John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 14:6

"Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations." — Ezekiel 14:6 (ASV)

Now God shows why He had threatened the false prophets and the whole people so severely: namely, that they should repent. For the object of God’s severity is that, when terrified by His judgments, we should return to the way. Now, therefore, He exhorts them to repentance. From this we gather the useful lesson that whenever God inspires us with fear, He has no other intention than to humble us and thus to provide for our salvation, when He reproves and threatens us so strongly by His prophets, and in truth is verbally angry with us, so that He may truly spare us.

But the exhortation is short: that they may be converted and turned away from their idols, and may turn their faces from all their abominations. When he uses the word השיבו, heshibev, in the second clause, some understand it to mean “wives;” but this is strained. Others think the verb is transitive, yet impersonal, meaning “make yourselves return;” this also is awkward.

I have no doubt that the Prophet here exhorts the Israelites that each person should desire to reconcile himself to God, and at the same time bring others with him. Since many were mutually responsible for one another's evils, he now orders them to do their utmost to bring others back with them. And surely this is a true proof of our repentance: when we are not only converted to God one by one, but when we also reach out to others and recall them from error. Especially if they have gone astray through our fault, we must take care to make amends for the harm with at least equal diligence.

Therefore, the Prophet’s meaning is, first, that the Israelites should repent; next, that one person should assist another in repentance, or that they should mutually unite in the pursuit of piety, just as each one was previously corrupted by his companion and brother. This seems to be the full meaning.

Furthermore, this sequence must be noted: many show zeal in trying to correct others and reaching out to free them from error, but they themselves never think of repenting. But the Holy Spirit here shows us the true way to proceed, when He commands us to repent, and then directs our concern towards others who need our exhortations. Finally, He adds, withdraw your faces, or turn away from all your abominations. Here the Prophet uses a part to represent the whole, as turning away the face means the same as withdrawing all one's senses. Therefore, since they had been almost attached to their own abominations, on which they had fixed their eyes and were completely intent, he orders them to turn away their faces, so as to bid them farewell.