Certain of the elders of Israel now came to Ezekiel, evidently to hear what message he had to deliver to them. The word of the Lord revealed to him that whatever their outward attitude might be, they were at heart idolaters, and he was charged to declare to them that while idolatry remained in their heart they were necessarily estranged from Jehovah. He was to appeal to them to return to Jehovah, and to make perfectly clear that so long as they retained idolatry in their heart the only answer of Jehovah to them must be punishment, warning them that if they listened to the messages of false prophets, they and the prophets would be destroyed together.
This determined attitude of judgment was then explained to Ezekiel, first by a statement of principle. That statement was that in days of willful and persistent corruption men as righteous as Noah, Daniel, and Job could not prevent the operation of vengeance, but only save their own souls by their righteousness. This statement of principle, while insisting on the inevitableness of judgment. did, nevertheless, also clearly reveal the justice and discrimination of the divine method. If Noah, Daniel, and Job were unable to prevent the judgment, they themselves would be saved by their righteousness. The twofold truth was then even more clearly brought forth in the direct application of the principle to Jerusalem. Four sore judgments were determined against the city, but a remnant would be delivered, and escaping to Ezekiel would comfort him, as they proved that all that the Lord had done had been not without cause.