Ezekiel 6

Prophecy against Israel's Idolatry

1 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 "Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

3 You are to say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God ! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

4 Your altars will be desolated and your incense altars smashed. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.^[a]

5 I will lay the corpses of the Israelites in front of their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.

6 Wherever you live the cities will be in ruins and the high places will be desolate, so that your altars will lie in ruins and be desecrated,^[b] your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out.

7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

8 "Yet I will leave a remnant when you are scattered among the nations, for throughout the countries there will be some of you who will escape the sword.

9 Then your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they are taken captive, how I was crushed by their promiscuous hearts that turned away from Me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves because of the evil things they did, their abominations of every kind.

10 And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten to bring this disaster on them without a reason.

Lament over the Fall of Jerusalem

11 "This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry out over all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by the sword, famine, and plague.

12 The one who is far off will die by plague; the one who is near will fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is spared^[c] will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust My wrath on them.

13 You will [all] know that I am the Lord when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and every leafy oak-the places where they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols.

14 I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah.^[d] Then they will know that I am Yahweh."

Ezekiel 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

The Divine judgments for idolatry. (1-7) A remnant shall be saved. (8-10) The calamities are to be lamented. (11-14)

1-7. War desolates persons, places, and things esteemed most sacred. God ruins idolatries even by the hands of idolaters. It is just with God to make that a desolation, which we make an idol. The superstitions to which many trust for safety, often cause their ruin. And the day is at hand, when idols and idolatry will be as thoroughly destroyed from the professedly Christian church as they were from among the Jews.

Verses 8-10 A remnant of Israel should be left; at length they should remember the Lord, their obligations to him, and rebellion against him. True penitents see sin to be that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Those who truly loathe sin, loathe themselves because of sin. They give glory to God by their repentance. Whatever brings men to remember Him, and their sins against him, should be regarded as a blessing.

Verses 11-14 It is our duty to be affected, not only with our own sins and sufferings, but to look with compassion upon the miseries wicked people bring upon themselves. Sin is a desolating thing; therefore, stand in awe, and sin not. If we know the worth of souls, and the danger to which unbelievers are exposed, we shall deem every sinner who takes refuge in Jesus from the wrath to come, an abundant recompence for all contempt or opposition we may meet with.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lv 26:30
• [b]. Hb obscure
• [c]. Or besieged
• [d]. Some Hb mss, some LXX mss read Riblah; 2 Kg 23:33; Jr 39:5

Chapter Summary

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.