on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news.
Ezekiel has been struck with a loss he is forbidden to mourn, and the exiles by the river Chebar want to know why. The answer points to one day still ahead. Jerusalem falls, a survivor brings word of it, and the prophet's long silence toward his own people ends.
What God Takes Away
The verse points to "that day." It is the day just described, when God takes from the people what they valued most. Here the prophet names what God is about to remove.
Numerical Bible NotesSay to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord Jehovah, "Behold, I am profaning my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the pity of your soul. And your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword." It is the mourning for these last that must stop, in view of a mourning that can find no full expression.
The temple was not one loss among many. It was the pledge that God was with them, and losing it swallowed up every other grief.
Numerical Bible NotesThe loss of their sons and daughters, terrible as it is, does not match the breaking of the marriage tie that Ezekiel suffers. For that, we have to think of the sanctuary itself gone. It was the pledge and seal of that tie. It spoke of the Lord's presence with them, and it gave the people access to Himself. Once that tie was broken, the loss might well swallow up all others.
The Survivor Who Brings the News
Later in the book, the record of this arrival carries an exact date. One commentator notes a puzzle: the messenger reaches Ezekiel long after the city fell.
Numerical Bible NotesIn the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city is struck down." … The hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening before he came, and He had opened my mouth before he came to me in the morning. My mouth was opened, and I was no longer silent. … It is strange to realize that the man who escaped from the city arrived more than sixteen months after the city was taken. … No doubt the report of the capture had long come before the refugee himself. … Now, with the living witness among them, they could at least doubt no more that the blow had fallen.
What the Prophet's Silence Meant
Ezekiel's silence had a meaning for the whole nation, and it had a limit.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe was not to go among the captives, and God made him silent. Yet this silence was not complete or constant. In the end it stopped altogether, after Jerusalem had fallen. The silence was a sign to the nation — the sign of God's displeasure and the coming judgment upon Jerusalem.
The limit was about subject matter, not about speaking at all.
This silence did not mean that he never spoke at all. During it he prophesied what we read in chapters 25-32. He was to be silent concerning Israel. The chapters in between, before the messenger came, concern other nations. Then the promised messenger arrived, and God opened his mouth again to prophesy about Israel.
after-note: sentences split, adverbs and passives removed
Why God Waited Until Then
Both the prophet's loss and his silence were timed to the siege and fall of the city.
before-claim not in any quote; shorter lead-in
J. N. DarbyOn the day Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, the wife of the prophet dies. She was the dearest object of his affections, yet Ezekiel was not to mourn. Under the figure of his wife's death he is told to hold back his heart before the judgment of Jehovah. Once the judgment was carried out, the prophet's mouth would be opened, and the word of Jehovah would come openly to the remnant, so that they would know Jehovah.
Israel's Double Lesson
The judgments in these chapters all end the same way — the nations learn who the Lord is. Israel receives something extra.
J. N. DarbyThese judgments are carried out so that all of them will know Jehovah. In Israel's case there is more: they understand, and they see prophecy confirmed in a special way.
Summary
- Sign — Ezekiel's unmourned loss and his enforced silence were not private grief. Both were signs of God's displeasure and of the judgment coming on Jerusalem.
- Stroke — On "that day" God takes the sanctuary first, the pledge of His presence. Then their sons and daughters fall. The greater loss swallows up the smaller.
- Survivor — One escapee reaches the exiles with the news that the city is struck down. He arrives more than sixteen months after the city fell.
- Speech — The silence covered Israel only. During it Ezekiel prophesied about other nations. The messenger's arrival opened his mouth to his own people again.
- Sight — Judgment makes the nations know Jehovah. Israel receives more. They see prophecy confirmed before their eyes, so they understand what is happening.