Ezekiel 6 Study Notes: Judgment on Israel’s Idol Mountains
Ezekiel prophesies against Israel’s mountains and hills, home to its idol shrines, announcing that the altars will be wrecked and the dead will lie before their idols. A remnant dispersed among the nations will remember the LORD and despise themselves for their sins, and all will learn that He is the LORD.
General
Why was Ezekiel told to prophesy against the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys of Israel (Ezekiel 6:1-4)?
Answer: They held the high places and altars used for idols
God told Ezekiel to turn toward Israel’s mountains and prophesy to them along with the hills, ravines and valleys (6:1-3). These were the places where Israel worshiped false gods at high places, hilltop shrines used for idol worship. God would send the sword against them, destroy the high places, smash the altars and incense altars, and throw down the slain in front of the idols (6:3-4). The law had commanded Israel to wipe out every such shrine on mountains and hills (Deuteronomy 12:2-3), but the people had built hilltop shrines throughout their towns and burned incense on them as the nations did (2 Kings 17:9-11). God had warned in His covenant that He would destroy those high places and incense altars and pile the dead on their idols (Leviticus 26:30).
- Ezekiel 6:1-3 (BSB)“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.”Ezekiel is sent to prophesy to the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys of Israel.
- Ezekiel 6:4 (BSB)“Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols.”God will wreck their altars and incense altars and throw down the slain before the idols.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”The law commanded Israel to destroy every hilltop and mountain shrine where the nations served their gods.
- 2 Kings 17:9-11 (BSB)“The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger.”The northern kingdom put up hilltop shrines in every town and burned incense on them as the nations had.
- Leviticus 26:30 (BSB)“I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.”The covenant warnings had threatened to destroy Israel’s high places and incense altars and pile its dead on its idols.
Theological
For what reason does the LORD address His judgment to the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys of Israel (Ezekiel 6:1-4)?
Answer: They held the high places and altars used for idols
The oracle is addressed to Israel’s landscape because the landscape had become the geography of idolatry: the high places, altars and incense altars on hills and in valleys (6:1-3). He will send the sword against these sites, demolish the shrines, and cast down the slain before their idols (6:3-4). Deuteronomy had required the destruction of every such sanctuary on mountains and hills (Deuteronomy 12:2-3), yet Israel multiplied high places in every town and burned incense like the dispossessed nations (2 Kings 17:9-11). The judgment executes the covenant sanction already announced in Leviticus 26:30, almost point for point.
- Ezekiel 6:1-3 (BSB)“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.”Ezekiel is sent to prophesy to the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys of Israel.
- Ezekiel 6:4 (BSB)“Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols.”God will wreck their altars and incense altars and throw down the slain before the idols.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”The law commanded Israel to destroy every hilltop and mountain shrine where the nations served their gods.
- 2 Kings 17:9-11 (BSB)“The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger.”The northern kingdom put up hilltop shrines in every town and burned incense on them as the nations had.
- Leviticus 26:30 (BSB)“I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.”The covenant warnings had threatened to destroy Israel’s high places and incense altars and pile its dead on its idols.
General
What does the LORD say the survivors dispersed among the nations will do (Ezekiel 6:8-10)?
Answer: Remember the LORD and despise themselves for their sins
Even in judgment God promised to leave a remnant, a small group of survivors, who would be spared from the sword when dispersed among other peoples (6:8). In the lands of their captivity they would remember Him and how their unfaithful hearts that turned from Him, and eyes that chased after idols, had grieved Him. They would be disgusted with themselves for their wrongdoing and come to know that He is the LORD (6:9-10). The remnant was God’s doing: He is the one who leaves it. Ezekiel later repeats this promise that God’s restored people would remember their ways and loathe themselves (36:31), just as the covenant foresaw exiles humbling themselves and confessing their sin (Leviticus 26:40-42). Paul says God still keeps a remnant whom He chose by grace (Romans 11:5), and that godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).
- Ezekiel 6:8-10 (BSB)“Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands. Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations. And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not declare in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”God leaves a remnant among the nations who remember Him, loathe their sins, and know that He is the LORD.
