Ezekiel 24:15-17 – Living a life of full surrender to God.

In the discussion of Ezekiel 25:1-14, we refer to an unusual event that was going to happen. In these last two paragraphs of Ezekiel 24, God was uncovering the unusual event. He was going to use the wife of the prophet to send a message to His people.

In Ezekiel 24:15-17, the impending personal tragedy of the prophet was told to him. God was going to use the death of his wife to let His people know the tragedy the nation would have to undergo. In verse 16, the Lord made known to Ezekiel that He would be taking away from him someone personal and dear. He was going to take away “the desire of his eyes with a blow.” Here God was speaking of the sudden death of his wife. We are not told how his wife would die but it would be a sudden one.

It would be natural for anyone to mourn if he has someone he has loved so dearly dies suddenly. Yet for Ezekiel, God forbade him to mourn the sudden death of His beloved wife. As if the tragedy was not bad enough, Ezekiel was also told not to mourn nor weep over her death. He was not to shed a tear. God’s specific words to the prophet in verse 16 were, “…you shall not mourn, and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come.” Instead, verse 17 said, he was to only “groan silently; make no mourning for the dead.” And he was to wear his turban as usual, put on his shoes, and not shave off his mustache. And He was not to eat the bread of men. In other words, he was not to do things as others would do in a similar situation.  

Refraining from mourning must surely have burdened the prophet’s heart. It would certainly cause his reputation to be questioned. His wife’s honor would also be questioned by his silence and refusal to mourn. But her death was to be a message for the people of Jerusalem. Just as sudden as his wife’s death, the beloved city would also face a sudden destruction. Not mourning his loss was also the way God would not show pity nor mourn the destruction of Jerusalem.

We can be assured that God would not do such a thing for every one of us. Up till today, what God had asked of Ezekiel is something few have been told to do.  Yet in the prophet's tragic experience, his unflinching commitment to God is a lesson for us. Any lesser person would have caved in and given up. But Ezekiel did not. He did as He was instructed.  Loving God and serving Him wholeheartedly was everything to Ezekiel. What about us? Will we be willing to give God all that we are and all that we have? Remember what Jesus said in Luke 9:23. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Are we willing?