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Ezekiel 24 (ESV)
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.
19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” 20 Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: 21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. 23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24 Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’
REFLECTION:
God told Ezekiel that his wife was going to die, but he must not grieve for her. Just as Hosea accepted the order to marry an adulteress (see Hos 1:2-3), Ezekiel found it difficult to accept, but he obeyed God just like Hosea. Both of these extraordinary events have symbolic significance and describe the relationship between God and His people. Ezekiel was not allowed to express grief for his dead wife, to show the exiles that they should not grieve over the destruction of Jerusalem. Any personal sorrow will be quickly covered by the sorrow of the country – the tragic ending of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the people there will be destroyed for their own sins. The cost of obedience to God is high, and sometimes it even violates common sense. However, if you do not obey God, you will damage your relationship with God, and even lose the eternal life. This will be more painful than losing your partner and not being able to cry. No matter what the circumstances, Ezekiel always obeyed God wholeheartedly, because he believed that God’s arrangements always have meaning, God’s thoughts are higher than man’s, and God’s way than man’s way, even if we can’t understand it, we should humble and obey. Although our current faith is not as great as Ezekiel’s, we can start with what God tells us to do, which we do not want but it is not difficult to do. Through this we learn the lesson of obedience step by step, and experience God’s guidance and edification so that one day we will have the faith and life like Ezekiel.
PRAYER:
Dedicate yourself to God that you are willing to imitate Ezekiel’s humility and obedience in your service, and you are willing to take on the things that God has called you to do but you feel reluctant; ask God to give you the courage and wisdom to help you experience God’s faithfulness and guidance, as well as heavenly joy and peace in your ministry, which makes you more willing to obey God.
HYMN:
I Surrender All – youtu.be/iu7UwhTwF0c
