Major Prophets · Chapter 6 of 48
Ezekiel 6
Ezekiel sets his face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesies against her high places. God will bring a sword, break the altars, and cast down the slain before their idols, filling the land with bones. Yet He will leave a remnant among the nations who will remember Him, loathe themselves for their evils, and finally know that He is the Lord.
What happens in Ezekiel 6
The word of the Lord tells Ezekiel to face the mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys of Israel and announce a sword against them. God will destroy the high places, desolate the altars, break the images, and lay the slain before their idols, scattering bones around the altars. In every dwelling place the cities will be laid waste so that idolatrous worship ceases and their works are abolished. Yet He promises to leave a remnant who escape the sword and are scattered among the nations.
These survivors will remember Him, grieved that their whorish hearts departed from Him, and will loathe themselves for their abominations. God insists He has not threatened this evil in vain. Ezekiel is told to clap his hands and stamp his foot, lamenting the coming sword, famine, and pestilence, until the slain lie among the idols they trusted and all know He is the Lord.
Ezekiel 6 in context
Still prophesying to the exiles before 586 BC, Ezekiel addresses the mountains of Israel, the very heights where illicit worship flourished at hilltop shrines and under green trees. The high places, tolerated for centuries, had rivaled the Jerusalem temple.
This oracle answers that idolatry directly, promising the shrines' destruction. The refrain that they shall know that He is the Lord governs the whole book.
Main themes of Ezekiel 6
Ezekiel 6 (KJV)
1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3And 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. 4And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. 6In 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. 7And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 8Yet 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. 9And 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. 10And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. 11Thus 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. 12He 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. 13Then 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. 14So 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.
Verses to carry from Ezekiel 6
“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.”Ezekiel 6:3
“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.”Ezekiel 6:9
“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.”Ezekiel 6:13
Thematic connection
How Ezekiel 6 points to Jesus
Ezekiel's promise of a remnant who remember God among the nations and loathe themselves for their sin points forward to the repentance the gospel produces. Paul speaks of a godly sorrow that works repentance unto salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10), the very grief Ezekiel describes. The self-loathing here is not despair but the honest sight of sin that precedes grace.
Jesus came seeking exactly such returning hearts, and God preserves a remnant according to grace (Romans 11:5). Where Israel's idols proved powerless to save, Christ is the living Lord who does save. And the aim of all God's dealing, that they may know the Lord, finds its fullness in the One through whom we come to know the Father.
Questions about Ezekiel 6
Why does God target the high places so specifically?
Because the high places were the heart of Israel's idolatry, hilltop shrines where they offered sweet savour to false gods under every green tree. God does not attack the land out of spite but dismantles the structures of false worship. By laying the slain before their idols, He exposes the emptiness of what they trusted, proving that these gods could neither help nor save.
How can self-loathing be a good thing?
The remnant shall loathe themselves for the evils they have committed. This is not self-hatred that destroys, but honest grief that sees sin clearly and turns from it. Scripture calls this godly sorrow, the doorway to repentance. It is healthy to be grieved by what grieves God, provided that grief drives us back to His mercy rather than into despair.
Reflection
God would rather have a small remnant that truly knows Him than a crowd that trusts in shrines. Where have you built high places, trusting things that cannot save? Let honest grief over sin lead you not to despair but home. The One who tears down idols does so to become your only refuge.
A prayer from Ezekiel 6
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