C. Paul Willis
Ezekiel # 13
“And the Word of the Lord Came to Me Saying”
A Sword is Coming
Ezekiel 21:1 - 7 1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you. 4Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north, 5that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore.”’ 6Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord GOD.”
Either Ezekiel is lying or God told Him the words we are reading. There is no other choice. Ezekiel writes that this is God’s word to His people. God is going to sent a national judgment and because He is judging a nation both the evil and the good will suffer. His judgment will be like a sword of war and it will cut from the south (Babylon) all the way through Jerusalem. Ezekiel is told to sigh and act like he has a broken heart. This is not to be an expression of grief but one of anguish. The sword of war has been pulled out of its sheath and the news from Jerusalem is on the way.
Ezekiel 21:8 - 14 8Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Say: ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened And also polished! 10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning! Should we then make mirth? It despises the scepter of My son, As it does all wood. 11 And He has given it to be polished, That it may be handled; This sword is sharpened, and it is polished To be given into the hand of the slayer.’ 12 “Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, Against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike your thigh. 13 “Because it is a testing, And what if the sword despises even the scepter? The scepter shall be no more,” says the Lord GOD. 14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, And strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, The sword that slays the great men, That enters their private chambers.
The sword of war is sharpened and polished and given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. The sword of Nebuchadnezzar is to be used against the rulers of Israel and cut them off and the line of David will have no ruler until Jesus establishes the Kingdom of God. Ezekiel is told to strike himself in the thigh because the sword will not be like a knife for circumcision but like a sword for castration. The sword will do double damage for it will destroy both Israel and Judah.
Ezekiel 21:14 - 17 14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, And strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, The sword that slays the great men, That enters their private chambers. 15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, That the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; It is grasped for slaughter: 16 “Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left— Wherever your edge is ordered! 17 “I also will beat My fists together, And I will cause My fury to rest; I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Again the prophet is told to prophesy that they may understand that God means business. God is bringing a double witness, yes a third witness, to His own words that it will be settled and sure. The sword will be against the gates of Jerusalem, it will be in the bed chambers if the priests and rulers, the point of the sword will go into their private parts (castration) and cut out their inwards.
Ezekiel 21:18 - 23 18The word of the Lord came to me again, saying: 19“And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. 20Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem. 21For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver. 22In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall. 23And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.
Ezekiel is told to go to the map and model of Jerusalem that he made as a parable and to make a sign at the beginning of the road but the sign is not to indicate the path of Nebuchadnezzar for the ruler of Babylon is going to use divination. He is going to put arrow heads in a container and shake them like dice. He is going to ask advice from idols and he is going to look into the livers of animals in witchcraft but it doesn’t matter what he uses he will set up battering rams and slaughter for Jerusalem and he ill also attack Israel.
Ezekiel 21:25 - 27 25‘Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26thus says the Lord GOD: “Remove the turban, and take off the crown; Nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. 27 Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, Until He comes whose right it is, And I will give it to Him.”’
God calls Zedekiah the “wicked prince of Israel” and states that the time of his judgment has come. His head will be uncovered, his crown removed he will be humbled and –overthrown – overthrown – overthrown, it is repeated three times to show the finality of God’s judgment. Once more it is stated that the crown will not be returned to the house of David until Jesus Christ establishes the Kingdom.
Ezekiel 21:28 - 32 28“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, Polished for slaughter, For consuming, for flashing— 29 While they see false visions for you, While they divine a lie to you, To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain Whose day has come, Whose iniquity shall end. 30 ‘Return it to its sheath. I will judge you In the place where you were created, In the land of your nativity. 31 I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy. 32 You shall be fuel for the fire; Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall not be remembered, For I the Lord have spoken.’”
The Ammonites rejoiced at the fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 25:1 - 7 1The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them. 3Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, 4indeed, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of the East, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” 6‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel, 7indeed, therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the nations; I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Because of their rejoicing over the fall of Jerusalem unlike Israel with would return to become a nation in the last days the nation of the Ammonites would disappear forever from the world scene.
