Ezekiel 6:3

3. Ye mountains… hear the word of the Lord This apostrophe to the “mountains and to the hills, to the gorges, and to the valleys,” is in accordance with the most effective style of speech. The places where these crimes against Jehovah were most commonly practiced (Ezekiel 35:8; Ezekiel 36:4; Ezekiel 36:6; Isaiah 57:5-7; Jeremiah 2:23) are made to represent the criminals themselves.

I will destroy your high places Altars of sacrifice were always placed on elevations. These “high places” were, no doubt, chiefly idolatrous (see Leviticus 26:30; Numbers 22:41), although it is certain that on some of these altars had been erected to Jehovah (Ezekiel 20:28). But the worship of Jehovah at such sanctuaries was made illegal after the erection of the temple; and it must have been almost as corrupt as the Canaanitish idolatry. When priests or Levites broke away from the prescribed form in Jerusalem they were no longer in good standing in the Jewish Church, and were under great temptation to introduce into their nominal worship of Jehovah novel and superstitious elements. They could hardly expect Jehovah’s favor while disobeying his explicit commands as to the place and manner of worship, and, therefore, the high places originally dedicated to Jehovah seem to have early degenerated into idolatrous sanctuaries (1 Kings 13:33-34; 1 Kings 14:23-24; Jeremiah 7:31, etc.).