ADULTEROUS HEARTS
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Opening Prayer
Lord God, use your Word to shape me and mold my life into one that pleases you and testifies to your great and loving faithfulness.
Read EZEKIEL 6
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Doom for the Mountains of Israel
6 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them 3 and say: ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out. 7 Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.
8 “‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. 9 Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. 10 And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.
11 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. 12 One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath on them. 13 And they will know that I am the Lord, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak—places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah[a]—wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 6:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew manuscripts Riblah
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what ways has God warned you of your need to turn from a wrong path?
After prophesying the doom of Jerusalem, Ezekiel now addresses the whole land of Israel. Of course, God is not angry with the mountains; it is just that the hills were the site of the high places where so much idol worship was practiced. The tragedy is that King Josiah had abolished the high places1 but within 30 years of his death, the old pagan practices had returned.
In referring to idol worshippers as having ‘adulterous hearts’ (v. 9), Ezekiel is following in the footsteps of other prophets before him, recognizing idolatry as unfaithfulness to Israel’s covenant relationship with God. Even some of those who had not totally forsaken God may have hedged their bets, by worshipping God but also keeping on good terms with the local gods as an extra insurance. Ezekiel was forceful in his condemnation of the worship of idols by his use, 38 times, of an unusual and therefore arresting Hebrew word for idol—gillulim,2 a word rarely used outside this book.
The clapping and stamping of verse 11 (a Hebrew triumph song) celebrate God’s triumph over the wicked. This is followed by a familiar message of judgment by sword, plague, and famine. While the words may seem harsh, the prophet is simply repeating the message of Leviticus 26, familiar to him from his priestly training, with its warnings against idol worship. He speaks also of the promise of peace and prosperity if the people obey God’s commands. Four times Ezekiel explains the nature and purpose of God’s judgment (vv. 7, 10, 13, 14). Despite the violent language used to describe it, God’s judgment is not vindictive retribution but merciful restoration so that ‘you will know that I am the Lord’ (v. 7), words which express Ezekiel’s longing that all people will come and worship God.
Apply
How do you respond to the often angry and violent descriptions of God’s judgment? How would you describe the nature and purpose of his judgment?
Closing prayer
I thank you, faithful God, that your mercy is never far from your judgment and that your mercies never come to an end. (Lamentations 3:22–23)
1 2 Kings 23:13 2 JB Taylor, Ezekiel (IVP, 1969), 91.
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