Ezekiel 6

CHAPTER 6 AND In his second discourse, Ezekiel zeroes in on the places of idolatrous worship that were located in the mountains and valleys of Judah. These pagan sanctuaries, once known for their shady trees, will become desolate. There is throughout this chapter a frequent change from their to your, and from your to their, when the same persons are spoken of. This is consistent with the manner of Ezekiel. The sermon contains three points of emphasis: (1) a dire prediction (Ezekiel 6:1-7); (2) a confident expectation (Ezekiel 6:8-10); and (3) a distressing lamentation (Ezekiel 6:11-14). A DIRE Eze_6:1-7 The Address (Ezekiel 6:1-3 a): And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: (2) Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them. (Ezekiel 6:3) Say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the mountains and hills, concerning the ravines and valleys: The word of the Lord (Ezekiel 6:1) directed Ezekiel to set his face toward, and prophesy against, the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 6:2). Apparently the prophet actually assumed a posture that demonstrated determination and anger, i.e., he faced westward as he spoke these words. Just as the anonymous prophet of 1 Kings 13 addressed an oracle to the illegitimate Bethel altar, so Ezekiel speaks directly to the mountains of Israel. It is as though the people of Judah were so hopelessly meshed in idolatry that Ezekiel might as well speak to the mountains of the land.

The mountains are not to be understood as geographical symbols of the land of Judah, but rather as theological symbols. The mountains were the places where Israel practiced idolatry. This oracle, then, goes beyond the previous discourse in that it asserts that the judgment will include the pagan shrines scattered throughout the land as well as in Jerusalem. The distraught exiles on the monotonous plains of Babylon might pine for the beloved Judean hills. But those mountains were contaminated and doomed.

While the mountains were directly addressed, the message pertains to the hills, ravines and valleys as well. All of these areas had been contaminated by the presence of pagan high places. Remains of such high places have been discovered at Taanach, Gezer, and Petra. The standard features of a Canaanite high place were (1) an altar, (2) standing stones, (3) a wooden pole symbolic of Asherah, and (4) a laver. Hezekiah in the eighth century, and Josiah in the seventh century, made determined efforts to remove these theological cancers from the nation. Unfortunately later kings tolerated and/or encouraged pagan practices (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 23:5). Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel testify to the resurgence of this corrupt worship following Josiah’ s valiant reform effort. Slaughter (Ezekiel 6:3 b-5) High places desecrated (Ezekiel 6:3-4 a): Behold I, even I, am about to bring against you a sword, and I will destroy your high places. (Ezekiel 6:4) Your altars will be made desolate. Your incense stands will be broken. The Lord will bring the sword of destruction against the pagan high places (Ezekiel 6:3). The term sword (hereb) can denote any kind of destructive instrument. Here the term is symbolic of the invading forces of Nebuchadnezzar that will bring death, destruction and desolation to the land. The sexual license and child sacrifice that marked the pagan worship were an abomination to God, and hence had to be judged. When the judgment of God fell, the pagan high places will be desecrated. The sacrificial altars and smaller incense stands will be destroyed. Dead bodies desecrated (Ezekiel 6:4-5): I will cast down your slain before your idols. (Ezekiel 6:5) And I will put the carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols. I will scatter your bones around your altars. The corpses of the slain Israelites will not even be accorded the dignity of burial. They will be left to rot before their helpless idols (v 4). Yahweh will fulfill the covenant threat of Lev 26:30. The bones of the idolaters will be scattered around the altars. Death defiled (cf. Numbers 9:6-10; 2 Kings 23:14; 2 Kings 23:16). Hence the altars will be made desolate, rendered permanently unclean and unsuitable for worship (Ezekiel 6:5). A similar threat was made by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 8:1 f.). They had defiled the land with their idols; they will yet further defile it by their dead bodies. The fragrance of incense offered to pagan deities will be replaced by the stench of rotting bodies.

Ruins (Rxr 6:6-7): In all of your dwelling places, the cities will become waste. The high places will become desolate, that they may be laid waste. Your altars will bear their guilt. Your idols will be broken, and cease to be. Your incense altars will be cut down. Your works will be wiped out. (7) The slain will fall in your midst.

