The following commentary covers Chapters 13 and 14.
The
false prophets and the people punished together
Chapter 13 judges the
prophets who deceived the people in Jerusalem by their
pretended visions of peace.
In chapter 14 the elders
of Israel come and sit before the prophet. Here God sets
distinctly before Israel the new principles on which He
would govern them. These elders had put their
abominations before their eyes. God Himself will judge
them according to their transgressions. As a nation they
were all alike. Jehovah could only say to them,
"Repent ye." The prophets and the people should
be punished together. Even if the most excellent of the
earth should be found in a land which Jehovah judged,
they would not hinder the execution of the judgment, they
would only save their own lives by their righteousness.
God did not own a nation (the only one He had He had now
rejected); He did, the individually righteous (compare
Gen. 18). Now God was bringing all His judgments upon
Jerusalem. Nevertheless, a remnant should be spared; and
the proofs they would give of the abominations committed
in the city would comfort the prophet with respect to the
judgments accomplished on it. And so it is: the judgment
of God, who gives His people up to their enemies, is a
burden to the heart of one who loves the people; but when
the manner in which the name of God had been dishonoured
is seen, the necessity of the judgment is understood and
felt.
Ezekiel 14 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
The false prophets and the people punished together
Chapter 13 judges the prophets who deceived the people in Jerusalem by their pretended visions of peace.
In chapter 14 the elders of Israel come and sit before the prophet. Here God sets distinctly before Israel the new principles on which He would govern them. These elders had put their abominations before their eyes. God Himself will judge them according to their transgressions. As a nation they were all alike. Jehovah could only say to them, "Repent ye." The prophets and the people should be punished together. Even if the most excellent of the earth should be found in a land which Jehovah judged, they would not hinder the execution of the judgment, they would only save their own lives by their righteousness. God did not own a nation (the only one He had He had now rejected); He did, the individually righteous (compare Gen. 18). Now God was bringing all His judgments upon Jerusalem. Nevertheless, a remnant should be spared; and the proofs they would give of the abominations committed in the city would comfort the prophet with respect to the judgments accomplished on it. And so it is: the judgment of God, who gives His people up to their enemies, is a burden to the heart of one who loves the people; but when the manner in which the name of God had been dishonoured is seen, the necessity of the judgment is understood and felt.