The word came to Ezekiel as a direct command from the Lord while Jerusalem was under siege. In that command the Lord told him that He would suddenly take away his deeply loved wife and that he was to refrain from mourning for her. Her death was appointed to serve as a sign of Jerusalem's coming destruction, pointing to the loss of its sanctuary and the loss of loved ones. That punishment would fall because the people had refused the word of the Lord.
The word came to Ezekiel as a direct command from the Lord while Jerusalem was under siege. In that command the Lord told him that He would suddenly take away his deeply loved wife and that he was to refrain from mourning for her. Her death was appointed to serve as a sign of Jerusalem's coming destruction, pointing to the loss of its sanctuary and the loss of loved ones. That punishment would fall because the people had refused the word of the Lord.