Ezekiel’s wife
The book of Ezekiel is a magnificent book. It shows forth God’s great mercy to a people who have refused His Word and His prophets….again and again.
Here in the land of Babylon, in poor villages near the river Chebar, a priest is called to be a watchman….to warn His people of the dangers of just sitting still in their sins, or giving up on God.
“Give them warning….from Me.” (Ezekiel 3:17)
He tells them plainly, if they want to return to the land,…then, get up out of their lethargy…and return to God in heart and life.
Ezekiel 24:18 “So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.”
This is the only personal history we have of the prophet….about his wife.
Having been called five years earlier, after being taken captive of Nebuchazzer to Babylon. He has spoken again and again to warn the people that God will indeed do as He has warned and foretold.
He would, through Nebuchazzer,…destroy Jerusalem, and His Sanctuary, His Temple…because of their sin, which He has shown them.
Being a servant of the Lord is often lonely, especially in times of declension and apostasy.
And Ezekiel has told the people, faithfully, the Lord’s Word about Judah and Jerusalem.
Yet….
…..they did not want to believe it….so refused the Word that Ezekiel speaks.
Again and again they came to hear…..and heard,….but refused to believe God’s Word.
And so God warns them that He would stop speaking to them….showing them the things that would shortly come to pass,….if….unless they begin to believe Him.
Ezekiel 20:1-3 “And it came to pass…that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.
Then came the Word of the Lord unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak unto the elders….Thus saith the Lord God: Are ye come to inquire of Me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of you.”
God warned them of losing His Word….what a terrible judgment that would be….not to hear from their God.
Ezekiel 24:16 “Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall they tears run down.”
That very morning, Ezekiel had told the elders of his people that this day….this very day Nebuchazzer had set his army around Jerusalem to destroy it! (2 Kings 25:1)
“…write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.” (Ezekiel 24:1-2)
Yet how little they “heard” him!
Had they cried unto the Lord for repentance…and then mercy?
Had they cried unto the Lord for their children back in Jerusalem to repent?
They simply came…..listened….and left.
Ezekiel 33:31 “And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew forth much love, but heart goeth after their covetousness.”
(Covetousness here means “dishonest gain”.
Are our hearts yearning for God, (Psalm 42:1 “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.)…are we thirsting for God…
….or are our hearts coveting the things of this world? )
Then, in the same evening, Ezekiel’s wife dies….
….this is momentous!
For Ezekiel, it means a more lonely time, for she was a companion in these trials and understood her husband’s ministry….
….for the Lord plainly says, “…I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes…”
How comforting to have a help-meet, a wife or husband who knows your work, and is there for you, in it!
Ezekiel had that….then, the Lord took her away….with a stroke. She died quickly, without illness or violence. The Lord took her.
Now we may think that this is cruel….but God’s ways are best. Mercy comes to us in many ways….and if we yield to His mercy….even in pain…we are comforted and strengthened, within us.
( What a mercy he had her for a wife.
What a mercy that they loved each other.
What a mercy that she did not suffer pain or hurt, and that he was forewarned….and was there when she died.
And what a mercy Ezekiel had God with him….bearing him up, by telling him exactly what to do to make his wife’s death a part of the Biblical record,…
….and, in fact, a warning to the people of the captivity.
What a mercy…God took her….therefore she will be with all the saints till Ezekiel would join her.)
Ezekiel was not to mourn or lament for her. He was not to go barefoot, nor eat the “bread of men”…the usual food that was brought to people when someone dies.
He was to get up, dress himself…even his headdress,…and go about his business.
And he put all diligence, in doing it. “…and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.” (Ezekiel 24:18)
Why?
Our life, as God’s people, should center around God and HIs Word…for our everyday lives….and for the extraordinary times of grief, trouble, and persecution.
He is our life….and though we are privileged to have others with us at times … .or to be with others at times….we are here at His appointing….for His pleasure and determination.
Ezekiel 24:19 “And the people said unto me (Ezekiel), Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?”
The people must have known how much Ezekiel loved his wife….and came to comfort him…
….but Ezekiel was not mourning!
What did that mean?
And here is a interesting thought….they knew that he was a prophet, because they knew that what he did, he did by God’s commandment!
So they asked him, since he was not mourning…what did that mean for them!
Yet, they would not get their lives straightened around….because of their covetousness!
(How great can be our entanglement in the world! How much we want to hear only what is pleasing to us….instead of the corrections we need! How easily we forget:
“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him:
For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” Heb.12:5-6
The Lord corrects us that we might find our way back to His side. He comes, like a Shepherd and finds us….will we receive HIs Word?)
So Ezekiel told them….that Jerusalem and the Temple would be taken and destroyed. Many killed…including many of their sons and daughters, which they thought were safe there!
And when this does happen…one year and a half later (2 Kings 25:2-4)….those parents in the captivity…will not be able to mourn or weep for the Temple…for which they pine now….
….or for their children.
Their captors would see to that….making them go out and labor just like every other day.
They would be unable to mourn…unable to cry for them.
I want to mention one more thing about this incident….
….Ezekiel was told not to speak any more to the people….till….someone would come from Jerusalem after the destruction….
…..and give the news of the city and the Temple being burnt…and the people killed, and taken away.
Ezekiel could not give them the Word of God anymore….till…they too, experienced this loss.
Till…
….they experienced and knew that what God said through Ezekiel, was true.
God has warned:
Amos 8:11-12 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”
And to a degree, I believe that this is true. People are searching for the Truth….yet often refuse to believe the Word of God preached and taught.
Stop looking to any other consolation than Christ Jesus…..and read HIs Word again.
Seek the Holy Spirit’s understanding….pray for it, for yourself…
…and for your family…and friends.
Ezekiel’s ministry was to a bunch of thankless and ungrateful people.
No!
Ezekiel’s ministry…(and everyone who is called)…is to the Lord! And to the Lord, he was obedient, even in this most personal loss.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 