Talking to the Mountains - A Lent journey through Ezekiel

As we start reading through Ezekiel 6 we may be confused as to why Ezekiel starts speaking to the mountains. Perhaps we are justified in thinking that he has lost his marbles, or maybe he has just hasn't had his morning coffee as yet. However, it is not as weird as we may think. Here is why...

...The mountains around Jerusalem were known to be places of pagan worship. Many a god was represented by an image and then placed in a shrine somewhere on the mountains. So, when Ezekiel is instructed to turn towards the mountains and prophesy, he is actually speaking to ALL the other gods and graven images. See if it now makes sense to you:

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: ‘You 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.

One of my favourite Psalms is 121 and this song of David paints a similar picture to the one in Ezekiel 6. If you get a chance read it here.

So the message for us this Lenten period could be something like this:

i. Have we turned to other "things" for our source of help and strength?
ii. How long will it take before we realise that God doesn't enjoy his children being "unfaithful"?
iii. What will it take for us to turn back to Christ?

Living in Grace
D3LM3