…for what it's worth

The problem with the elders of Israel was that they had “taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of iniquity before their faces,” and yet they were in this passage coming to Ezekiel for a word from God. God says, “Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?” And half the chapter is God answering that question.

Initially, it seems like the answer is an all-encompassing ‘yes’:

4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols,
5 that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.

But God will not accept those who would merely use him – those who would come to him with an unrepentant heart, expecting blessing:

6 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
7 For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the Lord will answer him myself.
8 And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And then God includes in his judgement the prophets who prophesy falsely when the elders consult them, with a twist:

9 And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
10 And they shall bear their punishment —the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike—

OK, false prophets deserve judgement, and the Bible everywhere has God “causing” people to do horrible things in his judgement (eg. Lamentations 2:20), but… if God deceived the prophet, why is God bumping him off? Doesn’t that mean it’s not his fault?

Apparently, it is his fault. He willfully sinned against the Most High God, regardless of the most fundamental cause, and God never lets people that disobey him off the hook without punishing their sins. God himself cannot speak falsehood (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18), so we know his agency in this matter is not active the way God’s ordinance of, for instance, good things for the saints is (Romans 8:28). God is, however, obviously causing it in some way. Behold the kindness and severity of God.

Speaking of kindness, what’s the purpose of all of this judgement? It seems to be to protect all Israel from destruction, and bring the larger population to himself: Verse 11: “that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God.”

Verses 12-20 is God explaining that when a land sins against him, he nukes them, and the few righteous people that may be in the city can only save themselves by their righteousness, and no one else. “They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.”

Now, the contents of the following verses, 21-23, is the reason I chose to write about this passage today. Here, at the end of the prophesy, God reveals his purpose. God always has a purpose, and we are told that we will see his purpose in the survivors.

22 But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.
23 They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.

My take:

All the Scriptures points to Jesus, right? (Luke 24:27, John 5:39, Acts 17:11, 18:28) When Jesus comes back, he will come for judgement (Revelation 19:11-16). If he hadn’t done something to save for himself a remnant of his people, their sin would condemn them all to this terrible judgement. But he did do something, and here is one reason why.

22 But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.
23 They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.

It was to save for himself a people, made righteous by his actions. They broke covenant with him on their own, and he judged most of them. But for some, he punished their sins in another to purify for himself a people set apart.
“Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” (Romans 11:22)