Ezekiel 24

“Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.’” (Ezekiel 24:15–16, NKJV)

Recently a man showed up unannounced at my office. I recognized him immediately, for he used to sit in the front row at church along with his wife. For quite some time they had been unable to attend church due to health problems. I had visited them once, and Karl Davis had visited them multiple times. Walter and Thelma had been married 56 years, and now the love of his life had been taken from him. When Walter appeared at my office, he was not weeping; but he was in shock. All of their family lived out of state. Walter wanted to give them time to make travel arrangements, so we set the memorial service about a month out. But a few days before Thelma’s service, Walter’s heart stopped beating. The celebration of life that had been for one was now for two.

I share this story because I don’t think we can understand the trauma of losing a spouse until it happens to us. Whether we’ve been married for one year or seventy-one years, the sudden loss is incalculable.

Even so, the LORD warned the prophet Ezekiel that with one stroke he would lose “the desire of his eyes”. But he was not permitted to mourn nor weep for her. This was a painful illustration to his fellow captives in Babylon that with one stroke God would destroy the desire of their eyes: Solomon’s beautiful temple in Jerusalem. But also their sons and daughters who remained in Jerusalem would die by the sword. They would not be permitted to mourn nor weep. But they would pine away because of their sins and groan among themselves over the evil they had done. For generations they had deeply wounded the LORD by their spiritual adultery and treachery. And now they would know how it felt to have their dearest treasure taken away from them.

Often we view our sin as a personal failure and something to be ashamed of. But we don’t always see it as that which wounds the heart of God. We are the desire of the Lord’s eyes, and our sins wound His heart and grieve the Holy Spirit. May we sincerely mourn over them, for the one who suffers in the body is done with sin (1 Peter 4:1).