Ezekiel 6:3-7

Ezekiel 6:3-7

[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.  [4] And your altars  shall be desolate,  and your images  shall be broken:  and I will cast down  your slain  men before  your idols.  [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.  [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.  [7] And the slain  shall fall  in the midst  of you, and ye shall know  that I am the LORD. 

What does Ezekiel 6:3-7 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Ezekiel was to announce to his audience of exiles that God would bring warriors against Israel"s mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys, namely, the places where the people worshipped at pagan shrines (cf. 2 Kings 23:10). The object of His judgment would be the high places of worship that stood throughout the land. [1] God would destroy the altars, and the people who worshipped before them would fall slain around them. The idols would not be able to defend their worshippers. The Lord would defile these altars with the bones of the Israelites who died before them (cf. Leviticus 26:30; 2 Kings 23:20; Psalm 53:5; Psalm 141:7; Jeremiah 8:1-2). Scattered animal bones often marked these places of sacrifice, but human bones would pollute them in the future. Pagan altars of all types that the people had built would be broken down throughout the country along with the cities. Many people would die, and God"s people would know that He had judged them.
"Judgment is a pervasive theme of all the prophets of Israel, but none exceeds Ezekiel in the abundance and intensity of his messages of divine retribution. Moreover, none reiterates as much as Ezekiel the pedagogical purposes of the visitations of the Lord: "that they [2] might know Yahweh." Judgment, then, is not only retributive but redemptive. God"s purpose in judgment is not to destroy the peoples He has created but to bring them back into harmony with His creation purposes for them." [3]