From Loss to Repentance (Ezekiel 24:15-27) (August 31, 2025)

From Loss to Repentance (Ezekiel 2415-27) Living Life 08312025 Daily Devotional Bible Study

 

 

From Loss to Repentance (Ezekiel 2415-27) Living Life 08312025 Daily Devotional Bible Study

 

 

1. Introduction

Welcome to Living Life.

Friends, it is a gift to be able to grieve. And I want to share with you on September 11th, 2001, I was able to hear the news. And then when I realized that nothing new was being reported, I didn't have anything to do so I could go downstairs and I could find a quiet place. I was able to pour out my heart and grieve before God and ask God for comfort and wisdom so that I could move from a place of being in pain and confusion to to being able to live with God's peace and with God's wisdom. For many, they did not have the luxury of being able to take time to grieve. Instead, many people like first responders had responsibilities to take care of people around them. Some people were literally putting out one fire after another.

Others, of course, government officials, they had to think about how to lead the people, how to respond to an event like this. And many others were trying to take care of loved ones. And as a result, they were busy. What we see in today's passage is that God is saying terrible things will one day happen on the day of judgment. And on that day, people will not have the luxury of being able to grieve because they will be having to run from one crisis to the next. May we understand the punishment that God is ordaining. And may we understand the fact that sometimes things are very hard because we're not even allowed to grieve.

 

 

From Loss to Repentance

 

 

Ezekiel chapter 24, verses 15 to 27.

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2. Scripture Reading

 

The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly. Do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. Then the people asked me, Won't you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this? So I said to them, The word of the Lord came to me Say to the people of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says I am about to desecrate my sanctuary.

 

The stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection, the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword, and you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be assigned to you. You will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the sovereign Lord, and you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart's desire, and their sons and daughters as well.

 

On that day, a fugitive will come to tell you the news. At that time your mouth will be opened, you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be assigned to them and they will know that I am the Lord.

 

 

 

 

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3. Commentary and Application

What we see in verse 16 is that God is putting on Ezekiel a burden. God says to Ezekiel, With one blow, so suddenly, without warning, I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. And so in verse 18, we're told that this means that in that evening, Ezekiel's wife dies. And the instruction that God gives to Ezekiel is when your wife dies, when this tragedy falls upon you, don't grieve. Don't put on the clothes of people who are holding a funeral.

 

Don't stop with your daily routine. Instead, go about your regular business. And so when he did this, all the people in verse 19 asked him, what's going on? Why are you acting like this? This must mean something. And there Ezekiel is able to explain what is going to happen. First, Ezekiel is able to say to the people, just as I love my wife and I lost my wife, God is having me go through this experience so that I can understand what God feels when he sees the destruction of Jerusalem, which is going to happen soon.

 

And so Ezekiel is able to tell those who are around him who are asking him what's going on, he's able to say, The destruction of Jerusalem is imminent, and just as I am brokenhearted at the death of my wife, God is brokenhearted at the punishment that will fall, and you should be brokenhearted at the destruction that will begin to happen all around us. God says in verse 21, I am about to desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection, and the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.

 

So God is saying that one crisis after another, like dominoes falling, is going to leave no room for people to be able to grieve or process their pain because they'll be busy putting out one fire after another and running away from one danger after another. It will be an unending chain of catastrophes. And when this happens, nobody will have the ability to take time away to be able to just think about things. They will have to keep their turbans on their heads and sandals on their feet. They always have to be ready to move. They will not be able to mourn or weep, but they will waste away because of their sins and groan amongst themselves. And God is saying one of the punishments that all of you Israelites must experience is catastrophe without the luxury of being able to cry out about your pain.

 

You will be in the midst of punishment without the ability to grieve at what's happening. Ezekiel will be assigned to you. You will do just as he has done. So just as Ezekiel is oddly not crying after the death of his wife, God is saying that's going to be happening to all of you. You will be so busy that you will not be able to shed any tears for the people that you love because you will be so desperate to run away from the dangers that are following you. And when this happens, you will know that I am the sovereign Lord. So this is a description of the kind of the highest punishment that God is ordaining.

 

God sometimes punishes so that we experience pain, but the higher punishment than that is when punishment follows punishment after punishment so that we don't have a chance to cry out to God in the midst of our pain. That is what God says will be the fulfillment of the warnings that he has given through Ezekiel. And the good news though, is that for Ezekiel at least, there will come a day when he is able to weep at the death of his wife because he says, God says to him, When destruction falls upon Jerusalem, when everybody else is grieving, verse 26, on that day, a fugitive, someone running from Jerusalem will arrive to you. And remember, he was in exile in Babylon at the time. So one day, a person will report on what happened in Jerusalem to you.

 

And at that time, your mouth will be opened. You will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be assigned to them and they will know that I am the Lord. And so God is saying that Ezekiel will be first the person who has to mourn without being able to... He has to be able to carry grief without being able to mourn. He has to feel pain without being able to cry out in pain. And then that's going to happen to the Israelites. And then when the news of that happening comes to Ezekiel, he'll be able to take time to mourn and grieve before God and experience that healing. And then when they see Ezekiel weeping and being comforted by God, then the people of Israel will know that their time of comfort, through the processing of their pain and returning to God, that that awaits them as well.

 

 

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4. Closing Prayer

So in today's passage we see that the punishment that is greatest is where you are not given the ability to process your pain. You just have to feel pain after pain after pain. But even when you live through that, you can know that God will one day cause you to experience a peace so that you can begin to go back to your hurts and cry out to God about it. And that's when you'll be able to begin to receive peace and healing. And that is the picture that we're given in today's passage.

 

Think of how you responded to your sorrows before you knew Christ. What has remained the same and what has changed now that you follow Him?

 

 

As you approach your time of prayer, I want to ask you, were there any times when you were punished and experienced pain after pain, and you were so busy that you weren't able to cry out to God about it, and then you sort of forgot?

 

Let's talk to God about that pain today. Would you pray with me?

 

 

God, there are many memories that we push away because they are embarrassing and painful. But God, those are sometimes the memories we have to think about and we have to talk to you about. So God, I pray for my sisters and brothers. As we think about the things that we were not able to process, God, I pray that you would help us to be brave and to be able to present those wounds before you and to share with you what we felt when you had us go through that punishment. And I pray that you would help us to experience your comfort and peace even now, that we might be able to draw wisdom from those past events rather than being marked by trauma.

 

God, guide us into a time of grief, even if this is delayed. And may we, through this time, be able to emerge from our grieving with a heart that is able to praise you all the more. These things we pray in Christ's name. Amen.