6:1 – “The Word of Yahweh came to me” can be described as the “message-reception” or “word-event” formula. Chapter six has two oracles (vv. 2-10 and 11-14). The Word begins, the main event described, and then an echo or aftershock comes.
6:2 – By addressing “the mountains of Israel,” Ezekiel expands the scope from besieged Jerusalem (ch. 3—5) to the whole land of Israel. Only Ezekiel uses this expression (16 times). The mountains are the place of worship, true or idolatrous. And the land of Babylonia in exile is relatively flat compared to Israel so this will also evoke nostalgia for the homeland. Here Ezekiel addresses the mountains because the Israelites have turned a deaf ear. The sequel to this theme will come in chapter 36, but with a great reversal.
6:3 – The entire north-south length of Canaan is occupied by “mountains” or “hills” of various elevations. “Ravines” and “valleys” run at generally right angles, east-west, often fed by a spring. But Ezekiel has in mind “mountains” as “high places,” with shrines and altars as places of worship. Sometimes these “high places” are even in valleys and inside cities. Considering how often they are described in the Scriptures, we have few archeological remains discovered. Examples have been found at Dan, Meggido, and Gezer. These are places of sacrifice and burning of incense. Sometimes they are associated with ancestor worship, with trees (see 6:13). Rarely, these places are used for acceptable worship (1 Sam 9:11-25; 10:5; 1 Kings 3). Ultimately, the Jerusalem temple is supposed to be the sole location for liturgical worship of Yahweh (1 Kings 8).
6:4 – Altars, chapels, sacturaries, and the idols are described in various ways. The ESV and NKJV fail to render the specific phrase for idol here accurately. It’s a compound phrase of feces/dung with the idol. “Modern sensitivities prevent translators from rendering the expression as Ezekiel intended it to be heard, but had he been preaching today, he would probably have identified these idols with a four-letter word for excrement” (Block). If you prefer, use the term “fecal deities.”
6:5 – Remember the covenant curses in Leviticus 26 (esp. 26:30). Unburied or exhumed bodies are a horror and defilement (See 2 Ki 23:16-20).
6:6 – The judgment against idolatry is always its dismantling and destruction. Under God’s wrath, it is desolated, deserted, demolished, disappeared. Everything and everyone associated with it is wiped out. This verse describes the theme of the entire chapter.
6:7 – “You will know that I am Yahweh” is called by some the “recognition formula” that comes as the end of each oracle. It’s used almost sixty times in Ezekiel. It refers to knowing and confessing that Yahweh both speaks and fulfills His Word. It requires no authentication, reason, or experience. God works and we believe.
6:8 – This mountain motif involves both Law and Gospel, but in this chapter it is primarily the judgment (law) for Israel’s idolatrous worship on them. The Gospel answer finally comes upon “Mount…