Why did God kill Ezekiel's wife?

The prophet is next called to fear himself a stroke from God of the most intimate kind, if by any means the captives at the Chebar could be forced to feel the seriousness of the crisis and of that rebellious denial of the true God which had brought judgment on the Jews. "And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake to the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded." (Ver. 15-18)

Nor did this sudden domestic affliction, with absolutely no token of mourning on Ezekiel's part, pass unheeded. "And the people said to me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so? Then I answered them, The word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another." (Ver. 19-23) The fresh oracular act is expounded; and the people are informed that God would teach them of their unexampled trouble which should leave no room for tears or ordinary mourning. So sweeping a destruction was begun, Jehovah Himself profaning the sanctuary by judgment as they had by their transgressions and abominations, that nothing would remain for them but pining away in their iniquities and groaning one to another. What a picture of despair when the sorrow lies too deep for tears, and an overwhelming sense of guilt compels men to abandon hope!

It is not right to speak of the sacred writers introducing their own names into their productions. Do those who so talk really believe that they were inspired in the true and full meaning of the term? If so, it was God who led and authorized them to do so, as the prophet here. "Thus Ezekiel is to you a sign: according to all that he has done shall ye do: and when this comes, ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah. Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in that day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters, that he that escapes in that day shall come to thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears? In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah." (Ver. 24-27)

In Ezekiel 24 definitive judgment is pronounced against Jerusalem, who was not even ashamed of her sins. The day that Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, the wife of the prophet dies; and, although she was the dearest object of his affections, Ezekiel was not to mourn. Under the figure of his wife's death he is instructed to refrain his heart before the judgment of Jehovah. The judgment once executed, the mouth of the prophet would be opened, and the word of Jehovah openly addressed to the remnant, so that Jehovah should be known to them. Jerusalem should be set as a caldron on the fire to melt and consume the whole. God had purged her, but she was not purged; and now He causes His fury to rest upon her.

We have now a parable of another nature, which seems to bear a double significance; one open, and one hidden. Jerusalem is gone in judgment. The city is gone, and the sanctuary with it — the sanctuary so necessary for the nation as a whole, where alone the blood of sacrifice could be offered to God. Thus the destruction of the sanctuary was the end of all relationship. What could remain between a holy God and a people for whose sins no atonement could be made? This is the overwhelming calamity which, as to the people, might well make every other of comparatively small account. The voice of lamentation itself was hushed in this silence of despair. "And the word of Jehovah came unto me saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke, yet thou shalt not mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down." It is not that grief is forbidden, but the expression of it. He is to be in this expressionless grief a sign to the people: "Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead, bind thy turban upon thee, and put thy sandals upon thy feet, and cover not the beard, and eat not the bread of men. And I spake unto the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded."

In contrast with the loud lamentation customary in such cases, for which they even hired mourners, this conduct calls for explanation: "The people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us which thou doest? Then I said unto them, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Say unto the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I profane 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 ye have left behind shall fall by the sword." It is the mourning for these last that is to cease in view of the mourning which can have no sufficient expression.

Yet, after all, it is not they who can feel these things according to the divine account of them. They might be overwhelmed by the calamity, but were to pine away in iniquities yet unrepented of. This is why, as it seems, the full meaning as to what Ezekiel is called to do does not come out. The loss of their sons and daughters, with all its severity, cannot answer to this breaking of a marriage-tie under which Ezekiel suffers. For that, we have to think of the sanctuary itself gone, which was the pledge and seal of the tie, which spoke of the Lord's presence with them, and gave the people access to Himself; that tie being broken, it might well swallow up all others.

But this does not put the prophet's parabolic action in its full meaning before us. Ezekiel himself is plainly here, as elsewhere, the representative of God to the people, as the prophet in fact always was. It is to be noted that the stroke falls not upon the people, but upon the prophet himself. Nor is it inflicted as a judgment, as far as he is concerned. With the prophet there is no divorce from God by it; on the contrary, just at this time he stands before the people fully as the representative of God Himself, speaking and acting in His name. We have to take the prophet here as really representing the One for whom he stands. Thus it is not obscurely intimated that the prophet's sorrow is the sorrow of God Himself. The affliction is on His part, not on man's side. Yet it is an affliction which can find no expression in the midst of a people obdurate as these are. It is their sin which has wrought their calamity. It is their sin in which they still pine away; feeling, no doubt, certain effects of it, but not the iniquity itself. He who has inflicted it is He who feels what He has inflicted. It is the sundering of His own relationship with a people whom He had taken up to manifest His love to them and to bring them near to Himself in such a way as all their history indicates. Yet He has been compelled to give them up. The tie, in fact, is broken, for we are not thinking here of purposes to be fulfilled in the end, but of present relationship, and these ended for the nation as such. Yet He who in all their affliction has ever been afflicted, can give no expression to it. It is the shadow of judgment which is necessarily over them all and which hinders this expression.

