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Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me, etc. In the former chapter false prophets and prophetesses were severely rebuked by the Lord God through his true prophet. In this one certain elders who came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord through him, while their hearts were given up to idols, are reproved, exhorted, and warned. The paragraph before us presents the following connected topics for consideration, which we will notice in the order in which they are presented by the prophet.

I. MEN HYPOCRITICALLY INQUIRING OF THE LORD GOD. "Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying," etc. (vers. 1-3). These elders who came to inquire of God through his prophet were probably of the number of his fellow exiles. They came to consult the prophet of Jehovah, yet they were idolaters at heart. They had "set up their idols in their heart," etc. (ver. 3). Their idolatry involved practical atheism. Genuine belief in the existence of the Lord Jehovah would have effectually precluded idolatry. Men of such character could not sincerely inquire of God. There can be no real approach unto him without faith in the reality of his being. "He that cometh to God must believe that he is," etc. (Hebrews 11:7). Their seeking information or counsel of the Lord was not true; they were not whole-hearted in so doing, but hypocritical. They are, says Hengstenherg, the "representatives of those who only outwardly fear God, but inwardly serve the spirit of the world and the age." How many meet in God's house, unite in his worship, and listen to the ministry of his holy Word, as though they were genuine inquirers of his will, who yet have idols in their hearts! Seeming to sincerely "inquire in his temple," yet they are devoted to the pursuit of rank or riches, power or pleasure, etc.

II. HYPOCRITICAL INQUIRERS OF GOD ANSWERED ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN HEART. "Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart," etc. (vers 4, 5). Different interpretations are given of these two verses. Thus Hengstenberg: "The question in ver. 4" (he places a note of interrogation at the end of that verse; so also does Schroder) "is in the sense of a negative, 'I will not answer;' and this negative has its ground in ver. 5. God leaves sinners without answer or help, that they may come to a knowledge of their sin. 'To take in the heart' (ver. 5) is to touch the conscience." Another interpretation is that he would give them an answer as delusive as the idols which they had taken into their hearts. The case presents itself to us thus: The spiritual state of these elders prevented them from truly hearing the word of the Lord. They were not sincere in their inquiries of him. They would not receive the truth which his servants Jeremiah and Ezekiel proclaimed. Nay, more, in their then moral condition they could not receive the truth of God. With their hearts devoted to idols, how could they apprehend and held fast the pure words of the Lord? So he would send them a message answerable to their own character. These "idolatrous oracle seekers have to expect what corresponds to their state." Hence their own hearts were their seducers. God deals with men according to their character. "With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful," etc. (Psalm 18:25, 26). "The sin and shame, the pain and ruin, of sinners are all from themselves, and their own hearts are the snares in which they are taken; they seduce them, they betray them; their own consciences witness against them, condemn them, and are a terror to them. If God take them, if he discover them, if he convict them, if he bind them over to his judgment, it is all by 'their own heart.' 'O Israeli thou hast destroyed thyself.' The house of Israel is ruined by its own hands, 'because they are all estranged from me through their idols'" (Matthew Henry).

III. HYPOCRITICAL INQUIRERS OF GOD EXHORTED TO COMPLY WITH THE CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTABLE APPROACH UNTO HIM. "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." Here is a true message from God for them if they will accept it. Repentance towards God was their present and imperative duty. From the Lord the house of Israel had grievously departed, and their true repentance would be a returning to him, and renunciation of their abominable idolatries. Repentance is not mere regret, or self-reproach, or sorrow, or tears. It is that grief for sin which leads to reformation of life. "Repentance," says Shakespeare, "is heart's sorrow, and a clear life ensuing." Now, this was necessary as a condition of approaching God acceptably. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). Men should "pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (1 Timothy 2:8). "Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith," etc. (Hebrews 10:22). When men inquire of God in this spirit, he will grant unto them gracious answers.

IV. HYPOCRITICAL INQUIRERS OF GOD WARNED OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF PERSISTENCE IN SIN. "For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me," etc. (vers. 7-11). Here they are solemnly warned that, if they would not turn from sin unto God:

1. They should encounter the Divine displeasure. "I will set my face against that man," etc. (ver. 8). God cannot look upon sin with indifference. He hates it. And if sinners persist in it, he will set his face against them, and visit them because of their transgressions He did this in the case of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Siege and famine, pestilence, slaughter, and captivity were the consequences of their aggravated and long continued. sins and crimes.

2. They should become the victims of their chosen delusions. "If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet," etc. (vers. 9, 10). They had chosen idols for their gods; they believed the false prophets rather than the true ones; and if they persisted in their choice they must take the consequences thereof. This was God's answer to their inquiries. He had shown them that by true repentance they would put themselves into right relations with him. But if they would not repent, he would no more speak to them by his prophets, but by his judgments in the just consequences of their sins. Their chosen prophets would he deceived, and would deceive those who inquired of them, and both the prophets and the inquirers should "bear the punishment of their iniquity." But in what sense can the Lord be said to deceive the false prophet, and then to punish him? It is certain that he cannot sin, and that he is not the nuttier of sin. "The deception proceeds originally from indwelling sin (James 1:14), otherwise it could not be the object of punishment." But it was both permitted and regulated by God. He controls both sin and the consequences thereof for the accomplishment of his own glorious purposes (cf. Psalm 76:10). When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, he did so of his own accord, with no thought of doing the will of the Lord Jehovah, yet unconsciously he was doing that will; and frequently the Lord says that he would do those things which the army of the Chaldean monarch did (cf. Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:8-17). God employed the Chaldeans, and regulated and controlled their movements, for the working out of his own plans; yet they were free in those movements, and had no idea that in them they were the agents of the Lord God of Israel. So these false prophets were used by him in the way of judgment, and were controlled by him; but they acted voluntarily in the course which they pursued, and they who consulted them did so of their own will; and both of them should become the victims of their cherished delusions, and "bear the punishment of their iniquity."

3. They should become the means, under God, of leading his people to fidelity unto him. "That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me," etc. (ver. 11). This was the Divine design in the punishment of the sinful people. "'God punishes sins by means of sins,' but the end is the re-establishment of righteousness. His people, purified by trials, will cleave to him whom they have forsaken, and become a converted, sanctified people, joined unto their God by a covenant which they will not break" ('Speaker's Commentary'). The judgments of God aim at the promotion of the well being of man.

CONCLUSION.

1. Here is solemn warning against insincere approach unto God.

2. Here is encouragement to approach God sincerely and humbly. (Vers. 6, 11.) - W.J.

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KJV: Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.

WEB: Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.