Ezekiel 6

REVIEW QUESTIONS

What factors made the sin of Judah so grievous?

In what sense was Jerusalem in the midst of the nations (Ezekiel 5:5)?

What horrible barbarisms would accompany the fall of Jerusalem?

In what sense would a sword continue to pursue the refugees even on foreign soil?

What would be necessary before the righteous anger of God could be satisfied?

What are the evil arrow’s of famine which God would send against Jerusalem?

In what ways had the Jews defiled God’s sanctuary in Jerusalem?

Why was Ezekiel told to prophesy against the mountains of Israel?

In what ways does Ezekiel in this section indicate the futility of idolatry?

How many times does the expression you shall know that I am the Lord occur in the book? What does this expression reveal about the purpose of God?

What hopeful picture of a remnant did Ezekiel paint?

How does Ezekiel describe the anguish which God experiences over the apostasy of His people?

Why the clapping of the hands and stamping of the feet in Ezekiel 6:11?

Ezekiel says that those who sell land would never be able to reclaim it. How can this be reconciled with the prediction of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 32:15; Jeremiah 32:17; Jeremiah 32:43) that land would once again be bought and sold in Canaan?

Why did Ezekiel make a chain in Ezekiel 7:23?

How does Ezekiel describe the Chaldeans who would over throw Jerusalem?

How would the coming calamity affect the spiritual leaders of the nation?

Ezekiel 6:1-7

II. DISOBEDIENCE AND DESOLATION 6:1-14

In his second discourse Ezekiel zeroes in on the places of idolatrous worship which were located in the mountains and valleys of Judah. These pagan sanctuaries, once known for their shady trees, would 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 quite in 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 Prediction 6:1-7

TRANSLATION

(1) 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, (3) and 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: Behold I, even I, am about to bring against you a sword, and I will destroy your high places. (4) And your altars shall be made desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I shall cast down your slain before your idols. (5) And I will put the carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. (6) In all of your dwelling places the cities shall become waste, and the high places shall become desolate; that they may be laid waste, and your altars may bear their guilt, and your idols be broken, and cease to be, and your incense altars be cut down, and your works wiped out, (7) And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

COMMENTS

This 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 which demonstrated determination and anger; i.e., he faced westward as he spoke these words.[173] Just as the anonymous prophet of 1Kings 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. These 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 would 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.

[173] Cf. Ezekiel 13:17; Ezekiel 20:46; Ezekiel 21:2.

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. An altar, standing stones, a wooden pole symbolic of Asherah, and a laver were standard features of Canaanite high places. Hezekiah in the eighth century and Josiah in the seventh century made determined efforts to remove these theological cancers from the nation. But 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.

The Lord would bring the sword of destruction against the pagan high places (Ezekiel 6:3). The term sword (chereb) can denote any kind or all kinds of destructive instruments. Here the term is symbolic of the invading forces of Nebuchadnezzar which would bring death, destruction and desolation to the land. The sexual license and child sacrifice which 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 would be desecrated and destroyed. The sacrificial altars and smaller incense altars[174] would be destroyed. The corpses of the slain Israelites would not even be accorded the dignity of burial. They would be left to rot before their helpless idols[175] (Ezekiel 6:4). Their bones would be scattered around the altars. Death defiled (cf. Numbers 9:6-10; 2 Kings 23:14; 2 Kings 23:16). Hence the altars would 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 would yet further defile it by their dead bodies. The fragrance of incense offered to pagan deities would be replaced by the stench of rotting bodies.

[174] Small limestone altars with horns too small for offering any sacrifice other than incense have been found in Palestine. [175] The term for idols here (gillulim) is one of contempt. Ezekiel may have coined this term which means something like block-gods The term is found thirty-nine times in the book. See Feinberg, PE, p. 41

In characteristic emphasis by repetition, Ezekiel underscores the threat against the idolatrous shrines in Ezekiel 6:6-7. Here the people are directly addressed rather than the mountains. In all of their dwelling places the cities would become waste and their high places desolate. Altars, idols and incense altars would be destroyed. The work of their hands, i.e., their idols, would be wiped out[176] (Ezekiel 6:6). The slain of Judah would fall throughout the land, and no idol would be able to prevent the massacre, In that terrible day when man-made gods proved impotent, the sovereignty of the Lord would be admitted by all.

[176] The same order had been given regarding the Canaanites who occupied the land before Israel, Since Israel had adopted the ways of Canaan, they and their worship would now come under the same divine edict.

The expression you shall know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 6:7) is characteristic of Ezekiel and occurs some sixty times in the book. It is virtually the theme of the whole work. The motivation in all God’s dealings with Israel is that He be recognized as the only God. Throughout the book this expression summons the listeners to judge that it was Yahweh who had intervened, or was about to intervene, with His wrath or with His aid.

