Ezekiel — Chapter 6
Ezekiel prophesies against the mountains of Israel where idolatry was practiced on high places. Lapide uses this chapter to expound the theology of idolatry, following Augustine's De Civitate Dei and Clement of Alexandria's Protrepticus: all idolatry is ultimately diabolism, since demons occupy the vacant altars of false gods.
Verse 2
'Fili hominis, pone faciem tuam ad montes Israel' — Lapide notes that mountains, which appear to be nearer heaven, were especially used for worship and especially prone to false worship. He applies this morally: pride elevates itself toward God but substitutes self-worship for true divine worship.
Verse 6
Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be laid waste and the high places ruined: Lapide reads the universal desolation of the land as a spiritual warning — sin empties the soul of every good just as the invader empties the land. He cites Hosea 4:3 and develops a theology of the land's sympathy with the moral state of its inhabitants, drawing on Origen's homilies.