1 - 7 Judgment on the Mountains of Israel
1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them 3 and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 So your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. 5 I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out. 7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel (verse 1). He, “son of man”, is to “set” his “face toward the mountains of Israel” (cf. Eze 4:3) and prophesy against them (verse 2). The phrase “mountains of Israel” occurs only in Ezekiel (Eze 6:2,3; 19:9; 33:28; 34:13,14; 35:12; 36:1,4,8; 37:22; 38:8; 39:2,4,17). The mountains of Israel is a mountain range that lies in the heart of Israel and extends for about 250 km from the plain of Jezreel, just north of Nablus or Shechem, to the southern end of the Dead Sea. Those mountains include Jerusalem, Bethel, Ai, Shechem, Bethany and Hebron. There Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, Jacob, Joshua, Joseph and David were buried. They made up most of what is now called the West Bank.
It is toward that area that Ezekiel must set his face because the Israelites erected their idolatrous altars there to serve their idols. In addressing the mountains, everything and everyone involved in this idolatry is addressed. This idolatry is often accompanied by sacred prostitution and all kinds of other debauchery.
Ezekiel is to preach against these mountains, and also the lower “hills”, the word of the Lord GOD in judgment (verse 3). The LORD will bring the sword on them, on the idolaters and the idolatrous heights and all that is in the immediate vicinity of them, such as the ravines or water streams and the valleys. Ravines or water streams and valleys may refer to the refreshments and fertile ground they attribute as a blessing to their idols.
We can learn much from Ezekiel’s obedience. God not only gives him the words to speak, but also determines to whom they are to be spoken. And Ezekiel obeys. He does not ask if it makes sense to prophesy against Jerusalem which is hundreds of miles away (Eze 4:3,7). Nor does he ask if the mountains and hills of Israel will hear the sound of his voice. He simply does what is asked of him.
The places of worship of the idols will be broken smashed (verse 4). The idolaters will lie down before their idols mortally wounded (cf. Lev 26:30). It is the epitome of the madness of their idolatry. With the utmost contempt, God calls their idols “stink gods” [the word for idols here is a word of utmost contempt, which is best rendered with ‘stink gods’, and is used 38 times in Ezekiel]. Under the ‘watchful’ eye of these stink gods, He will make their slain fall. Then it will be clear that these stink gods will not lift a finger to ward off the calamity. The dead bodies lie there, in front of the stink gods (verse 5). Someone who worships such gods has truly lost his mind. What folly it is to worship dead matter and expect salvation from it!
These gods do not spread a pleasant odor, but stench, the stench of the slain who lie in front of them. God carries the defamation to a climax by scattering the bones of the dead around their altars. This punishment has a double effect. The offenders are denied the honor of a burial – a burial is highly valued – and at the same time the places they consider holy are defiled.
The judgment of God will destroy everything that has come under the influence of the stink gods (verse 6). In all habitations He will destroy the cities through the enemy. The heights on which they have committed their idolatry will become a wilderness. The judgment will be thorough and will leave nothing of the altars, the stink gods, the incense altars and the works of the idolaters. The Holy Spirit uses a multitude of words to describe the devastation in the most impressive way possible: “waste”, “desolate”, “waste and desolate”, “broken and brought to an end”, “cut down”, “blotted out”.
In the midst of all this rubble lie the slain (verse 7). The whole area is an open mass grave full of corpses and destroyed habitations. Then they will finally know that He is the LORD. The acknowledgment of this will not mean life for them. They have passed up the opportunity every time the LORD has called them to repentance.
The phrase “and you will know that I am the LORD” or an almost identical expression, occurs frequently in this book. However, this expression is remarkably absent in Ezekiel 40-48. At the same time, this is understandable because that part of the book is about the realm of peace and there they will all know the LORD and know that He is the LORD (Jer 31:34).
8 - 10 A Remnant
8 “However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”‘
Although the judgment is so severe, God promises that there will be “remnant” (verse 8). Here, in the midst of all the unfaithfulness and warnings, is a first reference to a remnant and thus to restoration. This remnant will be scattered, but among the nations where they will then be, they will come to repentance and remember the LORD (verse 9; cf. Jer 51:50; Zec 10:9).
He has had to scatter them because they have hurt His heart by the aberrations of their hearts, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their stink gods. The idolatry of Israel is represented as harlotry, as unfaithfulness to the marriage covenant between the LORD and His people (cf. Exo 34:15; Hos 1:2). Their eyes play a major role in their unfaithfulness to God (Eze 18:12,15; 20:24; cf. Num 15:39). Through the eyes, sin entered the world: Eve saw (Gen 3:6).
When the people come to repentance through God’s work in them, they will loathe themselves in their own sight for all their abominations, for all their disgusting idolatrous practices. We too must know this loathing ourselves in order to truly know and love the Lord.
Also this section ends with “then they will know that I am the LORD”, a knowledge that comes here not through judgment, as in verse 7, but through the grace that brought them to repentance (verse 10). They will recognize that He has dealt with them fully righteously. The full fulfillment of this will be experienced by the remnant in the end time.
11 - 14 Judgment by Sword, Famine and Plague
11 “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Clap your hand, stamp your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, famine and plague! 12 He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them. 13 Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols. 14 So throughout all their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the LORD.”‘“
Ezekiel is commanded to clap his hand, stamp his foot, and say “alas”, as an expression of disgust “because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel” (verse 11). He is thus again personally involved in the judgment God is bringing on His people. The announcement of judgment is not an emotionless affair. It works an emotional response in each person who must do so.
Judgment will come on Jerusalem by the sword of the enemy, by famine because of the siege, and by the plague (pestilence) that will come as a result of starvation. The people here do not have the choice to choose one of these plagues, as once David had (2Sam 24:13-14), but will be affected by every plague.
The pestilence that is going through the land will affect all those who live further away in the land (verse 12). The sword will strike those who are in and around the city, surrounded by the enemies. Those who have been able to hide and have been spared from the sword will die the slow death of starvation. This is how God will execute His wrath. He announces clearly what He will do.
When the slain lie in all those places where they paid homage to their stink gods, they will know that He is the LORD (verse 13). Here again we have this knowledge of the LORD through and after judgment. It is terrible to come to know God in judgment (Heb 10:31). They will also gain that knowledge through God’s judgment of their land which He will make more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah (verse 14). The wilderness toward Diblah is presumably east of Moab (see Num 33:46 Almon-Diblathaïm and Jer 48:22 Beth-Diblathaïm).