Ezekiel 14
Elders or leaders within the covenant community have a very important role in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. They provide a structure for accountability that we all need if we are to make progress in our service of God. They need to be able to teach people the truth of God’s Word. One of their most important functions is to be examples to the people of what it means to be a godly person. It should be spiritually safe for people to follow the elders within their congregation of the Lord’s disciples.
When there is a deep-seated corruption within the leadership of any assembly, it is hard to imagine that the people are going to find a way to rise above the impiety of their leaders. In the case of Ezekiel, certain of the elders visit him, presumably to hear a word from God, or to inquire of the prophet. Though their outward behavior would seem to be commendable, God gives Ezekiel an insight into the souls of these leading men. They have taken idols deeply into their hearts. In their minds they have a stumbling block of some false god that they secretly love. What can the people of God do, and what will become of them when even their spiritual leaders are secret idolaters? The leaders may still want to know some hidden information that they hope to get from God’s prophet, but the Lord will not reveal to them what they desire to know. As God responds to these people, we learn that the rest of the people of
What should these foolish elders do who have committed their hearts to idols and who secretly bow down before strange objects of worship? They must repent of their evil. They need to turn away from their false gods. This is true not only for the leaders but for all of the people, even for those strangers who are simply traveling through the land. They better turn away from their idols before they would presume to inquire of the Lord’s prophet. Otherwise, instead of getting an answer from the prophet, it may be that God will answer more directly in hands-on judgment against the idolaters. In a way that is obvious to all, such men may be cut off from the people of God directly by God. It is a fearful thing when God Almighty confronts an evil man, when the appointed prophetic mediator is pushed out of the way and a sinner needs to face God more directly.
God will not put up with any of this hypocrisy. Even if His prophet speaks a word to people like that, God will turn it around to punishment for both the inquirer and the prophet. We cannot fool God. The Lord hates idolatry, and He will punish those who claim to hear him or speak for him who have dedicated themselves to false gods. If God’s people would only repent of all this evil, then there would be hope for them. They would be His people and He would be their God. The way of safety and blessing is actually very clear.
The prophet of God is not a spiritual guru for hire. He does not perform his services as one who is ready to do whatever is necessary as long as the customer can pay the price. He is to be a true representative of God. If God cuts off bread from the land, if He brings a sword, if He sends disease upon the land, the best prophets of the Old Testament cannot change the mind of God when He has determined to punish iniquity. Things have come to that point during the days of Ezekiel. The prognosis is not good, and there is nothing that could be done except a serious and complete repentance. Noah could not change God’s mind. Neither could Daniel or Job. They could not even save their own families at this point. They could clear their own names by repenting, but they could not save the people. God will judge them unless they really repent. Having the right prophetic man, like an Ezekiel, reveal some hidden secrets of God, will not turn away the wrath of God. If the elders think that the prophet can solve their problems as some quick fix without real repentance on their part, they are deeply mistaken.
Just a few will be saved from the Lord’s judgment upon
A generation with ignorant and immoral elders in positions of authority in the Lord’s house is a generation that is headed for trouble, and probably very quickly. We have a great Shepherd over the church. He has never filled His heart with the love of idols. He has never bowed down before strange religious objects. His life was one of whole-hearted devotion to God. At the very top of the chain of command within the church is a Man without spot or blemish or any such thing. It is our task to be honest with Him. Have we taken idols into our hearts? If so, God surely knows. Have we loved false gods and fallen down before an abomination? The call to repentance is still before us today, so many centuries after the ministry of Ezekiel.
Will not God grant His elect true repentance? I don’t know what false thing we might be holding on to. Family, prestige, wealth, ease, approval from men, fame, emotional comfort: All these things must not be allowed to be objects of false worship in our hearts. We are to worship Almighty God, and serve Him alone. There is only One who made us, and there is only One who died for our sins. So much of what we want is so easily entangled in our idolatrous affections. May the Lord who rescued us from hell through His death on the cross, rescue us again now, so that we will submit to His holy will and rejoice in the glory of His divine excellence.
posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM
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