Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 6: Ye Shall Know That I Am the LORD
Ezekiel turns from the city to the land itself. God tells him to 'set thy face toward the mountains of Israel', the very hills crowded with the 'high places' where Israel worshipped idols. Those altars will be smashed, the images broken, and the dead scattered among them, so that the whole land will know 'that I am the LORD.' Yet the chapter does not end in unrelieved ruin. God promises to leave 'a remnant,' scattered among the nations, who will 'remember me,' who will 'lothe themselves' for their idolatry, and who will finally know the one true God. Judgment on false worship clears the way for a people who will worship the LORD alone.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 6. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This chapter announces judgment on Israel's idolatry at the high places, and holds out the hope of a repentant remnant who will know the LORD. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Mountains of Israel
The hills covered with idol shrines become the address of God's judgment.
The High Places
The altars and images of false worship will be smashed and made desolate.
That You May Know
The purpose of judgment is that the land would know that He is the LORD.
They Shall Remember Me
A scattered remnant will remember God, loathe their sin, and turn to Him.
Set Thy Face Toward the Mountains (Ezekiel 6:1-7)
God sends judgment against the mountains of Israel, the sites of idol worship: the high places, altars, and images will be smashed, the worshippers slain before their idols, so that they will know He is the LORD.
I Will Destroy Your High Places
"And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 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. And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 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. 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. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD."
Hebrew Study
"high places," bamot (בָּמוֹת). Elevated shrines on hills and ridges where Israel offered sacrifice, often to idols or to the LORD in forbidden ways. They were the persistent snare of the nation; even good kings frequently failed to remove them (1 Kings 15:14). God's judgment aims directly at the centers of false worship, for idolatry is the root sin from which the others grow.
"idols," gillulim (גִּלּוּלִים). A word of deliberate contempt, used dozens of times in Ezekiel. Many scholars link it to a root for dung or shapeless blocks, so it carries the flavor of "dung-things" or "worthless logs." God will not dignify false gods; He names them with scorn. Idols are not merely rivals to be tolerated but filthy nothings to be swept away.
Explanation
God directs Ezekiel to "set thy face toward the mountains of Israel." The mountains and hills were where the "high places" stood, the shrines and altars of Israel's persistent idolatry. God addresses the very landscape, "mountains... hills... rivers... valleys", declaring, "I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places." Every apparatus of false worship, altars, images, idols, will be broken, cut down, and "abolished."
The judgment is pointed and even grimly ironic: "I will cast down your slain men before your idols... and I will scatter your bones round about your altars." The worshippers will fall dead before the very gods they trusted, proving those idols powerless to save. The lifeless idols and their lifeless devotees lie together, a stark exposure of idolatry's emptiness. And the stated purpose is the great refrain of the book: "ye shall know that I am the LORD." God tears down false worship so that the one true God may be truly known.
Gospel Focus
The bodies of idol-worshippers falling dead before their helpless idols is God's dramatic sermon against every false trust. "They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them" (Psalm 115:8), we become like what we worship, and idols can only ruin those who serve them. The gospel calls us to the opposite, to do what the Thessalonians did, who "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9). And the aim of it all, "ye shall know that I am the LORD," is God's heart even in judgment: He clears away every false god so that His people may know Him alone. This one true God is fully revealed in Jesus Christ, for in Him "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). The smashing of the idols makes room for the knowledge of the one LORD, who alone gives life.
They That Escape Shall Remember Me (Ezekiel 6:8-14)
God promises to leave a remnant among the nations who will remember Him, loathe themselves for their idolatry, and know that He is the LORD; then the sentence of sword, famine, and pestilence is sealed, that the whole desolate land may know Him.
They Shall Lothe Themselves
"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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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."
Hebrew Study
"I am broken with their whorish heart," nishbarti (נִשְׁבַּרְתִּי). A stunning phrase: God says His own heart is "broken" by His people's spiritual adultery. Idolatry is pictured throughout the prophets as marital unfaithfulness, and God feels it as a wounded husband feels betrayal. His judgment is not cold; it flows from a grieved, jealous love (Exodus 34:14).
"lothe themselves," naqotu (from קוּט, qut). To feel loathing, disgust, self-revulsion. True repentance includes a genuine hatred of one's own sin, not merely regret over its consequences. This is the "godly sorrow" that "worketh repentance to salvation" (2 Corinthians 7:10), the remnant will look back on their idolatry with holy disgust and turn to God.
Explanation
Grace breaks through: "Yet will I leave a remnant." Judgment is never God's last word for His people. Some will "escape the sword among the nations," and in exile they will "remember me." Astonishingly, God reveals His own heartbreak, "I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me", His judgment flows from wounded love, not indifference. The mark of the true remnant is genuine repentance: "they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed." They will hate their own sin and turn back to God, and "they shall know that I am the LORD."
