This week we are reading Ezekiel 6. In his previous demonstrations, Ezekiel centered his actions and oracles around his Jerusalem city model. After that drama, God instructed the prophet to turn and address a new audience, the mountains of Israel. God said, “Set your face towards the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them and say: You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God” (6:2).

Ezekiel certainly could not see the mountains of Israel from the plains of Babylon. In fact, in the low-lying valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Ezekiel would have seen only flat fertile land for miles. As the prophet set his face towards his homeland, he had to conjure up the memory of Israel’s mountain ridge that ran north to south for almost the entire length of the country.

Ezekiel’s address includes the hills, ravines, and valleys. All of Judah’s undulating landscape is in view, including Jerusalem situated on a plateau in Judea’s central highlands. However, Ezekiel did not recall the beauty of his homeland as a sentimental exercise. The prophet, speaking for Yahweh, pronounced, “I myself, will bring a sword upon you. And I will destroy your high places” (6:3).