Ezekiel 6:11 - Meaning and Application

The same warnings that were given earlier in the previous chapter, and in the first part of this one, are repeated here. The prophet is also told to mourn over them, so the people who heard him would feel the weight of what was coming.

He must show by his actions, as well as by his words, how deeply he felt both Israel’s sins and Israel’s troubles (Ezekiel 6:11). He is told to strike his hand and stamp his foot. This would show that he was serious, that he truly believed what he was saying, and that he had taken it to heart. It would also show his anger at their sins and his fear of the judgments that were coming.

Some might mock this kind of action and call it strange or foolish. But God commanded it because it could help press the message on some hearts and give it more force. Those who care about souls are willing to be mocked by clever people if they can help the weak grow in understanding.

The prophet must mourn over two things. First, he must mourn the nation’s sins: “Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel.” The sins of sinners are a sorrow to God’s faithful servants, especially the evil abominations of Israel, because their sins are more hateful and more harmful than the sins of others. “Alas, what will come of this in the end?” Second, he must mourn the nation’s judgments. Because of these abominations, they will fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. It is our duty to care not only about our own sins and troubles, but also about the sins and troubles of others. We should look with pity on the misery wicked people bring on themselves, just as Christ looked at Jerusalem and wept over it.

He must also repeat what had already been said about the destruction coming on them. They will be chased down and ruined by different judgments, and none of their hiding places will protect them (Ezekiel 6:12). The one who is far away and thinks he is safe because he is out of the Chaldeans’ reach will find that he is not out of God’s reach. God’s arrows fly day and night (Psalm 91:5), and he will die of pestilence. The one who is near a fortified place and hopes to find safety there will fall by the sword before he can escape. The one who stays inside the city and thinks he is being cautious will die there of famine, the saddest death of all. In this way God will finish his wrath, meaning he will carry out all he planned to do against them.

They will also see their sin in their punishment. Their slain men will lie among their idols and around their altars, as was said earlier (Ezekiel 6:5-7). In the very places where they bowed down to honor their idols, God will lay them dead, to their own shame and to the shame of the idols they trusted. They lived among their idols, and they will die among them. They offered sweet-smelling incense to them, but their dead bodies will give off a foul smell, as if to answer for that false worship.

The whole land will also be ruined, just as the cities were said to be ruined before (Ezekiel 6:6). “I will make the land desolate.” That fruitful, pleasant, crowded country, once like the garden of the Lord and the glory of all lands, will become more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath (Ezekiel 6:14). It is also called Diblathaim (Numbers 33:46; Jeremiah 48:22), a great and terrible wilderness described in Deuteronomy 8:15, where there were fiery snakes and scorpions. Even the land of Canaan is now one of the most barren and desolate places in the world. Town and countryside will be emptied out so the altars can be laid waste and left desolate (Ezekiel 6:6). Rather than let their idolatrous altars remain standing, God will bring both town and countryside down into ruins. Sin brings desolation, so stand in awe and do not sin.