Ezekiel · chapter 6 of 48
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Ezekiel 6 contains a prophecy addressed to the mountains of Israel, where the high places and the altars of the idols stood. The Lord announces that the sword will destroy those shrines and that the dead will lie among their idols; yet he promises that a remnant will escape and, in exile, will remember him and know that he is the Lord. The chapter ends with the desolation of the land.
Until now Ezekiel has acted out his message toward Jerusalem. In chapter 6 he turns his face toward the whole land, toward the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys of Israel. In the ancient world high places were sites of worship, and many Israelites used them to worship other gods alongside the Lord, or instead of him.
The word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel and tells him to set his face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. God announces that he will bring a sword upon them and destroy their high places. The altars will be made desolate, the incense altars broken, and the slain will fall before their idols. The bones of the Israelites will be scattered around their altars, in all their cities and places.
Yet the Lord says he will leave a remnant, some who escape the sword and are scattered among the nations. There, in captivity, they will remember that he was broken by their unfaithful hearts and by their eyes that played the whore after idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they did, and they will know that the Lord did not speak in vain.
The Lord tells Ezekiel to clap his hands, stamp his foot and say alas over all the abominations of Israel, because they will fall by sword, famine and pestilence. Whoever is far off will die of plague, whoever is near will fall by the sword, and whoever survives will die of famine. When the slain lie among their idols, on every high hill and under every leafy tree, they will know that he is the Lord. God will stretch out his hand and make the land desolate and waste.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God addresses the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys of Israel. The judgment covers the whole place where the people had set up their idols, and the land itself is the witness.
Even in the midst of judgment, God keeps a remnant that will escape the sword. In exile they will remember the Lord and grieve that they were unfaithful to him, for God's own broken heart is what will make them return.
The Lord says he did not speak in vain when he announced these calamities. The fulfillment of the prophet's words will be proof that God is the one speaking and that what he said was not lost.
The dead will lie where incense was offered to idols: on high hills and under every leafy tree. Idolatry ends in the very place chosen for it, and that scene makes plain who the Lord really is.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Toward the mountains of Israel. — Ezekiel 6:2
Answer: A sword, which will destroy the high places. — Ezekiel 6:3
Answer: Before their idols, around their altars. — Ezekiel 6:4-5
Answer: A remnant of people who escape the sword. — Ezekiel 6:8
Answer: That God was broken by their unfaithful heart and idolatrous eyes. — Ezekiel 6:9
Answer: To clap his hands, stamp his foot and say alas. — Ezekiel 6:11
Israel's high places were not only statues: they were places where the people sought security, fertility and success apart from God. Today the forms change, but the heart can still be divided. In a small group it is helpful to ask what has become a high place: money, approval, success, comfort.
At the same time, the chapter shows that God grieves over his people's unfaithfulness and that judgment is not the last word: he leaves a remnant who remember him. Repentance is born when we see that our sin saddens God, not only when we fear its consequences.
Ezekiel 6 announces that the mountains of Israel will be left without altars and idols, with a remnant that will remember the Lord. In chapter 7 the prophet will announce that the end has come upon the whole land.
They were shrines on hills or elevated sites where sacrifices were offered. Some were used to worship the Lord outside the temple, which the law did not allow, and others were dedicated to Canaanite gods. Ezekiel refers mainly to their idolatrous use.
The text presents God as someone who is grieved by unfaithfulness, like a betrayed husband. Some understand that the remnant will recognize God's pain and repent; the phrase shows that God's judgment springs from wounded love, not from indifference.