Then the sentence is sealed with vivid gestures, "Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot," expressing God's grief and indignation, and "Alas for all the evil abominations." The judgment is thorough: "sword... famine... pestilence" reach the far, the near, and the besieged alike, "thus will I accomplish my fury upon them." The slain will lie "among their idols... upon every high hill... under every green tree," the favorite spots of idol worship now filled with corpses. And three times over the chapter drives home the purpose: "ye shall know that I am the LORD." The whole aim of tearing down false worship is that the one true God would be known and worshipped alone.
Gospel Focus
"Yet will I leave a remnant." This is the steady heartbeat of grace running through all the prophets and fulfilled in the gospel, "even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5). And the marks of that remnant are gospel marks: they "remember" God, they "lothe themselves" for their sin in true repentance, and they "know that I am the LORD." Real conversion is not shallow regret but a godly sorrow that hates sin and turns to God (2 Corinthians 7:10). Most tender of all is God's confession, "I am broken with their whorish heart", the God who judges idolatry is a God whose heart is wounded by our unfaithfulness. That same love came to us in Jesus Christ, the faithful Husband who gave Himself for an adulterous people to cleanse and win us back (Ephesians 5:25-27). The gospel calls us to turn from every idol, loathe our sin, and know and love the one LORD who first loved us.
Chapter 6 in Review
Ezekiel 6 turns from the city to the land, as God tells the prophet to "set thy face toward the mountains of Israel", the hills crowded with idol shrines. The "high places," altars, and "idols" (God's word of contempt, gillulim) will be smashed and made desolate, and the worshippers cast down dead "before their idols," exposing those false gods as powerless to save. The refrain rings out again and again: "ye shall know that I am the LORD." Yet grace breaks in: God will "leave a remnant" who, scattered among the nations, will "remember me," "lothe themselves" for their sin, and turn to the one true God, and God reveals His own wounded heart, "I am broken with their whorish heart."
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter exposes the emptiness of every idol and the seriousness of false worship, while displaying the persistence of God's grace. Judgment tears down false gods so the one LORD may be known and worshipped alone, that one God fully revealed in Jesus Christ, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead. And the remnant's repentance, remembering God, loathing their sin, and knowing the LORD, is the very shape of gospel conversion. Behind it all beats the heart of a God so grieved by our unfaithfulness that He came in Christ to win us back. Turn from your idols, hate your sin, and know the living God.
- God's judgment targets idolatry at its centers, the "high places" and their altars and images (6:3-4; 1 Kings 15:14).
- Idols are "dung-things" (gillulim), worthless nothings that cannot save their worshippers (6:4; Psalm 115:8).
- The aim of judgment is that "ye shall know that I am the LORD," the one true God (6:7; Colossians 2:9).
- God always preserves a remnant; judgment is never His last word for His people (6:8; Romans 11:5).
- True repentance includes loathing one's own sin, "godly sorrow" that turns to God (6:9; 2 Corinthians 7:10).
- God's judgment flows from wounded love: "I am broken with their whorish heart" (6:9; Ephesians 5:25-27).
Questions for Reflection
- What "high places," idols or false trusts, might God be calling you to tear down in your own life?
- Do you truly "lothe" your sin, or merely regret its consequences? What is the difference?
- How does it move you that God says His heart is "broken" by our unfaithfulness?
- The aim of it all is to "know that I am the LORD." Are you growing in the knowledge of the one true God revealed in Christ?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. The "high places" (bamot, verse 3) were Israel's persistent snare (1 Kings 15:14; 2 Kings 17:9-11). "Idols" (gillulim, verse 4) is Ezekiel's word of contempt for false gods; their emptiness is exposed in Psalm 115:4-8 and Isaiah 44:9-20. Turning "from idols to serve the living and true God" is 1 Thessalonians 1:9; the one God fully revealed in Christ is Colossians 2:9. "I am broken with their whorish heart" (verse 9) pictures idolatry as spiritual adultery against a jealous, loving God (Exodus 34:14; Hosea 1-3; Ephesians 5:25-27). To "lothe themselves" (verse 9) is godly repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10; Job 42:6). The remnant (verse 8) is the doctrine of Romans 11:5. The recurring "they shall know that I am the LORD" is the theological refrain of Ezekiel. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Judgment on the mountains, high places, and idols; the slain before their gods: Ezekiel 6:1-7; Psalm 115:8; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; Colossians 2:9.
- The remnant who remember God and loathe their sin; the sealed sentence; that they may know the LORD: Ezekiel 6:8-14; Romans 11:5; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:25-27.