Ezekiel 24:22-24

Ezekiel instructed the people to respond to their tragic loss as he had to his. The reason they were not to mourn publicly but only privately, though unstated, was that the judgment that God executed on Jerusalem was deserved.

"Ezekiel had a right to mourn his undeserved personal loss but did not. The Israelites had no right to mourn for their well-deserved national loss and could not . . ." [Note: Stuart, p. 243.]

"God is not the author of personal tragedy, but he does often use such experiences as unique opportunities and special windows through which people will come to ’know’ that he is the Lord." [Note: Cooper, p. 240. Cf. Dyer, in The Old . . ., p. 682.]