Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Succinct Summation

Outline

Ezekiel 1-24 - Oracles against God’s People

Ezekiel 1:1-3 - Ezekiel the Priest

Ezekiel 1:4-28 - The Glory of the Lord

Ezekiel 2:1-3:15 - Ezekiel Commissioned

Ezekiel 3:16-27 - Ezekiel the Watchman

Ezekiel 4:1-5:4 - The Dramatization of Jerusalem’s Siege

Ezekiel 5:5-17 - The Dramatization Explained

Ezekiel 6:1-14 - Israel Will Know the Lord

Ezekiel 6:1-2 - Word Given to Ezekiel

Ezekiel 6:3-7 - The Mountains of Israel will Know the Lord

Ezekiel 6:8-10 - The Remnant will Know the Lord

Ezekiel 6:11-14 - The House of Israel will Know the Lord

Purpose of Book

The purpose of Ezekiel is Yahweh rebukes His people for their sinfulness and He promises to restore His glory so all nations will know He is the one true Lord.

In short, the purpose of Ezekiel is the glory of God.

Main Point

The Lord will destroy most of the house of Israel because of their idolatrous worship, but a repentant remnant will be saved

Ezekiel 6:1-2 - Word Given to Ezekiel

1 The word of the Lord came to me:

1 The word of the Lord

The Word of the Lord is central to Ezekiel’s ministry

Remember, he is not allowed to speak what he wants, but only what Yahweh specifically tells him to say

Came to me:

A divine prophetic message is given to Ezekiel to speak to his audience the exiles

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

2 “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel

The death oracle of God moves beyond just Jerusalem - the mountains run through all of Israel

Yet there is also a theological point being made - Israel was given to idolatrous worship

Once again, Ezekiel is to set his face against the nation symbolizing the Lord’s anger towards them

And prophesy against them

Ezekiel’s prophecy is not against literal mountains, but against the rebellious nation including the exiles who would hear this

Ezekiel is commanded to set his face and prophecy against the rebellious nation

Ezekiel 6:3-7 - The Mountains of Israel will Know the Lord

3 and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God!

3 and say, You mountains of Israel

Hear the word of the Lord God!

The exiles are commanded to hear the oracle of judgment that Ezekiel is to give because it comes from the Lord Himself

Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys:

Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills

To the ravines and the valleys:

The whole land of Israel is identified, not simply Jerusalem

Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you

Notice who is set upon destroying Jerusalem - YAHWEH

Yahweh will bring the sword of destruction upon the city through the nation of Babylon

And I will destroy your high places.

In Israel’s history, high places were used for animal/human sacrifices

At various times, Israelite leaders attempted to rid Israel of the high places and their idolatrous worship

Though Josiah removed them the shrines were put back in place upon his death

4 Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols.

4 Your altars shall become desolate

Altars were manmade structures used for sacrificing to deities

The idolatrous altars would be entirely destroyed by the fierce anger of God

And your incense altars shall be broken

And I will cast down your slain before your idols.

Idols here would have referred to a cylinder like shape - “human excrements” god

The focus shifts from the altars/idols to those who worship at them - they will be slaughtered

The idols they thought had power had no power to save them - Yahweh is superior to the gods they were worshipping

5 And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

5 And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols

The dead bodies of these sinners will be before the idols they worshipped

There is no chance of a resurrection for them contrary to the vision in Ezekiel 37 speaking of the exiles in Babylon who are the remnant

And I will scatter your bones around your altars.

6 Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be waste and the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined, your idols broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out.

6 Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be waste and the high places ruined

It will not simply be the high places ruined, but cities in Israel too

So that your altars will be waste and ruined

Your idols broken and destroyed

Your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out.

Everything devoted to the worship of idols will be absolutely destroyed, blotted out, and wiped out

The false securities of their idolatrous worship will be laid bare before them and they will clearly see their error

7 And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

7 And the slain shall fall in your midst

And you shall know that I am the Lord.

They will know that the Lord is with them because he has sent them a prophet to give judgment

This phrasing is used in the Old Testament in other places as well

As the apostate, surviving Israelites survey the land they will understand their deities were utterly powerless AND they will know the punishment, power, holiness, glory, and presence of Yahweh - this is His ultimate purpose

Christ Connection - Salvation is a Narrow Door

Ezekiel 6:8-10 - The Remnant will Know the Lord

8 “Yet I will leave some of you alive.

8 “Yet I will

Again, all of this is comes at the hand of Yahweh

Leave some of you alive.

Though most will fall to the Babylonian army, a few/a remnant will live by the Lord’s providence

When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and 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, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols.

When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries

There will be a small remnant who will escape the onslaught of the Babylonian army, yet they will be driven from their homes as slaves

Spiritual revival will occur amongst the house of Israel, but not on their own soil - on foreign ground which they believed to be unholy and defiled, yet this is where the holy remnant will take place

9 Then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive

“Remembering” for a Hebrew is not like an American - it is an active process

The Jerusalem exiles will vividly recall their grotesque sins before the Lord and how they caused Him great pain, repent, and confession once again that Yahweh is their covenant Lord

How I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols.

Yahweh, the true/faithful husband, is vexed to His very heart over His people

Yahweh will absolutely not tolerate any idol/deity interfering with His wife

The hearts and the eyes of the house of Israel were unfaithful and devoted to rival gods who did not represent Yahweh

And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations.

And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed