Ezekiel 24:15

EZEKIEL NOT TO DEMONSTRATE GRIEF OVER THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE

The second sign presented in this chapter is that following the death of the prophet's wife, when, acting upon the prior commandment of God, Ezekiel refrained from any demonstration of grief or lamentation.

"Also 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 neither mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind thy headtire upon thee, and put thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning; and at even, my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded."

Ezekiel here was told that his wife would die, but that God forbade him to make any visible demonstration of his grief or lamentation. All of the usual things that were normally done to mark the passing of a loved one were to be omitted. He was not to uncover his head, nor go barefoot, nor to sigh aloud, nor to cover his lip, or even to eat "of the bread of men." All of these funeral customs are frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, and some of them also in the New Testament, as in the case of the loud mourners wailing for the death of Jairus' daughter.

"Nor eat the bread of men ..." (Ezekiel 24:17). This is of special interest to us, because it still in this present day is a characteristic of the New Israel of God, observed by Churches of Christ and other communions throughout the world upon funeral occasions. Cooke described the custom thus: "Friends and relatives of the deceased were accustomed to assemble in the house of mourning for a funeral meal, provided by those assembled."[15] Of course, the bereaved was supposed to participate in the feast. It was that meal, here called, "the bread of men," that Ezekiel was forbidden to eat.

"Bind thy headtire upon thee ..." (Ezekiel 24:17) The meaning of headtire is "turban."

Eichrodt warned us not to be taken in by the critical nonsense that the warning which God gave Ezekiel regarding his wife's death was "merely the realization that his wife's long illness would probably lead to her death in the near future."[16]

Such a canard is no less a denial of God's Word than Satan's arrogant falsehood, that, "Ye shall not surely die."

For Biblical references to the types of actions mentioned here as expressions of sorrow see: Leviticus 10:6 (leaving off headtire), Isaiah 20:2 (the bare feet); Leviticus 13:45 (the covered lip). Deuteronomy 26:14; Jeremiah 16:7 (the meal in the house of mourning), etc.

The meaning of Ezekiel's being commanded not to demonstrate mourning is that:

"The context requires that the great tragedy of the fall of Jerusalem is not to be followed by wholesale demonstrations of lamentation and grief. Ezekiel would not weep (visibly) over the death of his beloved, and neither would the people of Israel weep over the fall of Jerusalem. Why? Because, in both cases the tragedy was too deep and stunning for any expression of grief to prove adequate."[17]