You will know that I am the LORD. In characteristic emphasis by repetition, Ezekiel underscores the threat against the idolatrous shrines in vv 6-7. Here the people are directly addressed rather than the mountains. In all of their dwelling places the cities will become waste and their high places desolate. Altars, idols and incense altars will be destroyed. The work of their hands, i.e., their idols, will be wiped out (v 6).

The slain of Judah will fall throughout the land. No idol will be able to prevent the massacre. In that terrible day when man-made gods proved impotent, the sovereignty of the Lord will be admitted by all.

The expression you will know that I am the Lord occurs four times in ch 6 (Ezekiel 6:7; Ezekiel 6:10; Ezekiel 6:13-14) Ezekiel indicates that God’s supreme motivation in all his acts of judgment or mercy is that people might know, i.e., experience him anew. This major thrust of the book (mentioned over sixty-five times) called for an intimate relationship with the Lord rather than a destructive allegiance to impotent idols.

Eze_6:8-10 Preservation (Ezekiel 6:8): But I will leave a remnant, in that you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the lands. Not all will die in the bloodshed that will befall Judah. A remnant will survive on foreign soil (Ezekiel 6:8). In the midst of the thundering severity of God’ s wrath, the prophet underscores the tenderness of God’ s mercy. The nation is rejected; but faithful individuals will be spared. These godly souls will become the prototype and the nucleus of the New Testament Israel of God. The nation will die in 586 B.C., but faith will live on.

Conversion(Ezekiel 6:9-10)Four facts about the remnant are brought out in these verses. A new focus on the Lord (Ezekiel 6:9 a): And those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they have been taken captive… This remnant will remember the Lord among the nations where they had been taken captive. The word remember implies more than the recollection of past events. The exiles will seek to restore their relationship to God by repentance. A new understanding of the Lord (Ezekiel 6:9 b): that I was shattered by their adulterous heart that turned aside from me, and by their eyes that committed adultery after their idols; When they remember the Lord, the remnant for the first time comes to realize the anguish that their loving Father had experienced because of their flirtations with idolatry. Those wanton hearts will be changed. Through the fires of punishment, the surviving remnant was purged of impurity.

A new attitude toward sin (Ee 6:9b): and they will loath themselves in their sight for the evils that they committed, for all their abominations. The remnant comes to loath themselves for the evils that they had committed. They will then regard all their idols as abominations (v 9). Abomination is a favorite term of Ezekiel for a practice that led to religious impurity. He uses this term mainly of idolatry, but sometimes of adultery.

A new appreciation for God (Ezekiel 6:10): And they will know that I am the LORD; not in vain have I said that I will do this evil to them. The remnant will know in that day that Yahweh is sovereign God. His word had not been spoken in vain. The ultimate aim of the national chastisement was to produce a faithful remnant. God’ s purpose will thus be accomplished. Eze_6:11-14 Dramatized (Ezekiel 6:11): Thus says the Lord GOD: Clap your hands and stamp your feet, and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! With sword, famine and pestilence they will fall. With a dramatic action, Ezekiel was to underscore what he had just said. He was to clap his hands and stamp his feet. These were gestures expressive of intense emotion and excitement generated either by intense joy or sorrow. There is no reason to assume that Ezekiel is exulting over the impending fall of Judah.

This prophet hated the evil practiced by his people; but he did not long for their destruction. Like Jeremiah, he commiserated with the people of Judah in their misfortune (cf. 11:13). It was with a broken heart that Ezekiel spoke to and about his people. The prophet’ s gesture of distress was accompanied by the customary wail, Alas!205Because of all the evil abominations (idolatry) of Israel, the nation will fall with sword, famine and pestilence. Justified (Ezekiel 6:12-14) Death reigns supreme (Ezekiel 6:12): He who is far off will die with the pestilence; and he who is near will fall by the sword; and he that remains and is besieged will die in the famine. Then I will bring to an end my wrath against them. The one far off from the scene of battle will die by pestilence; the one near the battle, by the sword. Those in the besieged capital will die of famine. Distance will make no difference. Wherever they were, the inexorable and relentless wrath of God will overtake them (cf. Zechariah 1:6). There will be no escape. With these terrible calamities the wrath of the Lord will come to an end.