- Ezekiel 36:31 (BSB)“Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.”God later promises again that His restored people will recall their wicked conduct and be disgusted with themselves over their sins.
- Leviticus 26:40-42 (BSB)“But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”The covenant itself foresaw exiles humbled and confessing, and God remembering His covenant with the patriarchs.
- Romans 11:5 (BSB)“In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.”Paul says that in his own day God still preserved a remnant by His gracious choice.
- 2 Corinthians 7:10 (BSB)“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”Paul contrasts godly sorrow, which produces repentance and salvation, with worldly sorrow, which ends in death.
Theological
According to 6:8-10, what will the remnant God preserves among the nations do?
Answer: Remember the LORD and despise themselves for their sins
The LORD Himself leaves the remnant, sparing some from the sword in the dispersion (6:8). Among the nations they will remember Him, recognizing how He was grieved by their unfaithful hearts and idol-seeking eyes; they will be filled with self-loathing over their evils and abominations and know that He is the LORD (6:9-10). Repentance here is the fruit of God’s preserving mercy, not its cause: He keeps the remnant, and they come to loathe their sin. The pattern recurs in the promise of restoration (36:31) and fulfills the covenant’s provision for humbled, confessing exiles (Leviticus 26:40-42). Paul’s remnant, chosen by God’s grace (Romans 11:5), and his godly sorrow that brings repentance leading to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10) express the same sovereign grace.
- Ezekiel 6:8-10 (BSB)“Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands. Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations. And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not declare in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”God leaves a remnant among the nations who remember Him, loathe their sins, and know that He is the LORD.
- Ezekiel 36:31 (BSB)“Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.”God later promises again that His restored people will recall their wicked conduct and be disgusted with themselves over their sins.
- Leviticus 26:40-42 (BSB)“But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”The covenant itself foresaw exiles humbled and confessing, and God remembering His covenant with the patriarchs.
- Romans 11:5 (BSB)“In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.”Paul says that in his own day God still preserved a remnant by His gracious choice.
- 2 Corinthians 7:10 (BSB)“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”Paul contrasts godly sorrow, which produces repentance and salvation, with worldly sorrow, which ends in death.
General
True or False: In 6:5-6 the LORD says the towns would be ruined but the altars and idols themselves would be left standing.
Answer: False
This is false. God says He would lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, with their bones strewn around their altars (6:5). Wherever they lived, the towns would be ruined and the hilltop shrines torn down, so that the altars would be wrecked and made unclean, the idols smashed and wiped out, the incense altars hacked down, and all their handiwork erased (6:6). The very places of their idol worship would become places of death, and the idols, objects made by human hands (Psalm 115:4), would themselves be smashed. God had warned of this in His covenant, saying He would heap their bodies on their lifeless idols (Leviticus 26:30). Jeremiah foretold bones lying exposed before the very powers the people had worshiped (Jeremiah 8:1-2).
- Ezekiel 6:5-6 (BSB)“I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.”The dead will lie before their idols, bones around the altars, and every shrine and idol will be ruined.
- Leviticus 26:30 (BSB)“I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.”God had warned long before that He would heap the bodies of His disobedient people on their lifeless idols.
- Psalm 115:4-8 (BSB)“Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats. Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.”Idols are human handiwork, unable to speak, see, hear or walk, and those who trust them become like them.
- Jeremiah 8:1-2 (BSB)““At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.”Jeremiah foretold bones left lying exposed before the very heavenly powers the people had worshiped.
Theological
True or False: According to 6:5-6, the judgment would ruin Israel’s towns while leaving its altars and idols intact.
Answer: False
This is false. Israel’s dead will be laid out in front of their idols, their bones strewn around the altars (6:5); in every dwelling place towns will be wasted and hilltop shrines demolished, with the altars desecrated, the idols broken to pieces, the incense altars felled, and all their works erased (6:6). The shrines become places of death, and the idols themselves, mere human handiwork, are broken. This is the covenant sanction of Leviticus 26:30 carried out, and it vindicates the Psalmist’s verdict on idols, mute and powerless, whose worshipers become like them (Psalm 115:4-8). Jeremiah pictures the same reversal, bones lying exposed before the heavenly powers Judah had served (Jeremiah 8:1-2).
