Judgment on the Mountains of Israel
Study note
The mountains of Israel were filled with 'high places,' which were hilltop shrines where people worshipped false gods. These outdoor worship sites often included altars, stone pillars, and wooden poles dedicated to pagan deities. God promised to destroy these places, scatter the bones of the idol worshippers around their broken altars, and leave the cities in ruins. This would prove that he alone is the Lord.
1 The Lord gave me another message. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 "Son of man, look straight at the mountains of Israel and deliver a prophecy against them." Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,
3 Tell them, "Mountains of Israel, the Lord God has a message for you! He says to every mountain, hill, ravine, and valley: I am bringing war against you and tearing down the hilltop shrines where you worship false gods." 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 "Your altars will be smashed. Your incense stands will be broken to pieces. I will throw down your people's dead bodies before the idols they worshiped." And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.
5 "I will leave the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols. I will scatter their bones all around those altars." And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
6 "Everywhere you settle, the towns will lie in rubble and the hilltop shrines will be wrecked. Every altar will be demolished. Every idol will be smashed and carted away. Every incense stand will be torn apart. Everything you built will be completely wiped out." 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 "Dead bodies will litter the ground around you, and you will finally understand that I am the Lord." And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
A Remnant Will Remember
Study note
Even in the midst of judgment, God promised to spare some of the people. Those who survived would be scattered among the nations, and there they would finally remember God. They would feel disgusted by their own sins and realize that God had warned them truthfully. This is one of Ezekiel's key themes: even judgment has a purpose, which is to bring people back to knowing God.
8 "Still, I will let some of you survive. A number of you will escape the sword and end up scattered across foreign lands." 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 "While living as captives in those foreign nations, the survivors will think back on me. They will understand how deeply their unfaithful hearts and idol-chasing eyes wounded me. They will be sickened by themselves when they remember all the evil they committed." 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 "Then they will fully grasp that I am the Lord, and that my warnings were never empty threats." 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.
Clap and Stamp in Grief
Study note
God told Ezekiel to clap his hands and stamp his feet as signs of grief over Israel's terrible sins. The three punishments of sword, famine, and disease would reach everyone: those far away would die of disease, those nearby would fall by the sword, and those under siege would die of hunger. God would make the land emptier than the wilderness near Diblah, a town at the far edge of Israel.
11 The Lord God says: "Clap your hands and stomp your feet in sorrow! Cry out over all the terrible sins of Israel, because their people will be destroyed by war, hunger, and disease." 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 "Disease will kill those far away. Swords will cut down those nearby. And starvation will finish off those trapped behind siege walls. That is how completely I will pour out my anger." 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 you will know I am the Lord. You will see their dead lying among the idols at their altars. They will be on every hilltop and mountaintop, under every green tree and large oak. Those were the very places where they burned sweet-smelling offerings to their false gods." 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 "I will reach out my hand and strip the land bare and empty, from the desert all the way to Diblah, wherever anyone lives. Then they will recognize that I am the Lord." 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.