The Stumbling Block Before Their Face

Ezekiel 14 begins with a visit from some of the elders of Israel. Outwardly they came to inquire of the prophet, but God revealed their inner condition: they had taken their idols into their heart and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Their idolatry was no longer only in shrines; it was in their desires. God asked whether he should be inquired of at all by such men.

Instead of answering their question, God answered their heart. Return, and turn yourselves from your idols! Turn away your faces from all your abominations. His purpose was restoration, so that the house of Israel would no more go astray but would be his people, and he would be their God. God's warnings always carried this covenant goal.

God then named Noah, Daniel, and Job, three men famous for righteousness in times of crisis. If a land persisted in sin, even they would deliver only their own souls. Jerusalem could not lean on a few godly people to escape judgment. Yet mercy remained: a remnant would come out, and Ezekiel would understand that God had not done all that he had done without cause. In the New Testament, 1 John 5:21 says: Little children, keep yourselves from idols.