Judgment on Idolatry and Immortality

Ezekiel 6:1-14 

1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, 'O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: "Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

8 "Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them."

11 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Pound your fists and stamp your feet, and say, 'Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12 He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them. 13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. 14 So I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.'"'"

Judgment on the idolatry of God’s people was pronounced by the LORD.  This blatant disregard for the first commandment with no remorse or repentance brought their just sentence on themselves.  Ezekiel heard the word of the LORD and pronounced it as His messenger and mouthpiece saying, “hear the word of the LORD!”  He did not judge them himself, but committed all judgment to (Luke 10:16, John 12:48) God’s word.  We are to listen most of all now to the final Prophet who is Christ our Lord (Deuteronomy 18:18-20, Acts 3:22, 26, Hebrews 1:1-2) and God’s Word from before time began.  Israel refused to listen and suffered the consequences of judgment as will all who refuse the living Word come to speak to us more directly and face to face more than He did with Moses (Exodus 33:11, Deuteronomy 34:10).  As the Word of God, Jesus is the final prophet and no other can claim that title of any false religion because they are not divine as the Son of God is, but mere idolatrous imposters who are not to be heard because they can enact no divine judgment for true justice.  The words God spoke to Ezekiel against Israel were final as well in judging their idolatry and immortality against His word.  He would destroy the altar and temple of worship because it was sullied with sin and worship of false and dead gods of the imagination.  Their sinful works were to be abolished and all they relied on laid to ruin.  The sword of judgment would strike many of them down as well that some would see, hear, and repent of their insurrection against their Sovereign Maker and Lord.  Yes, there was hope of a remnant given to inspire that turn from sin back to Him.  These would remember Him and cast off their wandering adulterous hearts to serve Him only.  They would hear the word and turn from their evil abominable actions and thoughts with true remorse and an active change in direction of their hearts and lives.  That is true of all repentance to faith for deliverance (salvation) from sin’s penalty, even now.  As for the unrepentant Israel then, for all their evil abominations they fell “by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”  Only a remnant would survive and turn back; the road is always wide to destruction by rejecting God’s word, but narrow to life through repentance to faith in obedience to hear and heed (Matthew 7:13-14).  If we listen and turn to Him then we also know that He is the LORD as verse 14 says here in the reality of impending judgment.  Thanks be to God (1 Corinthians 15:57, 2 Corinthians 9:15) for His gift of saving grace to forgive and reconcile us to Himself!