Ezekiel 6:1-14
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,
3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.
4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your imagesa shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.
5 And I will layb the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
6 In all your dwellingplaces 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 images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.
7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.
9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
10 And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.
11 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
12 He that is far off shall die of 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 fury upon them.
13 Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.
14 So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’
The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God
Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 6
God will break the *altars and remove the false gods – Ezekiel 6:1-14
v1 Again, the *LORD spoke to me. v2 ‘*Son of man, look toward the mountains in *Israel and *prophesy against them. v3 Say, “Mountains in *Israel, listen to the word of the *LORD your King.” The *LORD your King says this to the mountains, hills, streams and valleys. I am going to attack you with a sword. I will destroy your high places. v4 I will destroy your *altars. I will break your *altars where you burn *incense. I will kill your people in front of their false gods. v5 I will lay the dead bodies of the *Israelites in front of their false gods. And I will scatter your bones about your *altars. v6 Wherever you live, I will ruin your towns. I will destroy the high places and I will break your *altars. I will break your false gods. I will cut down the *altars where you burn *incense. I will remove the things that you have made. v7 People will fall down dead among you. And you will know that I am the *LORD.
v8 But, I will leave some of the *Israelites alive. Some of you will escape from the sword. But I will scatter you among the nations. v9 Then those who have escaped will remember me. They will be living as *exiles among the nations. They will realise how they hurt me. They were not loyal to me. They *turned away from me and they desired to *worship their false gods. They will hate themselves because of the evil things that they did. v10 Then they will know that I am the *LORD. I have not said in vain that I would bring about this terrible thing against them.’
v11 This is what the *LORD your King says. Clap your hands and put your feet down hard. Cry out because of all the terrible, evil things that the *Israelites have done. They will die by war, hunger and disease. v12 The person who is far away will die by disease. The person that is near shall die by the sword. The person who remains in the city shall die of hunger. So, I will act in my anger against them. v13 The dead bodies of the people will be among their false gods. Their bodies will lie about their *altars. These are on every high hill and mountain. They are under every green tree and under the *oak trees. These are the places where they offered *incense to false gods. The *Israelites will see this. Then they will know that I am the *LORD. v14 I will use my power against them and I will empty the country. I will destroy the country from the desert to Diblah. Wherever they live, I will be against them. And they will know that I am the *LORD.’
Verses 1-3 The *sin that would cause *disaster for Jerusalem was the *worship of false gods. The *worship of false gods in *Israel started in the time of the judges. (In other words, the people who led *Israel before the country had kings. See the Book of Judges.) Men like Samuel, David, Asa and Hezekiah had tried to stop it. But the *worship of false gods did not stop. In the time of King Manasseh, the *worship of false gods increased. He ruled for 55 years. By the time of Ezekiel, this evil *worship was out of control.
God told Ezekiel to look toward the mountains in *Israel. Ezekiel had to look in that direction as he spoke this *prophecy to the *exiles.
The *Lord was speaking to the mountains and hills in *Israel. The tops of hills were the places where the people *worshipped the false gods. The main gods were Baal and the sun god. In the streams and valleys, they *worshipped other gods such as Molech.
The *Lord would cause the *Babylonians to attack the country. They would destroy all these places of *worship.
Verses 4-5 Those who are at these *altars will die there. The *Lord will break down all the *altars and kill the people. The dead bodies and the bones will ruin the *altars. So, the *altars will be *unclean and people cannot again use them again for *worship.
Verses 6-7 The *Lord now speaks to the people. He says that he will destroy their towns. He will destroy the high places where the people served the false gods. The high places were stone platforms on which the people built their *altars. He will break the false gods in pieces. He will break down the *altars. He will kill many of the people.
By these actions, the people will know that God is the *Lord. They must *worship him as the only God.
Verse 8 All the *Israelites deserved the punishment of God. But God will not destroy the whole nation. God will always preserve some of the *Israelites. When he destroys Jerusalem, he will pity some of the people. They will escape but they will go into *exile.
Verses 9-10 When the people live as *exiles in foreign countries, they will think about the past. They will remember the days when *Israel *worshipped God. They will realise how wicked they have been. But it will be too late to prevent God’s punishment.
They will understand that God suffered pain because of their *sin. He loved them but he had to punish them. They had *broken the agreement that they had with God. They had promised to love God and to serve only him. Yet, they had not been loyal to him. They *turned away from him. They *worshipped and served the gods of the nations about them.
In *exile, they will realise how evil their actions really were. They will regret it. They will hate themselves for what they have done. They will agree that God was right to punish them. He had to do it. But he had pity on those whom he sent into *exile.
They will know that the *Lord is God. There is nobody like him. All the false gods are as nothing because he is so great. He is the *Lord God. And he always does what he says. He warned them about the results of their evil deeds. They refused to obey him and so they suffered.
Verse 11 To clap the hands can be an expression of joy or pain. Here it is the pain of what is to happen to their people. The *exiles will clap hands and they will put their feet down hard. They will cry out with strong emotions. They will feel how terrible it will be for the *Israelites.
God will punish the *Israelites for all the evil things that they have done. Apart from some of those in *exile, they will all die. The means of their deaths will be war, hunger and disease.
Verses 12-13 There will be no escape from the anger of God. Wherever the people may go, they will die of diseases. If they remain in the country called *Israel, they will die by the sword. (In other words, their enemies will kill them.) Those who are in Jerusalem will die because of a lack of food. Where they *worshipped their false gods, there they will die.
Those whom God has allowed to live will see this. They will know that God has done it. He has punished his people, and they deserved it because of their *sin. They will know that God is the *Lord.
Verse 14 God will destroy all the *altars and high places. God will destroy all the false gods of the *Israelites. No part of the holy country will escape the anger of God. God will destroy from the desert to Diblah. This means he will destroy from the south to the north of the country. The whole of the country will be as an empty desert.
The *Lord will keep some of his people alive. Then they will know that he is God.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
incense ~ something that gives a sweet smell when it burns. The priests burned it when they praised God in the temple.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
oak ~ a kind of tree.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
disaster ~ when something very bad happens.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
Babylonian ~ a person from the nation called Babylon or anything that has a relationship with Babylon.
unclean ~ unfit for sacred purposes. Unclean food is food that the Jews should not eat because of their religion. When the temple was unclean, it was not right for the worship of God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.