Ezekiel 6 – Skeptic's Annotated Bible answered

A response and reply to the notes on Ezekiel 6 in the Skeptic's Annotated Bible (SAB).

King James Version

SAB comment

My comment


1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

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.

(6:4-5) God will decorate the land with the bones and dead bodies of those who worship a different god.
This is spoken to those false gods, and indicates how unable they are to hear, and how unable to prevent any harm from coming to their worshipers. It is a sign to others who worship those false gods, that they are not gods, and their worship is vanity.

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.

(6:7-14) And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
God makes his presence known by killing people with famine, disease, and war.
His presence in this case is the word God had spoken: that if the Israelites would break the covenant between him and them, the curses of the covenant would come upon them, see Deut. 31:16-18. So they would indeed know that an almighty God had spoken those words, see also verse 10.

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.

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 lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

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.

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.

God tells Ezekiel to clap his hands and stamp his feet while saying, "they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence."
God sees the evil abominations of men, and he will seek them, that is, punish the evil deeds done by men. See also the previous verse.

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.

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.

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.