Ezekiel 14 and 15: Idolatry and Judgment

We left off last week describing false prophets. They look good on the outside but are
unstable on the inside. This week we peek into the idolatry of the elders.

Idolatry has been defined as anything that takes the place of the Lord. It can be as big as
worshiping idols or as little as making your family first instead of God. Sometimes it is
blatant, sometimes idolatry sneaks in without a person being aware. After seeing the
judgment God is placing on the people of Israel, many of the elders gathered around
Ezekiel to seek advice from God. But unlike our human eyes, God sees individuals from
the inside out. God knew these elders who were coming to Ezekiel seeking advice were
not living a life of faith.

Jeremiah 7:8-11

“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit
adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not
known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name,
and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this
house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I
myself have seen it, declares the Lord.

God is telling the remnant, how dare you claim you are delivered and come before me in
this holy place when at the same time you are praying to idols.

God answers the elders in this way:

1. God will expose their deepest sinful thoughts.

2. They will be separated from God.
3. He tells the elders in Ezekiel 14:6 they need to repent first.

If the elders do not repent and are seduced to speak falsely, they will suffer along with the
deceived. God also told them even if great men lived during their time, they could not
stop the judgment of Israel.

Ezekiel 14:13-14 And the word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, when a
land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and
break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and
beast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would
deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.
 God promises

1. Famine - Ezekiel 14:13

2. Desolation - Ezekiel 14:15

3. War - Ezekiel 14:17

4. Pestilence - Ezekiel 14:19

But to answer Ezekiel’s previous prayers, he reminds Ezekiel that He promises to reserve
a remnant (Ezekiel 14:22-23). A small number who stayed behind originally (aka "bad
figs") will join those already in captivity. When the captives see these new captives, they
will be reminded that God is faithful and just. (Daniel 9:14). Faithful because He is
doing what he said he was going to do. At first many people believed during this time
that God would never allow the city to fall or the temple to be desecrated. But when the
captives saw some of the people who chose to stay now join them, the first set of captives
realized everything is happening just as God said it would.

Moving to Ezekiel 15 we see the first of three parables that are used to confirm the fact
that Israel would not escape judgment. Do you get the feeling God wanted to make sure
the people “get it?”

Ezekiel 15 (Parable of the Useless Vine)

“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that
is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do
people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? 4 Behold, it is given to the fire for
fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it
useful for anything? 5 Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How
much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for
anything! 6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the
trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them. Though they escape
from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the Lord,
when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they
have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Just as a vine is useless if it produces no fruit, without fruit it is good only for lumber and
firewood. God is telling the people because Israel is not bearing fruit He will destroy it
by casting it into the fire and being consumed. This would make the land desolate.

(this prophesy was fulfilled in 2 Chronicles 36:11-21)

1. What is the definition of idolatry?

2. At what time did the captives realize things were happening just as God said they
would?

3. What is God trying to communicate in this first parable about the vine?

4. Journal any thought God is speaking to you today.