A Review of the Abominations of Jerusalem
Ezekiel 22:1 - 5 1Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! 3Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. 4You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. 5Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult.
God’s word to Ezekiel states that Jerusalem is a “bloody city.” Steven as he was being martyred for faith in Jesus preached: Acts 7:51 - 53 51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
Ezekiel 22:6 - 12 6“Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. 7In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. 9In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. 10In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity. 11One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord GOD.
They do not honor their parents
They oppress the stranger and don’t offer hospitality
They mistreat both the orphan and the widow
They do not keep the Sabbath
They speak slander of each other
They worship false gods with sexual acts
They practice and tolerate homosexuality
They infringe upon women during their period
They commit adultery
They commit incest
They use extortion to make finances
But the worse crime is that they have removed God from their cooperative life
Ezekiel 22:13 - 22 13“Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. 14Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it. 15I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you. 16You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’” 17The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from silver. 19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury on you.’”
God is going to prove that He is right by testing the Jews as a smith tests medal. He will place them in the fire of war to see that the impurities are purified from the medal. But, since they are all impurity they will all be consumed by the fire.
Ezekiel 22:23 - 31 23And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24“Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not £cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25The conspiracy of her £prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. 28Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the Lord had not spoken. 29The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. 30So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.
God looked to the prophets to find a man like Abraham is Jerusalem to plead for the people but all of them were greedy, self centered men who used their office to take from the people
God looked to the priests to find a man like Moses but could not find one who knew the difference between what was holy and what was not. They did not even keep God’s Sabbaths themselves much less cause the people to worship.
God looked to the rulers to find a man like David but all he could find were oppressors of the people who used their offices for their own gain.
God looked for any man who could stand between the judgment and His city and could not even find one – so the judgment was sure!
A Return to Parables
Ezekiel 23:1 - 4 1The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, there were two women, The daughters of one mother. 3 They committed harlotry in Egypt, They committed harlotry in their youth; Their breasts were there embraced, Their virgin bosom was there pressed. 4 Their names: £Oholah the elder and £Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
Oholah or Aholibah means “My tent is in her.” God was saying that in Jerusalem was the temple of Solomon. It was the place the people approached God. Oholibah, or Aholah means “her own tent.” King Jeroboam put up two golden calves for the people to worship. One was at Bethel and the other in Samaria. He did this to keep the people from going north to Jerusalem.
John 4:7 - 24 7A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” 16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” 19The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Ezekiel 23:5 - 10 5 “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians, 6 Who were clothed in purple, Captains and rulers, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen riding on horses. 7 Thus she committed her harlotry with them, All of them choice men of Assyria; And with all for whom she lusted, With all their idols, she defiled herself. 8 She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, For in her youth they had lain with her, Pressed her virgin bosom, And poured out their immorality upon her. 9 “Therefore I have delivered her Into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of the Assyrians, For whom she lusted. 10 They uncovered her nakedness, Took away her sons and daughters, And slew her with the sword; She became a byword among women, For they had executed judgment on her.
The northern tribes of Israel had been judged by the very Assyrians she had lusted after and worshiped with but would Judah learn from her sisters sins?