Ezekiel 6:8-10

B. A Confident Expectation 6:8-10

TRANSLATION

(8) But I will leave a remnant, in that you shall have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the lands. (9) And those of you who escape shall remember Me among the nations where they have been taken captive, that I was shattered by their adulterous heart which turned aside from Me, and by their eyes which committed adultery after their idols; and they shall loath themselves in their sight for the evils which they committed, for all their abominations. (10) And they shall know that I am the LORD; not in vain have I said that I would do this evil to them.

COMMENTS

Not all would die in the carnage and bloodshed which would befall Judah. A remnant would 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 and is doomed for extinction; faithful individuals would be spared. These godly souls would become the prototype and the nucleus of the New Testament Israel of God.[177] The nation would die in 587 B.C., but faith would live on. Four facts about the remnant are brought out in these verses:

[177] Key passages for the study of the remnant theme in the Old Testament are Isaiah 1:9; Isaiah 10:20, Jeremiah 43:5; Zephaniah 2:7; Zephaniah 3:13, Zechariah 10:9; Romans 9:6; Romans 9:13; Ezekiel 11:5.

1. This remnant would 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 would seek to restore their relationship to God by repentance.

2. When they remember the Lord, the remnant for the first time would come to realize the anguish[178] which their loving Father had experienced when they with adulterous hearts turned away from Him to cast their lustful eyes upon pagan idols. Those wanton hearts would be changed. In the fires of punishment and persecution the surviving remnant was purged of impurity,

[178] Literally, I have been broken or shattered. The RSV has followed some of the ancient versions by rendering, when I have broken their whorish heart.

3. The remnant would come to loath themselves for the evils which they committed. They would then regard all their idols as abominations (Ezekiel 6:9). Abomination is a favorite term of Ezekiel for a practice which led to religious impurity. He uses this term mainly of idolatry, but sometimes of adultery.

4. The remnant will know in that day that Yahweh is sovereign God. His word had not been spoken in vain (Ezekiel 6:10). The ultimate aim of the national chastisement was to produce a faithful remnant. God’s purpose would thus be accomplished.

Ezekiel 6:11-14

C. A Distressing Lamentation 6:11-14

TRANSLATION

(11) Thus says the Lord GOD: Clap your hand and stamp your foot, and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, with sword, famine and pestilence they shall fall. (12) He who is far off shall die with the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remains and is besieged shall die in the famine; then I shall bring to an end MY wrath against them. (13) And you will know that I am the LORD when their slain ones shall 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. (14) And I shall stretch out My hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and waste more than the wilderness of Diblah in all their dwelling places; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

COMMENTS

With a dramatic action Ezekiel was to underscore what he had just said.[179] He was to clap his hand and stamp his foot. These were gestures expressive of intense emotion and excitement generated either by intense joy or sorrow.[180] There is no reason to assume that Ezekiel would be 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. Ezekiel 11:13). It was with a broken and aching heart that Ezekiel spoke to and about his people.

[179] One must always reckon with the possibility that this oracle was not delivered on the same occasion as the preceding verses. [180] Others have interpreted Ezekiel’s actions as indicating malicious satisfaction, joy, triumph as well as horror, indignation and sorrow.

The prophet’s gesture of distress was accomplished by the customary wail, Alas![181] Because of all the evil abominations (idolatry) of Israel the nation would fall with sword, famine and pestilence (Ezekiel 6:11). The one far off from the scene of battle would die by pestilence; the one near the battle, by the sword. Those in the besieged capital would die of famine. Distance would make no difference. Wherever they were the inexorable and relentless wrath of God would overtake them (cf. Zechariah 1:6). There would be no escape. With these terrible calamities the wrath of the Lord would come to an end (Ezekiel 6:12).

[181] Ellison (EMM, p. 37) proposes the rendering Ha, Ezekiel is called upon to rejoice that the accumulated evil of centuries is to be swept away.

For the third time in this chapter the prophet underscores the dramatic impact which these judgment works would 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 would 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 top retreats the shady bowers where once the fertility orgies of Baal and Asherah were practiced those sacred spots where the sweet savor of incense was offered before images all alike would be desecrated (Ezekiel 6:13).

The hand of the Lord would be stretched out against the land and it would become a desolate waste. The reference to Diblah in Ezekiel 6:14 is difficult to interpret. Some translate, from the wilderness to Riblah (RSV), and 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.[182] 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.[183]

[182] The change of d to r as the first letter of the place name, and addition of the article to the word wilderness. The interchange of d and r is attested in Numbers 1:14; Numbers 2:14

[183] A Diblathiam on the eastern border of Moab is attested in Numbers 33:46-47 and Jeremiah 48:22, ASV.

The discourse closes with a fourth assertion that this divine judgment would serve to turn people to the Lord (Ezekiel 6:14).