Ezekiel 24

“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.  Sigh 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.”  So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded. vv.16-18

Read chapter 24

Ezekiel's wife just died.  Not by natural causes but by the Lord for a sign to the Israelites.  And the hardest part about it, it seems, is that Ezekiel is not allowed to mourn her, at least not publicly.  This was to be a sign that the vastness of those that will be killed will not be properly mourned nor all noticed.  Ezekiel doesn't fight against God, at least we don't read about it, but submits no matter how hard that has to be.  This wasn't just one of many wives that Ezekiel  maybe had no real relationship with but is called his wife (singular) and the desire of his eyes.  Ezekiel surely loved her, she was the object of his love and affection.  So the sign of the temple being the desire of the Israelites and how the Lord was about to have it destroyed and also their sons and daughters will fall by the sword (v.21).

We do not know how soon the desire of our eyes can be taken from us; no one is exempt from death.  How has a death of someone close effected you?  What strikes you about Ezekiel's submission to even the most hardest of things for God's will?  How do you think you would respond?