Ezekiel 23:11 - 49 11“Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry. 12 “She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians, Captains and rulers, Clothed most gorgeously, Horsemen riding on horses, All of them desirable young men. 13 Then I saw that she was defiled; Both took the same way. 14 But she increased her harlotry; She looked at men portrayed on the wall, Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15 Girded with belts around their waists, Flowing turbans on their heads, All of them looking like captains, In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, The land of their nativity. 16 As soon as her eyes saw them, She lusted for them And sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 “Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, And they defiled her with their immorality; So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them. 18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness. Then I alienated Myself from her, As I had alienated Myself from her sister. 19 “Yet she multiplied her harlotry In calling to remembrance the days of her youth, When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 For she lusted for her paramours, Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, And whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, When the Egyptians pressed your bosom Because of your youthful breasts. 22“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, From whom you have alienated yourself, And I will bring them against you from every side: 23 The Babylonians, All the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, All the Assyrians with them, All of them desirable young men, Governors and rulers, Captains and men of renown, All of them riding on horses. 24 And they shall come against you With chariots, wagons, and war-horses, With a horde of people. They shall array against you Buckler, shield, and helmet all around. ‘I will delegate judgment to them, And they shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 I will set My jealousy against you, And they shall deal furiously with you; They shall remove your nose and your ears, And your remnant shall fall by the sword; They shall take your sons and your daughters, And your remnant shall be devoured by fire. 26 They shall also strip you of your clothes And take away your beautiful jewelry. 27 ‘Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry Brought from the land of Egypt, So that you will not lift your eyes to them, Nor remember Egypt anymore.’ 28“For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself. 29They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. 30I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols. 31You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’ 32“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup, The deep and wide one; You shall be laughed to scorn And held in derision; It contains much. 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria. 34 You shall drink and drain it, You shall break its shards, And tear at your own breasts; For I have spoken,’ Says the Lord GOD. 35“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, Therefore you shall bear the penalty Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’” 36The Lord also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. 37For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. 38Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. 39For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house. 40“Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil. 42The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’ 44Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. 45But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands. 46“For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder. 47The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire. 48Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness. 49They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’”
God’s answer is NO! Judah and Jerusalem would not learn would not repent even after they saw the fall of the northern tribes so like every harlot they will be stoned and executed – it is God’s justice!
Prophecy of the boiling pot
Ezekiel 24:1 - 14 1Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day. 3And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Put on a pot, set it on, And also pour water into it. 4 Gather pieces of meat in it, Every good piece, The thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts; 5 Take the choice of the flock. Also pile fuel bones under it, Make it boil well, And let the cuts simmer in it.” 6‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city, To the pot whose scum is in it, And whose scum is not gone from it! Bring it out piece by piece, On which no lot has fallen. 7 For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock; She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust. 8 That it may raise up fury and take vengeance, I have set her blood on top of a rock, That it may not be covered.” 9‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city! I too will make the pyre great. 10 Heap on the wood, Kindle the fire; Cook the meat well, Mix in the spices, And let the cuts be burned up. 11 “Then set the pot empty on the coals, That it may become hot and its bronze may burn, That its filthiness may be melted in it, That its scum may be consumed. 12 She has grown weary with lies, And her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire! 13 In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you. 14 I, the Lord, have spoken it; It shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, Nor will I spare, Nor will I relent; According to your ways And according to your deeds £They will judge you,” Says the Lord GOD.’”
Ezekiel is in Babylon but he is to note the day for without television, radio, or satellite this is the day that the siege of Jerusalem has started. His is to provide another parable by boiling a pot and fill it with bloody meat so that it will produce a foul scum. The filth of the scum is not to be poured out of the pot so that when the people ask why the prophet is producing an unclean, filthy meal he will tell them Jerusalem will not be cleansed of her filthiness anymore – God’s judgment has fallen – the pot has been brought to a boil and it cannot be cleansed.
The most difficult parable for the prophet
Ezekiel 24:15 - 27 15Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 16“Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.” 18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded. 19And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?” 20Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow. 23Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another. 24Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’” 25‘And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters: 26on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears; 27on that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel’s young and beloved wife will die and God commands him not to make any public display of his grief. God is allowing Jerusalem to be destroyed and He will not morn so Ezekiel must not show public morning for his wife. Ezekiel has suffered rejection, persecution, the hardship of public display acting out the siege of Jerusalem and now he must suffer the death of his loved wife as a sign of his prophecy – and he does it! As a reward God allows one to escape the fall of Jerusalem and report all that has happened and they know Ezekiel is a true prophet and that the God of Ezekiel – is God!
