14:1-2 Some of the elders of the Jewish community in exile came to visit Ezekiel. While these men sat with the prophet, a word from the Lord came to him.
14:3 The Lord revealed to His servant that these elders (along with the elders in Jerusalem, cf. 8:7-12) had been nursing idolatry in their hearts.211They had put right in front of them the very thing that caused them to stumble in sin. That is, instead of trying to avoid temptation (cf. 2 Tim. 2:22) they cherished the worship of other deities. In view of what follows, this appears to have included seeking false prophets and prophetesses to obtain guidance (vv. 4, 7, 9; cf. ch. 13). In the following verses it becomes clear that the prophets these elders consulted were false prophets (cf. vv. 9-10). Yahweh asked rhetorically whether He should respond to their requests in view of their trust in other gods (cf. Ps. 66:18; 1 Kings 18:21; James 1:8).
"This verse is important for those who come to Scripture seeking guidance. No true direction can be given to those who have erected idols in their hearts [cf. Ps. 66:18]."212
14:4-5 Ezekiel was to tell these elders a message from the Lord. The Lord promised that any person in Israel, not just these elders, who was an idolater at heart and set a stumbling block in his own path by consulting a false prophet for divine guidance would receive an answer from Yahweh, not from the idol. That answer would come in the form divine judgment, not words (cf. vv. 7-10). The judgment of God on those who pursued idolatry was allowing them to continue in it until it destroyed them (cf. Lev. 20:3, 5-6; Deut. 28:37; Hos. 4:17; Rom. 1:18-32; 2 Thess. 2:11).
"This happens only to those who willingly take deceit into their hearts."213
Yahweh would do this because of the multitude of His people's idols and to bring their hearts back to Himself. The desire of these elders for a word from the Lord was only hypocritical; they wanted to appear pious but were really idolaters at heart.
