EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 14:1-23
Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’
The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God
Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 14
Wicked leaders – Ezekiel 14:1-23
v1 Some of *Israel's leaders came to me and they sat down in front of me. v2 Then the *LORD spoke to me. v3 ‘*Son of man, these men have *worshipped false gods in their hearts. They put up evil things that cause people to *sin. I should not let them inquire of me. v4 Therefore, speak to them. Say, “This is what the *LORD your King says. The *Israelites *worship false gods in their hearts. And they put up evil things that cause people to *sin. Then they come to inquire of the *prophet. But I, the *LORD, will answer them myself for their many false gods. v5 Then I will win back my people called *Israel. They have left me because of all their false gods.”
v6 So, speak to the *Israelites. “The *LORD your King says that you must change your hearts and lives. *Turn away from your false gods. Stop doing all the things that I hate.”
v7 People separate themselves from me when they *worship false gods in their hearts. And they put up evil things that cause people to *sin. Then they may go to the *prophet to inquire of me. If they do, I, the *LORD, will answer them. I will answer whether they are *Israelites or foreigners in *Israel. v8 I will oppose them. I will separate them from my people. And I will punish them. The effect will be such that many people will see it. They will talk about it as a terrible thing. Then you will know that I am the *LORD.’
v9 ‘But the *prophet may give a false *prophecy. Then, it is I, the *LORD, who allowed that *prophet to lie. And I will use my power against him. I will *destroy him from among my people called *Israel. v10 The *prophet will be as guilty as the person who asks him for help. I will punish both of them. v11 I do this so that the *Israelites will not *turn from me again. They will not do those things that I hate. They will *turn away from their *sin. Then they shall be my people. And I will be their God, says the *LORD your King.’
v12 The *LORD spoke to me. v13 ‘*Son of man, when the people in a country *sin against me, I will use my power against them. They have not been loyal to me. So, I will cut off their supply of food. Both they and their animals will die because of hunger. v14 Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were living there, their goodness would save only their own lives. This is what the *LORD your King says.
v15 Or I might send wild animals into that country. They would leave the land empty and without children. Then nobody would pass through that land because of the animals. v16 I am the God who lives. And this is what I, the *LORD your King, declare to you. Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the country, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves, but that country would be empty.
v17 Or I might bring a war against that country. I might say, “Let there be a war in that country.” In this way, I might kill its people and their animals. v18 I am the God who lives. And this is what I, the *LORD your King, declare to you. Even if those three men were in the country, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves.
v19 Or I might cause a disease to spread in that country. I might *pour out my anger against it in order to *destroy it. In this way, I might kill the people and their animals. v20 I am the God who lives. And this is what I, the *LORD your King, declare to you. Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the country, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves because of their goodness.
v21 This is what the *LORD your King says. It will be much worse for Jerusalem. I will send my 4 terrible punishments against it. They are war, hunger, wild animals and disease. I will *destroy the people and their animals. v22 But some people will escape. Some sons and daughters will come out of the city. They will come out to you. You will see their deeds and how they lived. After all the terrible things that I brought upon Jerusalem, this will be a comfort to you. You will know why I did all these terrible things. v23 You will see what happens to them. And that will be a comfort to you. You will see how they lived. You will see what they have done. You will know that I have done nothing without cause. There is a good reason for what I did to Jerusalem. I, the *LORD your King, declare this to you.’
Verses 1-5 These men were the leaders of the *Israelites who were in *exile. They came to Ezekiel to ask him about his *prophecies. They recognised that Ezekiel was the *prophet of God to the *exiles. So, they had come to him to inquire of the *Lord. However, they were not sincere. They did not really want to obey the *Lord. But they expected Ezekiel to give them some message of hope for the future.
God showed Ezekiel the inner thoughts of these men. In their hearts, they *worshipped false gods. Their desire for false gods had led them to *sin. And they had caused the people to *turn from God. They could have no right to expect anything from the *Lord. But, they had come to inquire of the *Lord God.
