Ezekiel 14:8 I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord.
This chapter of Ezekiel speaks to those in the house of Israel who know the truth about God and yet put idols before themselves. Idols are items of worship that can offer you NO ETERNAL SECURITY. Yet you give them more importance in your life than God whom you have knowledge of and CAN PROVIDE ETERNAL SECURITY. God ask Ezekiel shall I give them an audience before Me? He then answers His own question by allowing them to enter His presence. God still does this very thing today. However, if we look closely we see that God's response is harsh. Our text says "I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. We see this a lot in the word of God and if not careful we can misinterpret this to mean God is a hateful God. However, this is why we must read the Bible as a whole to understand it. God is a loving God who gives true love. His love is always righteous and just. He does not let sin go unpunished yet in love He took our punishment. He can seem harsh at times because we don't see the whole picture from Alpha to Omega (beginning and end) the first and the last. His actions are ALWAYS in order to save as many as will accept the gift of salvation. We tell our child no and punish them when they don't listen for their own good and protection. Not because we desire to punish. The same goes for God only even to a MUCH HIGHER LEVEL.
So why does God set his face against and cut off from among His people, those who know who He is but refuse to place Him first?
He tells us why in the very next sentence of this same verse. He says "So you will know that I am the Lord." He always does these things to bring us back in the fellowship of Him who provides eternal security! So don't frown upon punishment for your misbehavior instead thank Him for loving you enough to help you have a greater desire to be in a relationship with the one who is the Lord! He wants a Father-child relationship with you! When we read the Bible in context and let it interpret and explain itself we then see. Hebrews 12:6-11 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Thank God for His love and therefore discipline. Love Bro. Scott