Unburied corpses (Ezekiel 6:13): And you will know that I am the LORD when their slain ones will be in the midst of their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree and under every leafy oak, the place where they presented a sweet savor to all their idols. For the third time in this chapter the prophet underscores the dramatic impact that these judgment works will have on the hearts and minds of the surviving remnant. When they saw their slain comrades lying about their once sacred altars, within sight of their lifeless idols, they will finally come to confess the sole sovereignty of God.

In order to emphasize the extent of the godless worship, Ezekiel enumerates the different locations where Canaanite rites were practiced. Their hilltop-sanctuaries and mountain retreats— the shady bowers where once the fertility orgies of Baal and Asherah were practiced— will be desecrated. Ezekiel uses ribald humor in his allusion to the sweet savor of incense being offered before dung ball idols (gillulim). Here is the irony: “They perfumed their stinky idols.” Desolation (Ezekiel 6:14): And I will stretch out my hand against them. I will make the land a desolation and waste more than the wilderness of Diblah in all their dwelling places. They will know that I am the LORD. The hand of the Lord will be stretched out against the land. It will become a desolate waste. The reference to Diblah in Ezekiel 6:14 is difficult.

Some translate, from the wilderness to Riblah (RSV). They see here a reference to the extent of the disaster. From the edge of the southern wilderness to Riblah on the Orontes river is a distance of 150 miles. This understanding necessitates two changes in the Hebrew text. The second approach is to see in this phrase a comparison. The land of Judah will become a greater desolation than Diblah.