There was no good reason why God should listen to them. God knows the thoughts of all people. He knows what they think. And he knows what is in their hearts. These leaders were insulting God when they inquired of him with false gods in their hearts. But God did answer these leaders. He would punish them for their *worship of false gods. But his purpose was to persuade them to return to the real God. The people had left God because of the false gods. But God still loved his people and he wanted them to come back to him.
Verse 6 Some of the leaders had come to Ezekiel. But the message from God was for all the people. That message was that they must come back to God. They must *repent of what they had done. They could not serve false gods and the *Lord God. They must *turn from all their false gods. They must stop doing the things that the *Lord hates. They must obey the *Lord. They must do what pleases him.
Verses 7-8 It is not possible to serve false gods and the *Lord God. People who serve false gods have *turned away from the real God. They cause other people to *sin as well. The *Lord will punish such people. He will remove them from among the *Israelites. They will not be among God’s people.
Other people will see how God has punished them. They will see how terrible it is. But they will know that God is the *Lord.
Verses 9-11 What the false *prophets said had caused the people to *sin. They had told the people what the people wanted to hear. They did not speak the words of God. God could have stopped these *prophets. But he permitted them to speak their lies. We should test what *prophets tell us. We need to be sure that they speak the truth from God (1 John 4:1).
The *Lord will punish these false *prophets. He will remove them from among his people. He will *destroy them. Both the false *prophets and those people who follow them are guilty of *sin. God will *destroy them both.
The *Israelites will see this. And maybe they will return to the *Lord. The purpose of God is that the *Israelites should come back to him. They should *turn from all the bad things that that they have done. Then they can be God’s people again. The *Lord will accept them and he will be their God.
Verses 12-14 The people in *Israel had *turned against God. They had not been loyal to God. So, he would fight against them with his great power. He would stop their supplies of food. The people and their animals would die of hunger.
Maybe if some good men were there, they could save the country. (Compare Genesis 18:23-32.) Noah had been a good man. He obeyed God and God saved him and his family from the flood. Daniel trusted God. He was a great man. He was at that time in Babylon. (But it is not certain that Ezekiel meant that Daniel.) Job was a good man who served God. When he had great troubles, he still trusted God. If these three men were there, God would save them. But even they could not save the people.
The people believed that God could not destroy Jerusalem. God had chosen it for himself. His *temple was there and his *glory was present there. But God had said that he would destroy Jerusalem. God’s *glory would leave the *temple (chapter 11). And nothing could prevent the punishment of Jerusalem.
Verses 15-20 Each of these 4 *disasters would happen in Jerusalem and in the country called Judah. There would be hunger and many people would die. There would be wild animals and they would kill many people. There would be war and the armies would kill many people. And there would be disease that would kill many people.
Probably the *exiles with Ezekiel had family members who were still in Jerusalem. They hoped to see them again. But there was no hope. Those who remained in Jerusalem would suffer these 4 *disasters.
Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were there, they could not save even their own children. God would save them because they obeyed him. But their children would die. They would die of hunger. Or they would die by wild animals. Or they would die in war. Or they would die by disease.
Verse 21-23 The previous verses had not mentioned Jerusalem and Judah by name. But now God says that he will bring these 4 *disasters on Jerusalem. But a few people will escape. The *Lord will send them into *exile in Babylon.
Then the *exiles will see how evil were the deeds of those in Jerusalem. They will understand why God punished them. They will know that God was right to do it. The people in Jerusalem and Judah deserved it.
God does not punish for no reason. He had been kind to these people for a long time. But now God had to act because the *sins of the people were so severe. They did not deserve to live.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
prophet ~ person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future. However, false prophets are people who merely pretend to speak God’s words.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
destroy ~ to carry out the most severe punishment possible; to cause someone to suffer; to kill everyone in a nation.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from sin and turn to God.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
disaster ~ when something very bad happens.