Ezekiel 24 Commentary
There are two deaths in this chapter. The first one happens in Jerusalem. The siege against Jerusalem means pain and suffering and death to many, including Israel’s prince, Zedekiah. The LORD has grieved over this disaster for a very long time. He has sent countless prophets to provide the means to avoid this death.
The other death involves Ezekiel’s wife. It is not the first time that the LORD is using the prophet as a sample. But this one is one too many and too much and you wonder why. The LORD commands Ezekiel not to mourn the usual way. It becomes an opportunity to display God’s pain at the loss in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel’s wife’s death isn’t big news to the LORD at all. There is no record that the LORD pays attention at all. Of course, the LORD knows what this loss means to Ezekiel. But why should Ezekiel suffer the pain of the ungodly? Apparently, the LORD isn’t bothered at all!
Pain and suffering, especially the loss of a loved one can push one’s faith to the limit. Yet it is the way the LORD goes about it all that leaves the saint in complete shock. Zero concern. Here is our guess. Ezekiel’s loss isn’t a loss at all. Yes to Ezekiel, (and the LORD knows it) but not to the LORD.
The loss (and losses) at Jerusalem are a major concern to the LORD. The LORD mourns the death of a sinner. There is a real loss. Yes, even sinners simply transition and are still around in God’s eyes but it’s the spiritual loss – the loss of spirituality in the time and space we know that moves the heart of the LORD.
Knowing what God knows, no one would mourn the loss of an expensive car if they know and have the capacity to recover it back to its original perfection. You see the picture of the resurrection in the eyes of the LORD in this chapter. Ezekiel’s wife is in a recoverable, restorable, and no-loss situation as far as the LORD is concerned. Death becomes a transition that the LORD orders but never a loss.
No one uses live ammunition during practice or when shooting a movie – that’s the reason you still have actors the following day at the award ceremony. The LORD used live ammunition and the inclusion of Ezekiel’s wife in the act should be very strange. Could it be that live ammunition and actual blood are all fake in the eyes of the LORD? And probably the actors will still show up at the award ceremony the following day? The saints getting what they deserved and the wicked men and women also having their dues?
When is a funeral one to God?
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