November 16th, 2025: Ezekiel's Sign | Ezekiel 3:10-11, 24:15-24, 27

Around the time of Israel’s defeat and captivity, cataclysmic battles were being waged between two great world empires: Babylon and Assyria.  Egypt, once the powerhouse of the region, had been defeated and was rapidly losing influence.  Meanwhile, not long after Babylon was victorious, the rise of the Medo-Persian Empire loomed large as it began to rise in power and influence.  It was a time of great upheaval, resettlement, and profound loss for the people of God.  Through the prophets God warned of the judgement and destruction and prepared the faithful by instructing them to embrace the fact that they would spend the next 70 years without a homeland, without a temple, and without power in a strange land, but they would not be without God.  He was leading them and He kept them through the darkness and confusion.  

There were three waves of incursion leaving finally only a small and weakened fraction of people in the land.  Ezekiel, likely left in the first deportation from Jerusalem along with Daniel and others, when the best and the brightest were taken.  

 Ezekiel 3: 10-11

Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

 Godly prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel had been warning this would happen for over 100 years, the tiny remnant of faithful followers of God suffered incredible hardship, but fared much better than those who rejected God’s word.

God sent Ezekiel with the exiles, because even though they had rejected Him, he kept His promise to them.  God wanted them to know the truth and to call them to repentance, Ezekiel was faithful to deliver God’s messages despite the fact that many would continue to ignore them. 

    Ezekiel has witnessed the heart-rending departure of the glory of God from the temple.  Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.As God spoke to Ezekiel, the third and final deportation from Jerusalem was about to happen. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. (Ezekiel 11: 22-23).

The city and the temple would be burned leaving nothing behind but a pile of rubble.  God reminded Ezekiel that his job was to speak in truth and obedience to what the Lord had told him. Judgement had arrived, the time to repent had run out. This painful reality grieved the heart of  God and His prophets. Ezekiel was to speak whether they listened and obeyed or whether they did not.  God’s righteousness and long suffering are not changed because of the infidelity and corruption of human beings.  It is the same for us today. God wants Christians to live as a sign of His faithfulness and to be the  light to the world, we will often endure rejection and ridicule, but God will save as many as will turn to Him. 

There are many verses prior to this chapter where God, through Ezekiel, told the people why this judgement was occurring. In the first part of chapter 24 God directed Ezekiel to give a parable - about a painful, cleansing burning fire. As a reminder and for points of discussion, below is a list of sins called out specifically in chapter 22 detailing the nation’s turn away from God.  Are any of these relevant  in our culture today?

Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. (Instead of showing other nations who God is, they are now ridiculed and ineffective) Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. (Leadership issues) In thee have they set light by father and mother (does not respect or care for parents): in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger (not teaching the gentiles/sinners about God): in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood (slander, woke culture): and in thee they eat upon the mountains (pagan rituals, feasts filled with sin): in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. (all manner of sexual sin) In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury (more concerned about making money than caring for need)and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 22:3-12).

This lesson skips from chapter 3 to Chapter 24.  

 Also the word of the Lord came unto 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 unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

Prophets, especially Ezekiel, were frequently required to perform actions that illustrated the word of the Lord.   He is told here that He must be quiet and not mourn or weep at the loss of the “desire of thine eyes” - his wife.Traditionally, Jewish mourning is a very lengthy and sacred process.  Mourning rituals were proof of how dearly the deceased was loved.  They tore their clothes, put dust on their heads, mourned loudly, and ate foods specifically reserved for times of sadness.  Ezekiel was told not to do any of these things. How very hard this must have been!  God used this unusual fast to draw the  attention of His people. 

What would the people learn about God by watching Ezekiel’s  life?  No greater heartache is experienced among men than the separation of loved ones through death.  The sin of Judah and Israel caused a separation from the God who loved them so fiercely and completely.  The separation didn’t have to be and the utter destruction brought on by disobedience left no time at all for traditional grieving.  

And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so? Then I answered them, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; 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. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.

Naturally, this got everyone’s attention.  Can’t you just hear them?  Why are you acting as if nothing is going on?  How can you not mourn the love of your life?  God gave Ezekiel the answer.   The people claimed to honor and love the temple, but had rejected the presence of God in their lives. They  trusted in the temple , the city, their  history but not in their God. They outwardly professed everence but they had actually filled the temple with idols and offered their own children as sacrifices to pagan deities.  God said, you profaned it, and now I will bring it all crashing down.  Righteous judgement required severe consequences.  There would be overwhelming grief.  It would be a sorrow that they would never forget.  God had grieved their iniquity for so long, and now had accepted their choice to reject Him.   Anything or anyone, replace God with; that we love more, trust more, depend on more than we do God, is an idol. In fact,  even good things, our blessings, can be turned into idols.  God desires to have fellowship and relationship with His creation, and some replace Him in their affections with the most insignificant and empty things.  Our confidence should be placed in  God first, for in the end, all other things will all be destroyed. 

God cried out through  Ezekiel for them to put on their hats and shoes and mourn in silence, wishing and longing (pining) that this judgement had not had to happen. They are to mimic Ezekiel’s actions at the very hardest of events.  No time to grieve and no relief was coming, but they are to go forward and learn what God will teach them.  The destruction happened , just as Ezekiel said it would, when they saw it, they knew that the Lord is God, and He keeps His word. 

 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 unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

The captives remained in Babylon for at least 70 years.  Ezekiel continued to prophesy.  His next words, however, would be of hope and encouragement, that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  God showed His people through  him that there would be a regathering back into Jerusalem. A regathering not just of Judah but of the whole nation of Israel. God would not forget His promises or His people.  Israel would once again live in their own land. There will be a “new King David” and the dry bones of a captured nation will live!

Thank you for studying with us! God bless!