Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before
me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these
men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the
stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be
enquired of at all by them? 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, and putteth the stumbling-block
of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the
Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his
idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart,
because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
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. For every one of the house of
Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which
separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart,
and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and
cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will
answer him by myself. And I will set my face against that man, and
will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the
midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. And if the
prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have
deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and
will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall
bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet
shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; That
the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be
polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may
be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God (verses
1-11).
These inquiring elders with wickedness in their hearts, give another
illustration of the depth of degradation in which the people had sunken.
He who searches the hearts knew what was in them. They came with pious,
religious pretensions. It sounded well to inquire of the Lord and seek
the prophet-priest for that purpose. Their hearts were full of evil.
While their lips spoke of asking the Lord, their hearts were full of
idolatry. They liked idolatry. Their hearts were in it and this
stumbling-block of their iniquity they had put before their faces, which
means they openly defied the Lord God of Israel by their doings. "Should
I be inquired of at all by them?" To seek the Lord and inquire of Him in
such a condition reveals a brazen spirit and the deepest depravity. Yet
this also belongs to the conditions in which the professing people of
God are when judgment overtakes them. We see much of it in our own days.
There is a great deal of so-called religious exercise and activity,
attempts to produce more "religiousness," as it is termed. There is,
however, no real heart-turning to the Lord, but the idols are kept in
heart and life. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me" (Ps. lxvi:18). Then the Lord tells them through the prophet,
"I, the Lord, will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of
their idols; that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart
because they are all estranged from me through their idols." Estranged
from Jehovah through idols; this described the spiritual condition of
these certain elders and the people. If God's people do not give the
Lord the place of pre-eminence and follow Him wholly they become
estranged from Him. And such is the condition of thousands of professing
Christians who walk in a carnal way, who follow their idols instead of
the Lord and who still maintain an outward religiousness. Then follows
the call to repentance. "Repent and turn yourselves from your idols."
Next is the announcement that the Lord Himself will deal with such
miserable hypocrites. He will answer the unrepenting, idol follower, who
separates himself from the Lord. No true prophet of Jehovah would
certainly encourage the men who inquire of the Lord and have evil in
their hearts, for fellowship with Jehovah is impossible for such.
The ninth verse states more than a possibility. "And if the prophet be
deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I, the Lord, have deceived the
prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and I will destroy him
from the midst of my people Israel." As we learned in the previous
prophetic message that such deceiving prophets were in abundance among
Israel. They were the curse of the nation. Little did they care about
the spiritual condition of the people. They prophesied for filthy
lucre's sake and lived in sin like the rest of the apostates. To them
people came to inquire of the Lord and the deceiving prophets prophesied
smooth things. But the Lord Himself as a judgment had deceived their
prophets to ripen the people for the deserved doom. It is the same what
Micaiah declared in the presence of King Jehosaphat and King Ahab (1
Kings xxii:13-23). The four hundred prophets of Ahab were possessed by a
lying spirit.