The Divine Reply to Heartfelt Idolatry Text: Ezekiel 14:1-11
Introduction: The Hypocrisy of a Double Heart
We live in a time of remarkable duplicity. Men want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to live like the devil all week and then show up on Sunday morning, pious as you please, expecting a comforting word from the Lord. They want the blessings of the covenant without the obligations of the covenant. They want to inquire of God while their hearts are still full of idols. This is nothing new. The elders of Israel in Ezekiel's day were masters of this particular art form.
They come to the prophet, sitting before him with solemn faces, looking for all the world like faithful seekers of divine wisdom. But God sees past the external posture. He sees the heart, and the heart is a factory of idols. They have not merely stumbled into sin; they have, with deliberate intention, set up idols in their hearts. They have placed the stumbling block of their iniquity right in front of their faces. And then they have the audacity to ask God for a word. It is a breathtaking display of hypocrisy.
What we must see in this passage is that God refuses to play this game. He will not be mocked. He will not be used as a spiritual consultant for men who are actively cheating on Him. When a man comes to God with a heart full of idols, God promises to answer him. But the answer He gives is not the one the man is looking for. God answers him according to his idolatry. He gives him over to the lie he loves. This is a terrifying and holy judgment. It is a judgment that is particularly relevant for our own day, a day drowning in syncretism, where men want to blend their worship of God with the worship of self, of money, of sex, of power, of political ideologies. This passage is a divine warning against all such attempts to serve two masters.
God's purpose in this severe mercy is ultimately restorative. He does this to "seize the house of Israel by their heart." He brings the judgment to expose the sin, to make the consequences so bitter that His people will finally be driven back to Him in genuine repentance. The goal is that they might once again be His people, and He might be their God. This is the heart of the covenant, and God will use even the harshest of providences to bring His people back to it.
The Text
Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "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 inquired by them at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "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 Yahweh will be brought to give him an answer in light of it, in light of the multitude of his idols, in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from Me through all their idols." '
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Turn back and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel or of the sojourners who sojourn 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, Yahweh, will be brought to answer him in My own person. 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 Yahweh.
"But if the prophet is enticed to speak a word, it is I, Yahweh, who have enticed 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; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, in order that the house of Israel may no longer wander from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God," ' declares Lord Yahweh."
(Ezekiel 14:1-11 LSB)
The Diagnosis of the Heart (v. 1-3)
We begin with the scene and God's immediate diagnosis.
"Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, '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 inquired by them at all?'" (Ezekiel 14:1-3)
The elders of Israel come to Ezekiel. They are the community leaders, the respectable men. They sit before the prophet, which is the posture of a disciple ready to learn. Outwardly, everything looks correct. But God immediately pulls back the curtain and shows Ezekiel what is happening in the invisible realm of the heart. The heart is the control center of a man's life, and their control centers were occupied territory.
God says they have "set up their idols in their hearts." The language is active and deliberate. This is not an accidental slip. They have built shrines in their affections. An idol is anything you love more, fear more, or trust more than God. It is a god-substitute. John Calvin famously said that the human heart is a perpetual factory of idols. These men were running a full-scale production facility. Their idols could have been anything, greed, lust, pride, political security, the approval of men, but whatever they were, they had captured their ultimate allegiance.
Not only this, but they have put the "stumbling block of their iniquity" right before their faces. They have made their sin convenient. They have arranged their lives to make it easy to trip and fall. They are not fleeing temptation; they are setting up lawn chairs to watch it approach. This is a picture of high-handed, deliberate sin. And in this state, they come to inquire of the Lord. God's response is a rhetorical question that drips with holy indignation: "Should I be inquired by them at all?" The answer is a thunderous "No." God is not a vending machine for spiritual platitudes. He demands covenant loyalty, and to approach Him without it is an act of profound insult.
The Divine Answer to Idolatry (v. 4-5)
God does not simply refuse to answer. He promises a very specific kind of answer.
"I Yahweh will be brought to give him an answer in light of it, in light of the multitude of his idols, in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart..." (Ezekiel 14:4-5)
This is a crucial principle of divine judgment. God answers a fool according to his folly (Proverbs 26:5). When a man comes to God determined to believe a lie, God will often, in judgment, confirm him in that lie. He gives him what he wants. If you want idols, God will give you an answer that fits with your idols. He will send you a message that scratches your itching ears. This is what Paul describes in the New Testament when he says of wicked men, "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity" (Romans 1:24) and "God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false" (2 Thessalonians 2:11).
This is not God being unjust. It is the very essence of justice. It is the logic of the harvest: you reap what you sow. If you sow idolatry, you will reap a harvest of delusion. If you insist on worshiping a dumb idol, God will answer you in a way that shows you just how dumb your idol is. He will let you run headlong into the brick wall you have been flirting with.
