A WARNING TO FORSAKE IDOLATRY Having clarified His plan for chastisement, and revealed its goal, He confirmed that, although He set His people as steadfast holy mountains, yet these were defiled by worship of idols, and practice of corruption. That is why He proclaimed that He would shake these mountains, and turn them into communal graves. At the same location where corruption took place, man will be chastened, to taste the fruit of his sins. Yet in all that, God does not forget His holy righteous, even if they are few. 1- A prophesy against the mountains of Israel 1-7. 2- Acceptance of the repentant remnant 8-10. 3- The consequences of evil 11-14. 1- A PROPHESY AGAINST THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL The Jews took after the pagans their worship of idols on the tops of mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys. That is why God commanded Ezekiel to set his face toward the mountains of Israel, that were defiled by pagan worship, and to prophesy against them. As a judge, He looks at the accused, and judges him face to face, to shake his foundations and abolish them. Mountains in the Holy Bible have a symbolic concept: The “earth,” in the Holy Bible, mostly refers to the “soul” that descends to earthly thought, to get captivated by the earthly flesh with its lusts, and to get bound by material things. Whereas the “mountains,” in the Holy Bible, mostly refer to the souls, exalted over the earthliness, to dwell together with the Lord in the high places; a holy heavenly Church. That is why God often refers the mountain to Himself; and calls it “His holy hill” (Ps 2:6; 99:9; Is 65:11, 25; Joel 2:1); and the Holy Bible call it “Holy mountain Jerusalem” (Is 66:20) and “Holy mountain Zion” (Dan 3:17, 18). The two angels instructed ‘Lot’ to escape to the mountain lest he be destroyed (Gen 19:17); as though they were asking him to raise himself up above the transients, lest their whirlpool would overtake him. And the Psalmist yearned to dwell in God’s holy hill (Ps 15:1); namely to have his heart lifted up; there to encounter with God, who dwells in the highs, who will listen to his prayers. The soul that becomes a holy mountain, will be like the Mountain of ‘Horeb;’ to which the Lord will approach, not to give it His Law inscribed on stones like He did with Moses, but, by the Holy Spirit, He will inscribe His commandment in its heart. The Lord will sit in it, as He did on the mountain to give His sermon to the multitude “as One having authority” (Mat 5). It will become like the mountain of temptation, on which God Himself comes, to lead the spiritual battle against Satan to destroy his authority; so that the soul would have the capability of conquest, and the angels would come to minister to it. It would become like the mountain of Tabor, where the soul would enjoy the fellowship with men of the Old Testament (Moses and Elijah), and those of the New Testament (Peter, James, and John), in the presence of the Lord Christ Himself, who shades it with His shiny cloud, and proclaims His splendor inside it. It would become like the Mount of Olives, where the Lord sat to mourn for His fallen children who have killed the prophets and stoned His apostles; to turn it into a center of work and spiritual ministry. Or would rather become like the Mount of Calvary, to enjoy the cross of the Lord Christ, set inside it, to share with its Groom His passion and crucifixion, to enjoy 5 the power of His resurrection. In short, these mountains mentioned in the Holy Bible, have memories that motivate the soul to enjoy union with God in Jesus Christ, some way or another. St. Jerome believes that these holy mountains are the prophets and the apostles; saying: [The mountains are interpreted in two ways: In the Old Testament, they are the prophets, and in the New Testament they are the apostles. About these mountains, the Holy Bible says: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help” (Ps 120:1). On these mountains the city of God is set; as “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Mat 5:14). On us, as well, who were in the darkness and the shadows of death, the Lord shone from His eternal mountains; namely, through His prophets and apostles1.] And as the Lord sets His children as holy mountains where He dwells; the devil will likewise set his followers as defiled and offensive mountains. If the holy mountain means the lifting up of the soul to the heavenliness by the Holy Spirit; the evil mountain, on the other hand, means the soul’s pride and its rebellion against God’s commandment. So, the soul, instead of being a mountain to which the Lord sets forth to pray (Mark 6:46); that “which God desires to dwell in, forever” (Ps 68:16); it will become a place where swines feed (Luke 8:32). And the soul, instead of being that mountain to which the Church would ascend together with her Groom, like on the Mount of Tabor, it would become a cause of wandering without aim (Heb 11:38). That is why the Lord proclaims His wrath on the evil mountains, to shake down their foundations; or as the Psalmist says: “to be carried into the midst of the sea” (Ps 46:2); “O mountains that you skipped like rams?” (Ps 114:2). The Lord threatens those mountains, saying: “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth, says the Lord, and I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain. They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever, says the Lord” (Jer 51:25, 26); And says: “Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage, for the jackals of the wilderness” (Mal 1:3); “Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, Shout to them” (Is 13:2). God threatened the people diverted to idolatry, on