Should This Matter?

Prayer. We all know we are supposed to do it. But turns out, there is a right way to pray. Jesus gave the disciples an example of the right way to pray. The Old Testament tells us the right way to pray too!

Ezekiel 14 tells us how we should inquire of God and then tells us what will happen should we decide not to come before God correctly.

How Should We Approach God In Prayer?

When we come before God in prayer, it must be done with a repentant heart! If not, God will not hear our prayer!

Ps. 66:18: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

James 4:3: “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Jeremiah 11:11: “Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.”

John 9:31: “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”

As you can see, only those who approach in God’s will with a repentant heart will be heard by God! Ezekiel 14 confirms this sentiment.

Here is the context of Ezekiel 14. Ezekiel is a priest and prophet among the Jewish captives in Babylon. Ezekiel was taken captive in a previous siege of Jerusalem by Babylon along with many other Jews and temple treasures. However, after that siege, many Jews were left behind in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who appointed Zedekiah as king of Jerusalem hoping for his complete cooperation. Despite prophetic warnings from Jeremiah to submit to Babylon’s rule, Zedekiah will eventually rebel against Babylon causing the final siege and fall of Jerusalem. Famine and disease will kill many residents and many more will be killed by the Babylonian forces. The few survivors will be taken captive. The city and temple will be completely destroyed which the Jews thought would be impossible for God to allow.

At the same time as the ministries of Jeremiah (to those in Jerusalem) and Ezekiel (to the captives), many false prophets arose who promised a quick return of the captives to Jerusalem and no fall of Jerusalem. Their message was the complete opposite of God’s message through both Ezekiel of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was even imprisoned and almost killed on multiple occasions for refusing to agree with the false prophets. Sadly, the Jewish people and leaders expected God to provide the answer that they wanted to hear: that Jerusalem will remain standing forever. This expectation is true of both those still left in Jerusalem (with Jeremiah) and those already taken captive by Babylon (with Ezekiel).

If you read through Ezekiel, you will see that Ezekiel was a very eccentric prophet. God, in an effort to reach the hard hearts of the exiles, used Ezekiel to act out prophecies in some very strange ways. Everyone knew that Ezekiel was a prophet of God, so it was not surprising that the elders among the captives would come to him to inquire of the Lord, and that is exactly what they do in chapter 14.

The elders of Israel come to Ezekiel to inquire something of God. We are never told what it is that these men want to know, but it doesn’t matter. God refuses to answer them. He sees the idols in their heart and will not answer until they remove those idols and repent. It is likely that they approached Ezekiel to confirm what they wanted to hear: that the false prophets were correct. They were not interested in understanding why God had allowed the exile and future destruction of Jerusalem. If so, they would have known to repent of their sin. Instead, they wanted to have their cake and eat it too!

Ezekiel 14:6

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.

This requirement remains today. If we come to God in prayer with unrepentant sin in our heart, He will not hear us. Instead, He will address our sin.

What Will Happen If We Approach God in Sin?

You see, much like us today, the Jews wanted to keep their lifestyles and their sin but still get answers from God. They wanted to God to hear them but not be held accountable to God’s rules. In fact, not only would He not answer these elders that came before Ezekiel. Instead, God promised judgement: “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.”

So, not only will God ignore your request, He will judge you for your unrepentant request. God takes inquiring of Him seriously and so should we!

Thus far in Ezekiel 14, the message on prayer requests of God isn’t too difficult and is often preached on. But now the chapter takes what most of us would view as a surprising turn.

How Might Judgement Come Upon Us In Prayer?

Ezekiel 14:9

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;

Whoa…wait a second…God would deceive a prophet to speak a false prophecy?

At face value, this passage seems like it doesn’t come from the Bible. How could God do that? God will lie?

This is where Bible study is vital. I can honestly say that I don’t remember ever hearing a sermon on this chapter or subject in my life (and I have sat through a lot of sermons). I think this topic is ignored due to its difficulty much as the book of Job is often ignored. However, I believe it is important to try to understand all topics addressed in the Bible and not to just leave the difficult stuff alone.

Let me point to another passage, a passage I have never heard preached upon and never even knew was in the Bible until I started to study the Bible for myself. I believe that this passage will shed light on Ezekiel 14. The entire passage can be found in I Kings 22:1-37 but I have quoted a section here:

I Kings 22:20-23

And he said, hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Here is the context. So Ahab, king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to go to battle with him at Ramoth-Gilead. Jehoshaphat requested that Ahab inquire of the Lord before agreeing to fight. Ahab gathered 400 prophets who all said to go up to battle because God would give him the win. Jehoshaphat was skeptical, however, and asked if there was another prophet. The king of Israel said there was one, Micaiah, but added, “I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Micaiah is brought before the kings and is told to just agree with what all of the other prophets said, but Micaiah made no such promise. He tells Ahab that he will loose the battle. Ahab says, “Did I not tell thee that he would prophecy no good concerning me?” This is when Micaiah tells the king his vision which is quoted above. Micaiah is put in prison. Ahab and Jehoshaphat lose and Ahab is killed.

God allowed Ahab to hear exactly what he wanted to hear and allowed him to be deceived by his false prophets. They were not genuinely inquiring of God regarding the battle. These kings had no intention of obeying God’s word.

So when we inquire of God, we may receive an answer, maybe even the answer we want. But God is just giving us over to our sin. That is a sad state to be in. It is much like the state Pharaoh found himself in when he refused to let the Hebrews leave Egypt long before this. And, it turns out it is exactly the state the the Jews found themselves in at Jerusalem when Babylon destroys the city.

Jeremiah 27-28 chronicles the false prophecies that were brought before king Zedekiah in Jerusalem. Jeremiah first encounters the Zedekiah, along with kings/ambassadors of the surrounding nations. He tells God’s message exactly as it is. If Zedekiah or any of the surrounding nations would submit to the rule of Babylon as punishment for their rebellion against God, God would spare their nation. But, should the kings refuse to submit, their nations would be decimated “with the sword, and with the pestilence, and with the famine, until (He) had consumed them by His hand.” However, just as Jeremiah prophesied the truth, false prophets also emerge before the king with their lies. They promised that God has “broken the yoke of the king of Babylon” and within 2 years, God would bring back the temple vessels and captives to Jerusalem. History reveals who was right. Zedekiah chose to listen to the false prophets and rebelled against Babylon which brought on the final terrible siege of Jerusalem. Zedekiah is also killed.

Sound familiar? Yes. We tend to not learn from our history which is often easy to do when we don’t even know it. Zedekiah chose to defy God and that led to his judgment.

What Can We Learn From Ezekiel 14?

So, bottom line? Beware of how we come before the Almighty! We must approach Him with a genuine desire for His will to be done and with a repentant heart or we too will suffer judgement. He may give us exactly what we want which will lead us to our own demise.

How many times have you prayed to God with the answer you want in your head? How many times have prayed expecting God to answer affirmatively to your desire? Have you confided in a Christian brother or sister who always tells you that you are right? Do you steer away from those who are willing to rebuke you according to God’s Word?

This passage is tough but His judgment will come to those who deserve it even if God allows it to come through our own desires. Sometimes we are the authors of our own demise.