The location of Diblah is uncertain. The discourse closes with a fourth assertion that this divine judgment will serve to turn people to the Lord Ezekiel Chapter SixVerse 1 TO THE WHOLE LANDIn Ezekiel 4 and Ezekiel 5, the prophet pantomimed and prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, and “Now he takes a survey of the whole land."[1]Ezekiel 6:1-3“And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy unto them, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.““The mountains were mentioned here because they were especially the places where Israel practiced idolatry (Leviticus 26:30-33; Isaiah 65:7; andJeremiah 3:6)."[2] The same is true of the watercourses and valleys. “The ravines and valleys were the scenes of Baal-worship (Jeremiah 2:23) and of child-sacrifice (Isaiah 57:5)."[3] The sword mentioned in verse 3 is a reference to the invading armies of Nebuchadnezzar. “Set thy face toward the mountains …” (1). This introduction to a prophecy is quite common in Ezekiel. “We shall encounter it again in Ezekiel 20:46; Ezekiel 21:2; Ezekiel 25:2; Ezekiel 28:21; Ezekiel 29:2; Ezekiel 35:2; and Ezekiel 38:2)."[4]The mountains of Israel appear again in this prophecy in chapter 36, where blessing and restoration are promised. The prophecy here foretells the final judgment of Israel; and, also, “It is a picture of the future judgment of the world."[5]“I will destroy your high places …” (Ezekiel 6:3). The reason for the forthcoming destruction of all the land of Israel is stated here. The hateful, licentious worship of the Baal fertility cults, of Astarte, of Molech, and of the whole pantheon of pagan gods and goddesses had effectively brought about the total moral depravity of the people. God’s Chosen People at this point had become even worse than the godless Canaanites whom God had removed from Palestine because of their sins. Verse 4 “And your altars shall become desolate, and your sun-images shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay down the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling-places, the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun-images may be hewn down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.“Here is a prophecy of God’s total destruction of the system of worship into which apostate Israel had fallen. “Your slain men before your idols …” (Ezekiel 6:4). Bruce tells us that the Hebrew word here rendered as idols, “Is a derogatory term frequently found in Ezekiel, meaning something like `dungheaps.’"[6] Feinberg thought that Ezekiel might have coined this word; “He used it 39 times."[7]“Your sun-images …” (Ezekiel 6:4). “These were pillars or obelisks connected with the worship of Baal, the sun god, and they were found standing near his altars."[8] Some scholars have identified them as phallic symbols. “These high places were connected with Canaanite fertility rites, an orgiastic worship embodying drunkenness and cultic prostitution. Associated with such high places were idols, sacred stones, pillars, sacred trees, etc."[9]The presence of dead bodies and bones around the altars and idols of the high places had two purposes, “(1) It defiled the idols with corpses; and (2) it showed the helplessness of the idols."[10]“And ye shall know that I am Jehovah …” (Ezekiel 6:7). This expression is found some sixty times in Ezekiel and was the customary way of concluding an oracle or a section of an oracle throughout the prophecy.[11] One finds it in Exodus 7:5; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:18, again demonstrating the familiarity of Ezekiel with the Book of Moses. “The motive for most of God’s actions was to bring about the acknowledgment by the nations of his sole power and deity."[12]Verse 8 “Yet will I leave a remnant, in that ye shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations, whither they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken by their lewd heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the harlot after their idols; and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am Jehovah: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.““Yet will I leave a remnant …” (Ezekiel 6:8). The arbitrary, unsubstantiated, and reckless view of some critics that, “There is no doctrine of a remnant in Ezekiel,"[13] is effectively refuted by this unequivocal declaration of the sacred text; and we are unwilling to allow evil men to re-write the Bible in order to prove their theories. As Matthew Henry stated it, “It is a preserved remnant and a penitent remnant”;[14] and it was in this small remnant who after the exile would find their way back to Judea that the ancient promises to the patriarchs and the coming of Messiah to redeem mankind would eventually be achieved, according to the eternal purpose of God. Plumptre noted that the thought here regarding the remnant is the same as that in Isaiah 1:9; Isaiah 10:20;Zephaniah 2:7; Zephaniah 3:13; and Jeremiah 43:5.[15]“I have been broken by their lewd heart …” (Ezekiel 6:9). Many scholars agree with the translation of this clause as, “I have broken their whorish heart which hath departed from me."[16] It is never God who is broken by the sins of men, but men themselves I The reference here is to the heart-breaking punishment of apostate Israel; but out of that crushing of a whole nation, there came at last the small residue of a humbled, contrite people, who repented and turned to God. Verse 11 “Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah: smite with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas. Because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He that is far off shall die by the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath upon them. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered sweet savor to all their idols. And I will stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.““Smite with thy hand …” (Ezekiel 6:11). This refers to what is called “clapping the hands.” Cook states that it was a well known method of expressing grief.[17] Some understand the hand clapping and stamping here as expressions of Joy on the part of the prophet for God’s punishment of Israel, but we prefer the view that they express grief, concern, and sorrow over the impending destruction. Plumptre notes that they appear to have been used to express both emotions.[18]“Every high hill … every green tree … every thick oak …” (Ezekiel 6:13). “This verse refers to the fertility goddess of Hos 4:13."[19] This is exactly what Jeremiah was speaking of in Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:6; Jeremiah 3:13. Ezekiel 6:14 carries God’s prophecy of destruction for the total land of the Chosen People. “Diblah …” (Ezekiel 6:14). This place is unknown, and scholars have attempted to substitute the word Riblah for it; but actually there is no accurate knowledge of where this place was located. It really makes no difference anyway, for the place is usually held to mean that God would destroy Israel “from one end of the country to the other.” Some have compared what is said here to the expression, “From Dan to Beersheba.” The meaning is clear enough as is.

Ezekiel 6:1

Ezekiel 6:1. Ezekiel was an inspired prophet and spoke or wrote only the word of the Lord, as it came unto him.

Ezekiel 6:2

Ezekiel 6:2. The mountains of Israel were material objects and could have no moral responsibilities. But the people made a specialty of erecting altars and idols on the “ high places” and offering their abominable services thereon. Hence in the form of per-sonification the Lord directed his prophet to write against these mountains, Set thy face is a figure of speech aud means that Ezekiel was to focus hie attention upon the object mentioned and then write as the Lord directed him.