Yet how wonderful in its pathos is this unexpressed, inexpressible sorrow with which all this part of the prophecy closes! God will not, as it were, permit it all to end in judgment merely, without bringing us to His side in this matter, if we have heart for it, and showing us how truly His heart remains unchanged, and how thoroughly the divorce which He has given, as He says in Hosea, is not on His side but on theirs. Nothing can divorce His heart from the objects of His love, and if He has to act in a way apparently most contradictory to this, faith may yet penetrate the disguise and realize the love unchangeable throughout it all. This is what seems to be the meaning here — the meaning upon His side; the worthy end to which we have been looking.

The prophetic communication to the people closes here for the time. The last act of the judgment which is now about to take place is to be waited for until the message shall come which speaks of its full accomplishment. For nearly a year and a half the siege lasted, and then came the message that the city was taken. In that day, when at last all was over, and no false hope could any longer be maintained, the prophet's mouth would be opened. He would speak, and no more be dumb. This we shall find accordingly in the third division of these prophecies. When judgment has had its way, and God's holiness is fully vindicated, the prophet's mouth is to be opened, not in judgment once more, but in the announcement of blessing to come of blessing which, in God's unrepenting goodness, is still reserved for them, however much their persistent iniquity has delayed the fulfilment of it.

Verses 15-18 announce the death of Ezekiel's wife, and he is commanded not to mourn or weep; all the customary signs of grief are forbidden him. While he faithfully delivered the message in the morning, even his wife was taken from his side. Death had dissolved the marriage union and taken from the prophet the beloved wife. Even so the relationship between Jehovah and Jerusalem was now completely to be severed. The question of the people and the answer is found in verses 19-27. Read verses 26-27 and compare with chapter 33:21, 22.

One very striking feature in Ezekiel's history would seem to be the entire subordination of his whole life and feelings as a man to the great prophetic work to which he was called. He neither speaks nor acts like an ordinary man, but thinks and feels as a prophet. One very striking illustration of this is found on the occasion of the death of his wife. There is something deeply touching in his brief narrative of the moment when "the desire of his eyes" was taken away with a stroke, and when he was commanded not to mourn. The word of the Lord ran thus: "Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded" (Ezek. 24:15-18).

That was indeed a memorable day. God noted it by the command, "Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day" (Ezek. 24:2). The day that Nebuchadnezzar began the siege the wife of the prophet died, and although she was the object of his tenderest affections he was not to mourn, and did not. That he possessed the sympathies and affections of humanity is manifest by the beautiful touch of tenderness with which the narrative is introduced; but he subordinates himself entirely to the will of Jehovah, and sinks the interests of his individual life in the work of his prophetic office.

There are two parts in the chapter. The first announces, before the people could have any message of it to reach them, that the siege has begun while the second shows us what is implied in this — the divine sundering of the tie between Jehovah and the people, as figured in the death of the prophet's wife. These two parts are in a certain sense, and in a most touching manner, in contrast with one another, as we shall see when we examine them.

Ezekiel 24 records the fact that "the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day" (Ezek. 24:2). The siege of the city now commences. The same day, as we have seen, Ezekiel's wife dies (Ezek. 24:18). The terrible judgment falling on Jerusalem is graphically described under the figure of a caldron on the fire.

The invasion and destruction of Jerusalem; during the relation of which the wife of Ezekiel, the desire of his eyes, died.He was not to mourn for the loss, and when the captives inquired of him what they were to learn from this, they were told that when God's judgements fell upon the temple and upon their sons and daughters, they were not to mourn; but to pine away for their iniquities and in groaning one to another.

Ezek. 21 — Ezek. 24. The invasion and destruction of Jerusalem; during the relation of which the wife of Ezekiel, the desire of his eyes, died. He was not to mourn for the loss, and when the captives inquired of him what they were to learn from this, they were told that when God's judgements fell upon the temple and upon their sons and daughters, they were not to mourn; but to pine away for their iniquities and in groaning one to another.