The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Chapters 14-15

Elders with Idols in Their Hearts

Ezekiel chapter 14 starts off saying this:

Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. ... Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all?

These are elders in exile. They should be trusting in God, yet they carry idols in their hearts and stumbling blocks before their faces. These chapters show us both the ability and the motivation to stop sinning.

God wants you to know these tools, to experience freedom from sin, content and satisfied with Him as the centerpiece of your life.

Therefore speak to them and tell them, Thus says the Lord God: Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet—I the Lord will answer him who comes according to the multitude of his idols.

The Danger of Sin Environments

How beneficial are sin environments to you? A sin environment features reminders of sin—visual clues tied to sinful desires of the heart. Your life is like a house with rooms reminding you of their purpose: kitchen for food, living room for relaxation.

But some areas may be sin environments: the TV, computer, or even the whole house set up to remind you of particular sins. Sin environments present temptations that recall sins positively.

These elders stowed idols in their hearts and placed reminders before their faces. Sin is so essential it must be constantly before their eyes. They exalt idols internally, fantasizing about them, holding sin in high regard, estranged from God.

One of the most dangerous places for a Christian is a mind wandered from God—double-minded, unstable, chaotic.

The Remedy: Repent and Turn

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.

Repentance addresses both internal idols and external stumbling blocks. Internally, turn away from idols—change your beliefs about them. Every sin involves misplaced faith: believing sin brings fulfillment, joy, satisfaction, or has no consequences.

Stop believing those lies. Run back to God. Change fantasizing thoughts to hateful ones. Hate sin, loathe it, put it to death. But repentance is not just stopping sin—it's replaced by increasing adoration of God.

Sin overwhelms when sensorily accessible or continually desirable. Make sin inaccessible; see something more enjoyable than sin and worse consequences in pursuing it.

Like a soldier pumping life into a defeated enemy, accessibility revives sin. David faced Goliath as Israel quaking; trust Jesus, who defeated sin.

For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel, who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the Lord will answer him by Myself. I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord.

This echoes Leviticus, distinguishing the true people of God from pretenders. God presses to reveal the remnant.

But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, then I the Lord have prevailed upon that prophet; and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. They will bear the punishment of their iniquity.

God promises: abiding by repentance, He will prevent straying, that they be His people and He their God.

Motivation from Judgment

Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast—even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves, declares the Lord God.

Even with Noah, Daniel, and Job, an apostate nation perishes—except the genuine remnant. Apostasy is verbal allegiance to God without true salvation, abandoning truth for idolatry.

Motivation to stop sinning does not come from spiritual inactivity or indifference—every sin must be treated with hostility. It comes from spiritual examples and God's judgment.

Yet behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you, and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought on Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it, declares the Lord God.

Seeing survivors' conduct comforts, revealing God's justice was not vain. Motivation also comes from God's promises—judgment has purpose, producing lasting benefit.

The Useless Vine: Chapter 15

Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? ... Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything?

As the useless vine wood is fit only for fire, so Jerusalem's inhabitants—though escaping one fire, another consumes them. All have sinned and fall short; no one is better than forest wood.

The world pushes self-definition or its own, but live by God's declaration of your life—your current status and destiny. What God says motivates: "Have you considered My servant Job, there is none like him?"

Hebrews commends sufferers: "men of whom the world was not worthy." An apostle: "convinced of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation." Paul of Timothy: "no one else of kindred spirit."

Your usefulness ties to satisfaction with God now, eternal destiny, and acknowledgement of God. The more you worship and thank Him, the more valuable your life grows—even precious in death to the Lord.