John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 6:1-3

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy unto them, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places." — Ezekiel 6:1-3 (ASV)

The Prophet now turns to the kingdom of Israel, since he had previously spoken about the Jews alone. He says that he was divinely sent to the mountains of Israel. The first question that may arise concerns the time, for the kingdom of Israel had been cut off, the ten tribes dragged into exile, and the kingdom had come to an end by Ezekiel’s time.

The time, therefore, does not seem to align with the Prophet's denunciation of what had happened many years previously. However, nothing will seem out of place if we say that it was partly prophecy and partly doctrine, so that the Israelites could understand why they were driven out of their country and dispersed among the nations.

I say that God’s plans were partly explained to the exiles, so that they could know why God had driven them to distant lands; for this punishment would not have been useful if God had not convinced them of its cause.

But although the kingdom had fallen, it is probable that some of the people remained. For the Assyrian did not carry off so many thousands of men, as his kingdom would have been burdened by such a multitude. Doubtless, he took the elite of the people and permitted the common people to remain there, for he sent inhabitants from his own kingdom for the deserted land.

However, the change was great and ruinous to the king himself, and distressing to all alike. Although, therefore, the kingdom no longer existed—indeed, even the name of Israel was almost extinct because there was no large population, and they lived in their country like foreigners and guests—yet some portion of them still remained.

Now, we gather from the Prophet's words that they were obstinate, because neither the exile of their brethren nor their own calamity induced them to abandon their superstitions and embrace the true and pure worship of God.

Since, therefore, this chastisement did not benefit them, the Prophet is ordered to preach against them. It is established from the first chapter that Ezekiel received this command after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel (Ezekiel 1:1–2), for he said that he was divinely moved in the thirtieth year after the jubilee, and in the fifth year of the captivity of Jeconiah or Jehoiachin.

It is evident, therefore, that the Prophet spoke against the land of Israel after the ten tribes had been dispersed. From this we may gather that many people still remained there, because it would have been difficult for the Assyrians to receive all the people. Those who remained alive in the country continued in their own abominations, so it became necessary for another judgment to be pronounced against them, which we will now address.

Now, therefore, this principle is established: the Prophet treats the slaughter of the kingdom of Israel in such a way that he predicts what was about to happen, which those left in the country did not fear at all, for they were convinced they were free from all dangers.

But the Prophet shows that God’s wrath was not yet complete; their former calamities were only a prelude, and heavier afflictions were at hand because they had so hardened themselves against the power of God.

The prophecy, too, has greater weight when the Prophet addressed the mountains than when his discourse was directed to people. Therefore, Ezekiel is not ordered to exhort the Israelites to repentance and to threaten them with the punishment that still remained, but he is ordered to turn his discourse to hills, and mountains, and valleys.

In this way, God indirectly signifies, first, that the Israelites were deaf, and second, that they were unworthy of the effort Ezekiel would expend in teaching them. Similarly, the prophet sent to Jeroboam did not intend to address him, but turning to the altar—

“O altar, altar,” he says, “thus says Jehovah, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the family of David, Josiah by name; and he shall slay upon you the priests of the high places, and shall burn upon you the bones of the dead.’” (1 Kings 13:2).

The king was burning incense on the altar; the prophet disregards him, but as I have just said, directs his discourse to the altar. This was far more forceful than if he had sharply reproved the king.

For it was no ordinary rebuke to bypass the king as if he were merely the shadow of a man, and to admonish the inanimate altar about a future event. So also in this passage: “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them.”

The Prophet might have objected that the mountains had no ears, and therefore that it was merely child’s play. But he understood God’s intention and so obeyed cheerfully, because he saw the people were despised and rejected by God, being deaf and incurable. Meanwhile, he knew his labor would not be lost, even though he addressed the mountains.

For we know that the earth was created for human use, and therefore God presents to us examples of His wrath in animals, trees, the atmosphere, and the heavens, so that we may know that warnings meant for us are engraved there, although in every other way God turns away His eyes and His face.

This, therefore, is a sign of His wrath: when God shows His judgments on all sides and yet is silent toward us, because we gather from this that we are unworthy of any effort for our improvement. And this was undoubtedly the Prophet’s conclusion.

Now a clearer expression follows in the third verse: “You shall say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.’” Here, the mountains are required to be an audience, which they could not provide, but this relates to humankind, as I have just said. God, therefore, requires the mountains to listen, so that people may understand that an inanimate thing can be endowed with sense, when their own stupidity is considered.

For eventually God enforced His judgments against the mountains of Israel. Therefore, although they could not hear the Prophet speaking, yet they received his instruction, because it was effective in them, and God eventually, in reality, proved that He had not spoken in vain. The event, therefore, clearly made the mountains attentive in a way.

Nor could they escape the judgment that had been openly pronounced. Now he adds, “Thus says Jehovah to the mountains and the hills.” Ezekiel now addresses not only mountains, as he had been commanded; therefore, he seems to exceed the prescribed command, for he had been sent to mountains and hills only, but now he says, “hear, you mountains, hear, you hills, hear, you valleys.” But we said yesterday that prophets sometimes speak briefly, and sometimes explain more fully what they had previously stated concisely.

God, therefore, at the beginning spoke only of mountains, but He undoubtedly included valleys and the courses of rivers, because the Prophet only explains what God had said in one word. Therefore, he speaks to mountains and hills, and then to the ravines or torrents. Jerome translates it as rocks, and the Hebrews call whatever is violent אפיק (aphik); therefore, when there is any violent course, they use this word. And so, in this place, we may understand it as either rocks, watercourses, or torrents—it does not matter which.

But since he later adds valleys, this explanation seems probable to me: that the Prophet indeed means either torrents or rushing waters. Here we must also note that those parts are specified where the Israelites had erected perverse and adulterous worship. For we know that mountains were filled with superstitions, and so also valleys, though the reason was different: when they erected their altars on the mountains, they thought themselves near God; but when they descended into the valleys, their rites were performed in shade and obscurity, and thus they thought themselves hidden, as it were, in a sanctuary.

It is well known that they practiced their idolatries in the mountains as well as in the valleys. This, therefore, is the reason why the Prophet here shows that the whole land of Israel was polluted with defilement. “Behold,” he says, “I bring a sword against you.” Therefore, we infer that when the Prophet addresses the mountains, he is nevertheless speaking for the sake of humankind.

For the sword could not injure the mountains; one stone could break a hundred, indeed a thousand swords, and yet remain intact. God, therefore, would have threatened the mountains with slaughter in vain. Indeed, when the sword is mentioned, we know that death is understood, for the cause is put for the effect.

Therefore, God addresses people indirectly; but when He directs His discourse to the mountains, He shows that people themselves are deaf, and therefore He turns away His face from them and addresses mute elements and inanimate things. “And I will destroy,” He says, “your lofty things.” He now explains what I have taught before: that mountains, hills, valleys, and watercourses are named because perverse and impure worship flourished there.

For by “lofty things,” the Spirit undoubtedly intends whatever the Israelites had mixed of their own imaginations to corrupt the worship of God. They properly call altars lofty, because they were erected in high and conspicuous places. But the species is here put for the genus. Meanwhile, God signifies that He so abominates all false worship that He cannot bear the sight of the places. Indeed, the stones of which the altars were built, we know, are harmless, for places are not polluted by idolatry of their own will. For as far as the world was created by God, it always retains its own nature; but as far as humanity is concerned, the places themselves were polluted, and the contagion makes them hateful to God. Therefore, this expresses the detestation of idolatry. He continues the same sentiment and first declares that altars should be laid waste.