EZEKIEL LESSON 6


     We will begin this lesson in Ezekiel 6:1 "And the word of the
LORD came unto me, saying,"  Ezekiel 6:2 "Son of man, set thy face
toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,"

     "Me", in verse 1, is Ezekiel. The word "and" lets us know this is
a continuation of chapter 5. Again, Ezekiel is called son of man. This
prophecy is against the whole land, and not just Jerusalem. "Set thy
face" indicates that Ezekiel is not to fear giving this prophecy, just
because this is his homeland and his people. It is harder to prophesy
against your friends and neighbors, than it is to strangers.

     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."

     This prophecy against the mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys
is not actually against them, but the people living there. The high
places had been the places of false worship of Baal, as sun god.

     Ezekiel 6:4 "And your altars shall be desolate, and your images
shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain [men] before your
idols."

     These slain men before the idols were, probably, seeking help
from these false gods. God will have them killed before the idols,
partly to show the world just how helpless the idols are. Just as He
defamed the false gods of Egypt, He will defame these idols. The
figures of the false gods will be broken, and left with those who
worshipped them.

     Ezekiel 6:5 "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."

     God's wrath is against His own people who had the law, and knew
not to worship false gods. Scattering their bones on the altars of the
false gods is a mockery to show the false gods had no power to
resurrect the dead.

     Ezekiel 6:6 "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."

     This speaks of total destruction from the very angry God. To
destroy the idols and the high places is an attack against the false
gods themselves, but the destruction of their homes, and even their
own physical bodies, is an attack upon the people themselves. It is as
if God is saying, "I will fix it to where you will never be able to
worship false gods again".

     Ezekiel 6:7 "And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye
shall know that I [am] the LORD."

     Those who live through all of this will know beyond a doubt, that
the LORD is God. Death will be on every side, but it will be apparent
that God spoke judgement, and brought this death and destruction.

     Ezekiel 6:8  "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."

     God always keeps a remnant of His people, so they can multiply
again. This remnant will be scattered in captivity to foreign
countries, mostly Babylon.

     Ezekiel 6:9 "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
loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their
abominations."

     Suddenly, this remnant that is taken captive and taken to foreign
lands, will repent of their sins and remember God. It is their hearts
that God has judged and found unfaithful. We have spoken before, that
we are what is in our heart. The sin came as most other sin. They
looked with their eyes and lusted. Then they acted upon the sin after
the desire had entered their hearts. Notice, the word "whoring". We
remember they were thought of as God's wife. They have committed
spiritual adultery by worshipping false gods. After they are captured,
they hate themselves for the sins they have committed. "Abominations"
are sins that are revolting in the sight of God.

     Ezekiel 6:10 "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."

     This had not been an idle threat that God had made. What God
says, He does. They sinned, after being warned. They deserve whatever
punishment God sees fit to render.

     Ezekiel 6:11  "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."

     The smiting the hand and the stamping of the feet, would put an
emphasis on how bad the woe is. People usually wring their hands when
they are in terrible trouble. This is comparative to that. The sword,
famine, and pestilence come, because of their sins.

     Ezekiel 6:12 "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."

     In another lesson in Ezekiel and, also, in Jeremiah, we saw that
the famine was no ordinary famine. It was so bad they ate their own
children. The famine was so great that the food was weighed, giving
each just enough to survive, and of course, some of them did not
survive. Since this punishment came from God, it did not matter
whether they were far away, or near. God sent them their punishment
for their sins. The sword was the quickest way to die.

     Ezekiel 6:13 "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."

     The high places and grove worship were all worship of false gods.
Much of the false worship was under trees, as well. The sweet smelling
savour was reserved for God alone. To offer sweet savour to their
idols, was to denounce God.

     Ezekiel 6:14 "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."

     The stretching out of God's hand brought judgement. So long as He
did not reach out with His hand, they could have repented. Once the
hand was extended, the judgement had begun. This is the only mention
of Diblath in the Bible. Diblath means a cake of figs. Israel is
spoken of as the figs, or fig tree. This could have been used here to
indicate the figs that had gone bad {Israel}. The 24th chapter of
Jeremiah speaks of those figs, meaning all of Israel. This desert is
very much like Sodom, where there was total devastation. The reason
for all of this, is so they will know this judgement is from the One
True God. He states in the last verse, I Am the LORD. There is no
other.

















                         Ezekiel 6 Questions


1.  What did God call Ezekiel in verse 2?
2.  What did God tell Ezekiel to do?
3.  Who is "me" in verse 1?
4.  How do we know this is a continuation of chapter 5?
5.  What message can we take from the statement "set thy face"?
6.  What is this prophecy spoken against?
7.  What was worshipped in the high places?
8.  What happened to the altars and the images?
9.  What had God done to the false gods of Egypt?
10. God lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their
    _________.
11. What will He do with their bones?
12. What will happen to their dwellingplaces?
13. What is verse 6 speaking of?
14. What message will those who survive receive strongly?
15. God always leaves a __________ of His people.
16. God describes their evil hearts as ___________ hearts.
17. Where will the remnant live?
18. They have been committing _________ ________ by worshipping false
    gods.
19. What are "abominations"?
20. Will God follow through on His threat to destroy them?
21. What did God tell them to do, that put an emphasis on the woe?
22. Why do the sword, famine, and pestilence come?
23. What death shall come to those who are far off?
24. How severe was the famine?
25. Which was the quickest way to die?
26. What is all of this for?
27. What are the groves and the high places speaking of?
28. The stretching out of God's hand brought ____________.