Ezekiel 33:30

"And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh from Jehovah. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but do them not; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their gain."

EZEKIEL WARNED AGAINST THE PEOPLE'S HYPOCRISY

"They sit before thee as my people ..." (Ezekiel 33:31) This means that they sat before Ezekiel pretending to be God's people, whereas they had no intention whatever of obeying the Lord's commandments. "Their motive was simply that of curiosity, or entertainment, certainly not reformation of their evil hearts."[15] With some of them there might also have been the hope that God would confirm the things they already desired to do. Such indeed may be seen in the example of Johanan's seeking the word of Jehovah of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 42-43).

We should not overlook the fact that, "These verses carry a vivid picture of Ezekiel's popularity at that time. His prophecies had been literally and circumstantially fulfilled in all of the things he had foretold."[16] In a sense, he was the literal lion of that social community among the captives. God, knowing the fickle insincerity of the people gave this stern warning to Ezekiel that he might really know what could be expected of them.

"With their mouth they show much love ..." (Ezekiel 33:31). "The Septuagint (LXX) reads this as, `Lies are in their mouth.'"[17] The Septuagint (LXX) here may be poor translation, but it is excellent commentary.

"Their heart goeth after their gain ..." (Ezekiel 33:31) "The Hebrew word here carries the implication of gain through violence or dishonesty."[18] There also appears to be grounds in these verses for supposing that the captivity of Israel in Babylon was not as rigorous as it might have been. Apparently the Jews possessed many opportunities to exercise themselves in the pursuit of gain.