Ezekiel 6:3

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. THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD ... TO THE RIVERS - literally, the channels of torrents. Rivers were often the scene and objects of idolatrous worship. I WILL DESTROY YOUR HIGH PLACES - quoted from , and stamped afresh with the seal of inspiration....

Now a clearer expression follows in the third verse: _Thou shalt say, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. _Here an audience is required of the mountains which they could not give, but that has respect to mankind, as I have just said. God, therefore, requires the mountains to listen, so that men may understand that an inanimate thing may be endued with sense, if their stupidity is considered. For at length God enforced his judgments against the mountains of Israel. Although, therefore, they could not hear the Prophet speaking, yet they took up his instruction, because it was efficacious in them, and God at length in reality proved that he had not spoken in vain. The event, therefore, openly made the mountains in some way attentive. Neither could they escape the judgment which had been openly denounced. Now he adds, _Thus saith Jehovah to the mountains and the hills _Ezekiel...

RIVERS - Or, “ravines,” which were, like the mountains, favorite seats of idol-rites 2 Kings 23:10....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 6:2, EZEKIEL 6:3 SET THY FACE TOWARD THE MOUNTAINS, etc. The formula is eminently characteristic of Ezekiel. We have had it with a different verb in the Hebrew, in Ezekiel 4:3. It will meet us again in Ezekiel 20:46; Ezekiel 21:2; Ezekiel 25:2; Ezekiel 28:21;...

AND SAY, YE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD GOD,.... Since the people of the Jews would not hear the word of the Lord, the mountains are called upon to hear it; unless the inhabitants of the mountains are meant: THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD TO THE MOUNTAINS AND TO THE HILLS, TO THE RIVERS AND TO THE VALLEYS: these are addressed, because idols were worshipped here; as upon the mountains and hills, so by rivers of water, and also in valleys, as in the valley of Hinnom idols were worshipped; upon mountains and hills, because they thought themselves nearer to heaven; by rivers, because of purity; and in valleys, because shady and obscure, and had something solemn and venerable in them: BEHOLD I, [EVEN] I, WILL BRING A SWORD UPON YOU; that is, upon the idolaters, which worshipped in these places; otherwise different instruments, as pick axes, c. would have been more proper. The Ta...

Ezekiel 6:1. The mountains of Israel are mentioned first, because they were the places where the people practiced idolatry; they were the high places so often mentioned in the historical books. (Read Leviticus 26:30 .) Hundreds of years before, Moses wrote these words; and now they were all to be fulfilled. But the Lord also promised that a remnant should be left. That remnant would acknowledge the evil they had done. “They shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.” The words “because I am broken with their whorish heart” means literally translated, “When I shall have broken their whorish heart which has departed from Me.” No judgment which has ever come upon Israel made a complete end of the nation. A remnant always remained and returned to the Lord. (See...

EZEKIEL 6. THE DOOM OF THE SINFUL MOUNTAINS. Ezekiel 6:1. Not only, however, was Jerusalem steeped in sin, but the whole land; therefore the whole land is here addressed and denounced, or rather the mountains, partly because the mountains were the conspicuous and characteristic feature of Canaan: but more especially because from time immemorial the high places upon them had been the seat of idolatry. The Hebrews had taken them over from the Canaanites, and with them many elements of the idolatrous worship practised within them. Thirty years before a desperate effort, based upon the newly-discovered book of Deuteronomy, had been made by Josiah to abolish these sanctuaries; but such a passage as this shows us that they still persisted. The words high places, which primarily denoted sanctuaries on heights (_e.g._ of hills), came to denote sanctuaries in general, and so are applied her

THE LORD GOD. Hebrew Adonai Jehovah. See note on Ezekiel 2:4. RIVERS: OR, RAVINES. Compare Ezekiel 36:4, s. Hebrew aphikim. See note on "channels", 2 Samuel 22:16. BEHOLD, Figure of speech _Asteriemos._ App-6. BRING. SWORD. See note on Ezekiel 5:17. DESTROY YOUR HIGH PLACES. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 26:30)....

Second Section. Ch. Ezekiel 3:22 to Ezekiel 7:27 The second section of the Book contains these parts: (1) Ch. Ezekiel 3:22-27. A preface in which the prophet is commanded to confine himself to his own house, and abandon for a time his public ministry. (2) Ch. Ezekiel 4:1-4. A series of symbols representing the siege of Jerusalem, the scarcity during it, the pollution of the people in exile among the nations, and the terrible fate of the inhabitants on the capture of the city. (3) Ch. Ezekiel 5:5-17. Exposition of these s

TO THE MOUNTAINS, &C.— Every part of the country had been defiled with idolatry. _The altars built_ for idol worship were generally placed upon mountains and hills: the shady valleys and river-sides were also used for the same purpose, particularly for the sacrificing of children to Moloch: so that the prophet denounces a general judgment against the whole defiled and idolatrous country. By the _mountains of Israel,_ says Houbigant, we are to understand the whole country. The reader will observe the great similarity of the denunciations in this prophet with those in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. See particularly Deuteronomy 12:2.Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:6....