**The Prophecy Against the Mountains of Israel**
In the sixth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. The hand of the Lord was strong upon him, and the Spirit lifted him up, bringing him into a vision of divine judgment. The Lord spoke to Ezekiel, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.”
Ezekiel, trembling yet resolute, obeyed the command of the Lord. He raised his voice and declared the word of the Lord to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys—every high place where the people of Israel had defiled the land with their idolatry. The Lord’s voice thundered through Ezekiel, saying:
“Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars shall be desecrated, and your incense altars shall be broken. I will cast down your slain before your idols, and I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their detestable images. I will scatter your bones around your altars, where you have offered sacrifices to your false gods. In all your dwelling places, the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be made desolate, so that your altars may be ruined and your idols broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel’s voice echoed with the weight of divine judgment, and the vision before him unfolded like a terrible storm. He saw the mountains of Israel, once lush and green, now barren and desolate. The high places, where the people had erected altars to Baal and Asherah, were shattered. The idols, carved with human hands and adorned with gold and silver, lay broken and defiled. The incense that once rose in sweet-smelling clouds to honor false gods now mingled with the stench of death. The bones of the slain were scattered like refuse, a grim testament to the wrath of the Almighty.
The Lord continued, His voice filled with both sorrow and righteous anger: “Yet I will leave a remnant. Some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. Those who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring hearts that have departed from Me, and over their eyes that have gone whoring after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evils they have committed, for all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”
Ezekiel’s heart ached as he beheld the vision of the remnant. He saw them in distant lands, their faces etched with grief and repentance. They remembered the Lord and His commandments, and they mourned for the sins that had brought such devastation upon their people. They cried out to the Lord, acknowledging His justice and His holiness, and they turned away from the idols that had led them astray.
The Lord spoke again, His voice resolute: “Thus says the Lord God: Clap your hands and stamp your foot, and say, ‘Alas!’ because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He who is far off shall die by pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak—the places where they offered sweet aroma to all their idols. 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.”
As Ezekiel delivered this prophecy, the vision faded, and he found himself once more by the River Kebar. The weight of the Lord’s message pressed heavily upon him, and he fell to his knees in prayer. He wept for the people of Israel, for their stubbornness and rebellion, and for the judgment that was to come. Yet even in his sorrow, he clung to the hope of the remnant—those who would turn back to the Lord and acknowledge His sovereignty.
And so, the word of the Lord through Ezekiel stood as a warning and a promise. The mountains of Israel would bear witness to the justice of God, and the remnant would bear witness to His mercy. For the Lord is both a consuming fire and a refuge for the repentant, and His name will be glorified in all the earth.
