been.

14. Noah, Daniel, and Job. These men were all examples of true righteousness of life. They were upright in their generation (see Gen. 6:9; Job 1:1; Dan. 1:8; 6:22). The fact that Daniel is named before Job does not warrant the conjecture that some earlier Daniel is meant, as is suggested by many modern scholars who think that Ezekiel refers to the DanХel of the Ugaritic texts. These texts speak of DanХel as a righteous king of the dim past who pleaded the case of widows and orphans. The prophet was simply not concerned with chronological order.

Significantly all three of these men had been the means of saving others. For Noah’s sake his whole family had been spared (Gen. 6:18). Daniel was the means of saving his companions (Dan. 2:18). Job averted the punishment of his friends by his intercession (Job 42:7, 8). Though effective in saving some, they had been powerless to save the generation in which they lived. Noah was unable to save the wicked race before the Flood, and Daniel, though holding high rank in the Babylonian court, had presumably not been able to influence Nebuchadnezzar to spare the people of Judah and their capital city. If the Jews were placing any hope in the position and influence of Daniel, that hope was now dashed. Compare Jer. 15:1.

15. Noisome. Heb. raФah, “evil.”

16. These three men. The declaration of v. 14 is repeated here and in vs. 18, 20 with only slight variations in the wording. On the four judgments of vs. 13, 15, 17, 19, see Lev. 26:22, 25, 26.

21. Four sore judgments. In the event of any one of the four punishments enumerated, the presence of righteous men would have been powerless to avert the doom; how much less when all these judgments would fall upon Jerusalem.

22. Ye shall be comforted. When those in exile would observe the ways and doings of those who had recently arrived, they would know that God had not done without cause what He had done in Jerusalem. On the other hand, the changed attitude on the part of some of these escapees who might give evidence of repentance (see v. 11) would help the captives to see that God’s judgments had been disciplinary and not vindictive.

Ellen G. White comments

3, 4 5T 164

3–52T 444

14, 16  AH 298; MH 453; 5T 215, 338; 8T 314

20   COL 412; GC 622