November 6, 2020: Day 76 – Ezekiel 24

There are object lessons and then there are object lessons.  We find today God speaking to Ezekiel in a way that is powerfully impactful.  The object lesson he gives is that of his wife being, as he describes her, “the delight of your eyes.”  It is all within this context that Ezekiel began to describe how Israel and Judah have abandoned God and as a result they will reap the results of their traitorous actions.  

So why does Ezekiel’s wife get involved?  Well, she is only involved in that she dies and Ezekiel is commanded to sigh, but not too loudly.  The current situation in which he finds himself is not insignificant, so no mourning is allowed because the destruction and the temple is an event that supersedes all things, even the death of our wives, our children, our delights of our eyes.  

God’s delight, his sanctuary, his temple, was profaned, was destroyed, was considered insignificant by the people of Israel and so as a result this object lesson points back to that reality that God reminds us through his prophet.  Things are not going well, people have desecrated the temple, people have turned their back on their God and as a result they need to know the impact of that betrayal.  Pretty severe things here.