Eze.6:1-14, Remember, loathe yourself and know 1

Eze.6:1-14, Remember, loathe yourself and know
 1-14, 1.The word of the LORD came to me: 2."Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them 3.and say: `O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4.Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. 5.I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6.Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out. 7.Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
 8."`But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. 9.Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me -- how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. 10.And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.
 11."`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out "Alas!" because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. 12.He that is far away will die of the plague, and he that is near will fall by the sword, and he that survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I spend my wrath upon them. 13.And they will know that I am the LORD, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak -- places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14.And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah -- wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'“

<Sermon>
 In chapters 4-5, Ezekiel prophesied about the destruction of Israel. Now, in chapters 6-7, God announces the destruction of the land and people of Israel. Chapter 6 is a word of judgment on the idolatry of the land and mountains. What is the lesson?
1. I will completely destroy the high places. What are my high places?(1-7)
 1-2, Israel is a country formed in a mountainous region, and the mountains show the most ideal image of Israel. However, these mountains became a place where the people of God worshipped idols(3). They built high places(Bemoth) in the beautiful garden of God and worshiped idols, hurting the heart of the jealous God. So God judged the mountains. The high places, which was the site of idolatry that caused the judgment of the people of Judah, were places where they worshiped Baal, Asherah, and other idols along with Jehovah. The high places were where the people worshiped mixed religions. They served God, but also the world and material things. They served themselves and their families before God. The jealous God had no choice but to judge the idolatry of His people. This is because God is the only absolute God and He hates serving other gods besides Him (Ex.20:3-6). The offering of the high places is a violation of the first and second commandments of the Ten Commandments. It is to serve other gods than God. It is also an abomination that violates the commandment not to make, serve, or bow down to idols. Therefore, God judges the mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys of Israel where all kinds of idolatry are practiced (3). The offering of the high places is a pursuit of convenience. They were attractive. It is to believe easily and to believe comfortably. To go to the temple in Jerusalem, you have to prepare and walk a long way, and to offer a sacrifice, they have to buy an animal. It may take several days and be difficult to return after offering a sacrifice. But it is convenient to go to a nearby high place and offer a sacrifice. They can offer it based on their own preferences. They can go and offer it whenever it is convenient for them. They can also offer it in the cool shade of a tree. What is the offering of the high places today? Online worship is the modern version of the offering of the high places. Due to the pandemic, many people have come to justify online worship instead of Sunday worship in  His sanctuary. Why not just worship at home? They can conveniently wear casual clothes at home, don’t have to wash their hair, and they can worship comfortably sitting on the sofa. When they are hungry, they eat food, and when they are thirsty, they drink water, and they worship conveniently while going back and forth. This is a modern-day high-place offering.
Verse 3, “Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I, even I, will bring the sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.” Verse 13, “...on the high hills, on every mountaintop, under every green tree, under every leafy oak.” Idol worship was also practiced on the mountains and hills, in the ravines and valleys, on high hills, on tops of mountains, under leafy oaks, and under thickets.

 The Israelites probably began to worship idols out of curiosity or as a joke. At first, they probably worshipped idols cautiously and fearfully. However, once they did it, their consciences gradually dulled. Their sense of guilt gradually diminished. Sin habitually makes us fall into another sin in this way. The devil who controls sin captures us. There is a term called arteriosclerosis. It is when fat starts to build up in the arteries little by little and gradually builds up until the arteries harden. There is sclerosis of the conscience. Our good conscience is covered with the fat of sin, and our spirituality becomes paralyzed. Paul calls this a “conscience seared with a hot iron”(1Tim.4:2). It refers to a conscience seared with a hot iron, so that even when we commit sins, we lose our sense of it. So they were seared with a hot iron in their consciences, suffered from sclerosis of the conscience, and worshipped idols as if they were eating food. They became addicted to idolatry. In the end, God will judge them. Verse 4, “Your altars will be laid waste, your incense altars will be broken down, and you will fall down before your idols.” Jehovah God uses Babylon as a tool to invade, surround, attack, and destroy Judah, and judge His people. The altars of the foreign gods they worshipped will be torn down, and the idols they worshipped will be broken to pieces. The high places will be destroyed by the wrath of God. The altars will be desolate, and the incense altars will be broken down. The idolaters will be slain and fall before your idols.
Verses 5-7,  The dead bodies of the children of Israel will be laid before their idols, and their bones will be scattered all around their altars(5). All the cities they inhabit will become a desert, and the high places will be desolate. For their altars will be broken and desolate, their idols will be broken and destroyed, their incense altars will be cut down, and what they have made will be destroyed (6). The idolaters will be slain and fall down. So that you will know that I am the Lord.” This expression appears four times in Ezekiel 6 and about 30 times in the entire book of Ezekiel. The purpose of the judgment on the sinful people is to make the sinners pay for their sins, realize their sins, repent, and return to God.
*Application question: What are the high places that people who believe in Jesus have built on various mountains? What do they serve more earnestly than God? Family? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life? Money? Food? Honor, non-face-to-face worship, experience, knowledge, world, etc. (1-14)
*Application question: The people of Judah diligently served idols, but on the day of judgment, they received no help from the idols and were destroyed along with the idols. So what is our state today? Do we not desire and serve worldly wealth, honor, power, etc. more than God? Or are we repeating the error of thinking that these things can save us on the day of judgment? (2-5, Is45:20, Rom10:9)