Ezekiel 14:6

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; REPENT, AND TURN YOURSELVES FROM YOUR IDOLS. Though God so threatened the people for their idolatry (), yet He would rather they should avert the calamity by "repentance." TURN yourselves. Calvin translates, 'turn others'-namely, the stranger proselytes in the land. As ye have been the advisers of others (see , "the stranger that sojourneth in Israel") to idolatry, so bestow at least as much pains in turning them to the truth-the surest proof of repentance. But the parallelism to Ezekiel 14:3...

Now God shows why he had threatened the false prophets and the whole people so severely, namely, that they should repent; for the object of God’s rigor is, that, when terrified by his judgments, we should return into the way. Now, therefore, he exhorts them to repentance. Hence we gather the useful lesson, that whenever God inspires us with fear, he has no other intention than to humble us, and thus to provide for our salvation, when he reproves and threatens us so strongly by his prophets, and in truth is verbally angry with us, that he may really spare us. But the exhortation is short, _that they may be converted and turned away from their idols, and may turn their faces from all their abominations_. When he uses the word השיבו, _heshibev_, in the second clause, some understand “wives;” but this is frigid: others think the verb transitive, but yet impersonal, thus make yourselves retur...

1-11 No outward form or reformation can be acceptable to God, so long as any idol possesses the heart; yet how many prefer their own devices and their own righteousness, to the way of salvation! Men's corruptions are idols in their hearts, and are of their own setting up; God will let them take their course. Sin renders the sinner odious in the eyes of the pure and holy God; and in his own eyes also, whenever conscience is awakened. Let us seek to be cleansed from the guilt and pollution of sins, in that fountain which the Lord has opened....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 14:1 As the result, probably, of the previous utterances, certain ELDERS OF ISRAEL, _i_._e_. of the exiles in Tel-Abib, came to consult Ezekiel, wishing to know what counsels or what predictions he had for them. In Ezekiel 8:1 we have "the elders of Judah," and it is possible that there were two groups in the Population of the town, and that these represented Israel as distinct from Judah—a deputation, as it were, from the earlier exiles. The term appears again in Ezekiel 20:1. More probably, however, the terms are used interchangeably. Ezekiel 14:

THEREFORE SAY UNTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL,.... Deliver out the following exhortation to repentance unto them; for God's end, in all his threatenings and judgments, is to bring men to repentance: THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, REPENT, AND TURN [YOURSELVES] FROM YOUR IDOLS; or, "turn, and cause to be turned from your idols" w; turn yourselves from the worship of idols, as the Targum, and do all that in you lies to turn others from the same; particularly your wives and young men, as Kimchi: and the rather they were obliged to do this, since in all probability they had been the means of drawing them into idolatry: AND TURN AWAY YOUR FACES FROM ALL YOUR ABOMINATIONS; their idols, detestable to God, and ought to have been so to them; these he would have them turn their faces from, not so much as look at them, much less worship them, that they might not be ensnared by them; this is said, in opposition...

Ezekiel 14:1. These inquiring elders, with wickedness in their hearts, give another illustration of the depth of degradation in which the people had sunk. He who searches the hearts knew what was in them. They came with pious, religious pretensions. It sounded well to inquire of the Lord and seek the prophet-priest for that purpose. Their hearts were full of evil. While their lips spoke of asking the Lord, their hearts were full of idolatry. They liked idolatry. Their hearts were in it and this stumbling-block of their iniquity they had put before their faces, which means they openly defied the Lord God of Israel by their doings. “Should I be inquired of at all by them?” To seek the Lord and inquire of Him in such a condition reveals a brazen spirit and the deepest depravity. Yet this also belongs to the conditions in which the professing people of God are when judgment overtakes them....

INSINCERITY OF THOSE WHO CONSULT THE PROPHETS. Like prophet, like people. The prophets, as _we_ have just seen (Ezekiel 13), were greatly to blame; but no less were the people partly because of their scepticism (Ezekiel 12:21), and partly, as we now see, because of their insincerity. This is illustrated by a question put by certain elders on the occasion of a visit to Ezekiel a question which neither deserved nor received an answer; for they are idolaters, certainly at _heart and_ probably in fact; they worship Yahweh with divided heart, and are therefore inevitably excluded from a knowledge of His purpose and will. No answer can be given to such, but the answer of the Divine judgment; and if they continue their policy of impenitent compromise, their fate will be nothing less than terrible (Ezek

TURN YOURSELVES. turn ye....

The _prophet_is not permitted to give an answer to any inquiries of such men. Jehovah will answer them through himself (Ezekiel 14:7); the message which the prophet has to deliver is, repentance or destruction!...

IV. TWO OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 14:1-23 In chapter 14 Ezekiel deals with two theoretical objections which might be raised against his announcement of Jerusalem's judgment. The first is this How can God punish His people for sins into which they have been led by men claiming to be prophets? (Ezekiel 14:1-11). The second objection raises the question of how God could destroy the Holy City when there were still some righteous men within (Ezekiel 14:12-23). A. Deception by the False Prophets 14:1-11 TRANSLATION (1) And certain men of the elders of Israel came unto me, and sat before me. (2) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (3) Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and the stumblingblock of their iniquity they have placed before their f