the tongues of the prophets, to bring on them evil, everywhere it was practiced: on a mountain, a hill, a valley, or a river (forests LXX). The sword is to extend to evil-doers, to kill them; to abolish their deeds; to turn their cities into desolate ruins; to destroy their high places and destroy their tabernacles; to scatter their bones around their altars, to defile them (2 Kings 23:16). Such would be the destruction of the worshippers together with the object and even the place of their worship. That is the prophecy that was proclaimed against the mountains of Israel; which implied a bitter warning, as a motivation to repentance. It is actually a prophecy, applicable to every generation, proclaimed against the haughty soul. That God would devastate its high places; namely, would destroy the pride and haughtiness of its heart. He would ruin its altars; namely, its emotions it has abused. He would destroy its tabernacles; namely, exposes it in midday, and shades it no more (by tabernacles, he probably meant the idols of the sun-worship). He would cast its dead before its idols; namely, humiliates it before those with whom it commits sin. He would scatter their bones around its altar; namely, proclaims its death, spiritually, psychologically, and physically, and the defilement of its life, to let everyone despise it; would turn its 1 In Ps. Homily 9 (On Ps. 76:4). 6 dwelling place desolate; namely, leaves its heart unfulfilled; and would abolish its deeds, a sign of taking away every vitality and every energy to work. These chastisements are actually the natural fruit of sin in man’s life; it would kill him and destroy his inner energies, and every capability in him. Here we notice that the Promised Land, that flows with milk and honey; and that testifies to God’s pleasure with His believers, would turn into a communal burial place. Instead of fruition, it would turn into a place of death. From another aspect, God threatens to have them killed beside the altar of Satan, to prove to them their inability to help... He probably intended to show them His justice; that having defiled His temple with the idols, He would allow the idols to be defiled, by killing them in the pagan temples, turning them into tombs full of corruption. 2- ACCEPTANCE OF THE REPENTING REMNANT Every time God threatens the congregation or the whole people, He is keen to confirm His care for the repenting remnant that returns to Him, even if they are few in number; those who are spared the punishment, not on account of their acceptance of the chastisement (the captivity), but because they repented their sins. “Because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils, which they committed in all their abominations” (Ez 6:9). They have sinned like their brothers, and have fallen into adultery, idol worship, and all the other abominations; Yet they wisely received God’s chastisement, repented and loathed themselves because of what they have committed. So God will return to save them; “And they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ez 6:10); namely, He will grant them His divine knowledge. Indeed, there is no way for our salvation, except through repentance that would abolish all our abominations in the worthiness of the precious blood by the Holy Spirit. That is why St. Mark the hermit says that God will not judge us because we sinned, but will judge us because we did not repent. 3- CONSEQUENCES OF EVIL God commanded His prophet to clap with his hands (LXX) and stamp his feet, like an embittered helpless child; moaning for all their abominations; especially because the fruit of evil has started to befall them; falling by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. It is as though, because of God’s displeasure,, men came against them, the earth and the whole nature proclaimed their wrath. The punishment would be more severe in the places of idol worship: on every high hill, on every mountaintops, under every green tree, and particularly, under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols (Ez 6:13); the smell of death became theirs. He proclaimed that He will make the land desolate, from the wilderness toward ‘Diblah’ (means ‘circle’) - thought by some to be at the location of the modern ‘Dibl,’ north of Galilee; although the prevailing view is that it is ‘Riblah,’ a city in the land of ‘Hamath’ (2 Kings 23:33; 25:20, 21); By saying ‘from the wilderness to Diblah,’ he means from the far south to the far north. He probably intended to proclaim the bitterness of what would befall them in the person of their king; As when King Zedekiah was arrested after his escape from Jerusalem, he was brought to Nebuchadnezzar who was in ‘Riblah,’ who put out his eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters, and took him over to Babylon. (2 Kings 25:6; Jer 39:5-7; 52:9-11). 7 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 6 THE HOLY MOUNTAIN How amazing are Your works, O Lord! You made me - the dust and sand - a holy mountain for You! Count me as the Mount of Horeb, On which to proclaim Your Law, As the Mount of Tabor, On which You transfigure with Your splendor. And as the Mount of Calvary to offer on it the sacrifice of Your love. On the mountains, Israel set their idols like other nations. They defiled the high places with their abominations. With love You chasten by bringing a sword and by abolishing the high places. The cities would become desolate. Yet You do not forget the holy remnant. As You are the compassionate God Take away from my mountains all abominations. Burn by the fire of Your Holy Spirit all the thorns of sin. Sanctify me, and count me as Your holy mountain!
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