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 was commanded to turn his personal bereavement into a public sign, and he obeyed it in exact sequence. He spoke to the people in the morning, his wife died that evening, and in the following morning he did as he had been commanded. Her death stood for Jerusalem's coming loss of what was most precious to the people, the sanctuary and their loved ones. For that loss they were to be forbidden the customary outward mourning, and instead were to pine away in their iniquities.
The sign belonged to the judgment then falling upon Jerusalem, when its people were given over to death and captivity. No lot was to be cast to determine who would be spared.
Ezekiel was commanded to turn his personal bereavement into a public sign, and he obeyed it in exact sequence. He spoke to the people in the morning, his wife died that evening, and in the following morning he did as he had been commanded. Her death stood for Jerusalem's coming loss of what was most precious to the people, the sanctuary and their loved ones. For that loss they were to be forbidden the customary outward mourning, and instead were to pine away in their iniquities.
The sign belonged to the judgment then falling upon Jerusalem, when its people were given over to death and captivity. No lot was to be cast to determine who would be spared.