And notice the purpose. It is redemptive. He does this "in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart." It is a divine gambit. He is letting them experience the full consequences of their spiritual adultery so that, having been caught in the trap of their own making, they might finally recognize their predicament and turn back to Him. He is after their hearts, their affections, their ultimate loyalty.
The Call to Repentance and the Consequence of Refusal (v. 6-8)
Because God's goal is restorative, the threat of judgment is always accompanied by a call to repentance.
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Turn back and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations."'" (Ezekiel 14:6)
The command is clear and absolute. Repentance is not a slight adjustment of behavior. It is a radical turning. Turn back from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations. It is a complete reversal of direction. You cannot face God and your idols at the same time. You must choose. This is the constant call of the prophets, the call of John the Baptist, the call of Jesus, and the call of the apostles: Repent and believe.
But for those who refuse, for the Israelite or the sojourner who hardens his heart, the consequences are severe. God says, "I, Yahweh, will be brought to answer him in My own person. I will set My face against that man..." (v. 7-8). This is one of the most terrifying phrases in Scripture. For God to set His face against you means His active, personal, and unwavering opposition to everything you are and do. That man will be made "a sign and a proverb." His life will become a cautionary tale, a byword for divine judgment. And ultimately, he will be "cut off from among My people." This is excommunication, both from the covenant community and, if there is no repentance, from eternal life.
The Enticed Prophet and Shared Iniquity (v. 9-11)
Now we come to a very difficult and startling statement about God's sovereignty over all things, including the deception of false prophets.
"But if the prophet is enticed to speak a word, it is I, Yahweh, who have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel." (Ezekiel 14:9)
This is a hard saying, and our modern, sentimental views of God choke on it. But Scripture is clear. God is utterly sovereign. He is not the author of sin in the sense that He is morally culpable for it, but He is the ultimate cause of all things that come to pass. He ordains and governs all events, including the sinful actions of men and the deceiving words of false prophets. We see this with the lying spirit sent to Ahab's prophets (1 Kings 22) and with the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. God is not a helpless bystander wringing His hands. He is the sovereign King, working all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11).
Here, the false prophet is himself judged. He wants to please the idolaters, to give them the smooth message they crave. God, in His sovereignty, uses that sinful desire. He "entices" the prophet, meaning He ordains the situation in which the prophet's own wicked heart will lead him to speak the lie that the idolatrous inquirer wants to hear. But this does not get the prophet off the hook. God immediately says He will destroy that prophet. Both the seeker of a false word and the speaker of a false word are culpable.
Verse 10 makes this crystal clear:
"They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be..." (Ezekiel 14:10)
There is a shared guilt. The people get the leaders they deserve, and the leaders get the people they deserve. The idolatrous congregation and the compromising pastor go down together. They are partners in iniquity, and they will be partners in punishment. This is a sobering warning for the church in any age.
But again, we see the glorious, covenantal purpose behind this severe judgment. Why does God do all this? Verse 11 gives us the answer: "in order that the house of Israel may no longer wander from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God." The goal is purification. The goal is restoration. The goal is the renewal of the covenant relationship. God is a jealous God, which is to say He is a faithful husband who will not tolerate rivals for His bride's affection. He will discipline His people, He will prune His vineyard, He will put His house through the fire, all in order to bring them to a place of purity and undivided loyalty.
Conclusion: The Only True Answer
This passage confronts us with a fundamental question: When we come to God, what are we really looking for? Are we looking for Him, or are we looking for a divine stamp of approval on the idols we have already set up in our hearts?
The elders of Israel wanted a word from God that would not disturb their sin. They wanted religious comfort without repentance. And God's answer was a resounding No. In fact, His answer was judgment. He answered their hypocrisy by giving them over to a delusion that would confirm their rebellion and ultimately destroy them, unless they repented.
The gospel tells us that we are all like these elders. We are born with hearts that are idol factories. We have all set up the stumbling block of our iniquity right in front of our faces. And if God were to answer us according to our sin, we would all be cut off and destroyed. But the good news is that God has given a different kind of answer in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the true prophet who was not enticed. He spoke only the words of His Father. And on the cross, God set His face against His own Son. Jesus was made a sign and a proverb. He was cut off from among the people, bearing the full punishment not only of the idolatrous inquirer but of the enticed prophet. He bore our iniquity so that we would not have to.
Because of Christ, the call to "turn back" is now a gracious invitation. When we turn from our idols and turn to Him, we are not met with a face of judgment, but with the face of a loving Father. He seizes us by the heart, not in wrath, but in grace. He removes the idols and gives us a new heart of flesh. He makes it so that we may truly be His people, and He may truly be our God. Therefore, let us come to Him, not with duplicity, but with empty hands and repentant hearts, ready to receive the only answer that saves: Jesus Christ and him crucified.