Ezekiel 6:3

Ezekiel 6:3. The thought of the preceding verse is maintained in this, and the impersonation Is extended to include other geographical parts of the land. None of them has any responsibility in the corruptions being condemned, but the impression of guilt should be greater before the mind of the guilty ones by such an all-out picture of the scene. The particular complaint is literally denoted by the words high places.

Ezekiel 6:4

Ezekiel 6:4. The altars and idols were literally destroyed as the nation went down in captivity. But that fact may well be regarded as a sign of the complete cure from idolatry that was brought about by the exile in the land of Babylon. See the historical note at Isaiah 1:25 in volume 3 of this Commentary.

Ezekiel 6:5

Ezekiel 6:5. These dead bodies being laid before the idols would not be as a sacrificial offering, but as a token of the uselessness of false gods. If such deities could not preserve the physical lives of their worshipers, they surely could noi provide them any spiritual help.

Ezekiel 6:6

Ezekiel 6:6. The weakness of false gods was to be further shown in that they could not protect the homes and cities of the country. It is a poor head that cannot take the proper oversight of its own body, yet these images that were worshiped by the people of Israel were powerless to preserve even the altars erected to their worship.

Ezekiel 6:7

Ezekiel 6:7. The sight of slain men right in t.he midst of the multitude of idols would prove their frailty. The logical conclusion that such a situation should suggest is that I am the Lord, meaning the Cod of Israel is the true Lord,

Ezekiel 6:8

Ezekiel 6:8. The remnant promised is numbered in Ezra 2:64. The captivity in Babylon lasted 70 years and the ravages of that period i educed the population of Israel from some millions to this number.

Ezekiel 6:9

Ezekiel 6:9. Shall remember me among the nations was sadly fulfilled by the children of Israel after they got into the land of Babylon. Their dejected frame of mind is forcefully described by a prophecy of David in Psalms 137. I am broken. Strong defines the original for the last word, “ A primitive root; to burst (literally or figuratively).‘1 Of course it is used figuratively here and means the Lord was deeply disappointed over the conduct of his people. Whorish heart means their lusting after false gods, as religious unfaithfulness is commonly compared to moral corruption in the Bible, Shall loathe themselves refers to the complete cure from idolatry that was accomplished by the cap-tivity. (See the notes at Isaiah 1:25.)

Ezekiel 6:10

Ezekiel 6:10. The main object the Lord had in view by the whole work of the captivity was to convince Israel that He is the only true. God. T)o this evil means something painful, not anything wrong morally.

Ezekiel 6:11

Ezekiel 6:11, Strong says the original for smite means to strike, literally or figuratively. Ezekiel was to do this “ acting” witli his hand and foot as a gesture of emphasis. It would he a sign of the Lord’s determination to impose a punishment upon the disobedient nation. The three items named were commented upon at Jeremiah 14:12 and other places previously considered in this Commentary,

Ezekiel 6:12

Ezekiel 6:12. A pestilence, however, could occur from conditions other than famine, and the Lord threatened to bring it upon some of the people who would not be hemmed by the siege. The general thought is that no one can escape the chastisement that He determines against the unfaithful servants.

Ezekiel 6:13

Ezekiel 6:13. Slain men among their idols was to signify the weakness of the false godB the children of Israel had been worshiping. The presence of these dead bodies in the same area with the idols would be proof of the helplessness thereof. Hills and mountains are named because they were favorite spots on which the idols and their altars were built. Trees also were used as desirable places for the idolatrous service, and they selected a green or living tree, which Strong defines, ‘‘ to be . . . figuratively prosperous.” Something alive might suggest a source of good whereas a dead one would not. There is nothing about a dead tree that would suggest anything to be worshiped. Sweet savor refers to the incense that was burned in sacrifice to a god because of its fragrant odor.

Ezekiel 6:14

Ezekiel 6:14. Concerning Diblath, the Funk and Wagnalls Bible Dictionary says the following; “ No such place is known and the true reading may be ’to Riblah’ in the extreme north of the Lebanon region, making the whole expression mean: ‘from south to north, i,e„ from one end of the land to the other.” The significance to us is that God threatened a widespread desolation over the land as a punishment for their idolatry