Ezekiel 6:4-6

4 "So your 1altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols.
5 "I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your 2bones around your altars.
6 "In all your dwellings, 3cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your 4idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.

Ezekiel 6:4-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 6

This chapter contains a prophecy of the desolation of the whole land of Israel, and a promise that a remnant should escape, with a lamentation for the sad destruction, signified by some gestures of the prophet. The order to the prophet to deliver out the prophecy is in Eze 6:1,2; the several parts of the land of Israel or Judea, to which the prophecy is directed, are signified by mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys, on which the sword should be brought, Eze 6:3; the desolation is described, and the cause of it suggested, the idolatry of the people, Eze 6:4-7; the promise of a remnant that should escape, who should remember the Lord, loath themselves for their sins, acknowledge him, and that his word was not in vain, is in Eze 6:8-10; the lamentation, signified by the prophet's smiting with his hand, and stamping with his foot, for the sins of the people, and the judgments that should come upon them, is in Eze 6:11; a particular enumeration of these judgments follows, and of the places where they should be executed, Eze 6:12; the end of them was to bring them to the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, against whom they had sinned and offended by their idolatry, as the places where their slain fell would show, Eze 6:13; and the chapter is concluded with a resolution to bring this desolation on them, Eze 6:14.

Cross References 4

  • 1. Leviticus 26:30; 2 Chronicles 14:5; Isaiah 27:9; Ezekiel 6:6
  • 2. 2 Kin 23:14, 16, 20; Jeremiah 8:1, 2
  • 3. Leviticus 26:31; Isaiah 6:11; Ezekiel 5:14
  • 4. Ezekiel 6:4; Micah 1:7; Zechariah 13:2

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. So some ancient versions; Heb "bear their guilt"
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