Who Would be an Elder? Ezekiel 14:1-11
In 597 B.C., Ezekiel was among 10,000 Jews exiled to Babylon. He was a priest and prophet.
He lived at the same time as Jeremiah and Daniel.
He was blessed with magnificent visions of God’s glory, but his ministry was difficult. His mission was to the Jews in Babylonian exile. They were in exile, because they abandoned God and turned to false Gods. Even in exile, they were still an idolatrous people. They were obstinate in their idolatry, so God gave Ezekiel the resolve to keep confronting them. (Ezekiel 3:7-9)
They had no excuse. When God made the covenant with them, through Moses (Exodus 20), he warned them of what would happen if they failed to keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 31:16-18)
This stiff-necked people refused to turn away from their idols and back to God, but they still wanted to get a word from his prophets. Why? Probably to put on some outward appearance of Godliness.
These elders were leaders of the people. As such, the people would look to them for guidance and these elders had influence over them.
The elder is responsible for the welfare of those in his care.
These elders, who came to Ezekiel, failed utterly. Instead of teaching the people to love and follow the Lord, they led them into sin.
Idolatry is still prevalent today. What are some examples?
A false god (idol) can be defined as someone or something (apart from the one true God) that is highly revered, followed devoutly, sacrificed for, and looked to for meaning in life and deliverance from problems.
So, it doesn’t have to be some kind of statue, it can be anything; for example - a house or a car.
Some people worship self. They are their own god.
There’s nothing wrong with having a nice house or a shiny car or even a boat, but we need to keep these things in perspective.
It’s easy for the distractions of this world to consume us and as our attention turns away from God, fellowship, prayer and bible reading become less frequent.
Even our family can become an idol if we put them above God. (Luke 14:26)
In the right context, earthly things are good; a blessing from God, and they can be used to give glory to God, but our real treasure is to be found in Heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)
The elders who came to Ezekiel worshipped false gods, but God gave them the chance to repent and turn back to him. (Ezekiel 14:6)
If you have something in your life that’s taking priority over your relationship with the one true God, repent. Turn back to Jesus.
It took a lot of audacity to be worshipping false gods and then come to a prophet of the one true God. They would not get the answer they were looking for. God would answer them directly - and not verbally. God would make an example of any idolater who came to him. When God said that he would “cut him off from the midst of my people,” He means that he would kill him. (Ezekiel 14:7-8, Hebrews 10:31)
Sin, even Idolatry, is still a problem, even in the church. One way to guard against this is to have the right leaders, who won’t lead people astray. This was why Paul in writing to Titus gave qualifications for elders. (Titus 1:6-9)
One of the responsibilities of an Elder is teaching (although others may sometimes teach) but- Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1)
The qualities required of an elder shouldn’t be exclusive to elders. The list of qualifications for deacons is very similar (1 Timothy 3:8-13), but they are virtues that every believer should aspire to.
Let’s all be Christ-like. Let’s all be a good example.
Leading anyone into sin is far too costly (Luke 17:1-2)
If you are going to lead anyone anywhere, lead them to Christ.
We all need to look to Jesus for salvation (Romans 3:9-24, Acts 4:12)