And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
The inquiry arose when onlookers pressed the prophet to explain what his strange personal behavior portended for them. His actions were not private but representative, enacted as a living sign of the calamity about to fall upon them. That sign pointed to the violent removal of the sanctuary at Jerusalem, the pride of their strength, together with the sons and daughters and other beloved ones in whom they delighted.
The coming bereavement would be so overwhelming and so laden with guilt that the normal outward expressions of grief would be suspended. Instead of public lamentation they would pine and waste away under the weight of their own iniquities, groaning inwardly toward one another. Only when these predicted losses actually occurred would they come to know the Lord in judgment and fulfillment.
The inquiry arose when onlookers pressed the prophet to explain what his strange personal behavior portended for them. His actions were not private but representative, enacted as a living sign of the calamity about to fall upon them. That sign pointed to the violent removal of the sanctuary at Jerusalem, the pride of their strength, together with the sons and daughters and other beloved ones in whom they delighted.
The coming bereavement would be so overwhelming and so laden with guilt that the normal outward expressions of grief would be suspended. Instead of public lamentation they would pine and waste away under the weight of their own iniquities, groaning inwardly toward one another. Only when these predicted losses actually occurred would they come to know the Lord in judgment and fulfillment.