- Ezekiel 6:5-6 (BSB)“I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.”The dead will lie before their idols, bones around the altars, and every shrine and idol will be ruined.
- Leviticus 26:30 (BSB)“I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.”God had warned long before that He would heap the bodies of His disobedient people on their lifeless idols.
- Psalm 115:4-8 (BSB)“Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats. Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.”Idols are human handiwork, unable to speak, see, hear or walk, and those who trust them become like them.
- Jeremiah 8:1-2 (BSB)““At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.”Jeremiah foretold bones left lying exposed before the very heavenly powers the people had worshiped.
General
Ezekiel 6 repeatedly says the people will know that He is the LORD (6:7, 10, 13-14). What will they come to recognize?
Answer: That His warnings were true and He alone is God
This refrain closes each part of the message. When the slain fall among them, they will know He is the LORD (6:7). The surviving remnant will know Him and see that He did not threaten disaster for nothing (6:10). Ezekiel is then told to clap his hands, stamp his feet and shout over Israel’s abominations, because judgment will leave no one out: plague for those far away, the sword for those near, famine for those left (6:11-12). They will recognize Him as the LORD once again when their dead are strewn among their idols on the heights and beneath the trees, and the land is made desolate (6:13-14). To know that He is the LORD is to learn by experience that He is the one true God, who does what He says (Numbers 23:19). Joshua had warned that God would bring His threatened calamity just as surely as His good promises (Joshua 23:15), and He acts so that everyone may know no God exists but Him (Isaiah 45:5-6).
- Ezekiel 6:7 (BSB)“The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.”When the dead fall among them, the people will recognize that He is the LORD.
- Ezekiel 6:10 (BSB)“And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not declare in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”The surviving remnant will know the LORD and that His threats of calamity were not empty.
- Ezekiel 6:11-14 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague. He who is far off will die by the plague, he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains will die by famine. So I will vent My fury upon them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’””After Ezekiel’s cry over Israel’s abominations and a judgment that leaves no one out, the refrain closes the chapter.
- Numbers 23:19 (BSB)“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”God is truthful and unchanging; what He says, He carries out.
- Joshua 23:15 (BSB)“But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.”Joshua warned that the LORD would bring His threatened calamity as surely as He had kept His good promises.
- Isaiah 45:5-6 (BSB)“I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me, so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.”The LORD acts so that people everywhere will learn He alone is God.
Theological
What is the content of the recognition repeated in 6:7, 10 and 13-14, that the people will know He is the LORD?
Answer: That His warnings were true and He alone is God
The recognition formula structures the oracle. The fall of the slain brings knowledge of the LORD (6:7); the remnant learns that He did not speak His threat of calamity in vain (6:10); and after Ezekiel’s gestures and cry over Israel’s abominations and the announcement of a judgment that leaves no one out, whether far off, near or remaining (6:11-12), the knowledge comes again as the dead are strewn among their idols on every height and the land lies desolate (6:13-14). To know that He is the LORD is to acknowledge experientially His sole deity and His faithfulness to His word, in judgment as in mercy. He is not like mortals, who speak without acting (Numbers 23:19); His threatened calamity comes as surely as His promised good (Joshua 23:15), so that everyone may know there is none besides Him (Isaiah 45:5-6).
- Ezekiel 6:7 (BSB)“The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.”When the dead fall among them, the people will recognize that He is the LORD.
- Ezekiel 6:10 (BSB)“And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not declare in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”The surviving remnant will know the LORD and that His threats of calamity were not empty.
- Ezekiel 6:11-14 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague. He who is far off will die by the plague, he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains will die by famine. So I will vent My fury upon them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’””After Ezekiel’s cry over Israel’s abominations and a judgment that leaves no one out, the refrain closes the chapter.
- Numbers 23:19 (BSB)“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”God is truthful and unchanging; what He says, He carries out.
- Joshua 23:15 (BSB)“But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.”Joshua warned that the LORD would bring His threatened calamity as surely as He had kept His good promises.
- Isaiah 45:5-6 (BSB)“I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me, so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.”The LORD acts so that people everywhere will learn He alone is God.