Ezekiel was told to stoke the fire and put it on the pot. Then fill it with savory spices and fill it with the choicest meat. And one thing–the put was filled with rust and would ruin it all.

Just like Israel had become indecent and impure, so was this beautiful pot of meat. And just as Ezekiel was told to stoke the fire to attempt to purify the pot, so the LORD was going to stoke the pot even hotter. But nothing worked. They would not be purified. So judgment was here–The 9th year on the 10th day of the month.

A shocker was in store next. The Lord said he was going to take away the delight of Ezekiel’s eyes, and he was not to mourn. Ezekiel spoke to the people the next morning, and then that night his wife died. He did as the LORD said and did not mourn.

It was to be a sign to the people. They too would lose Jerusalem, the delight of their eyes, and they would not mourn. It would be too quick and that judgment was deserved.

Somehow after this event in which his wife died, Ezekiel became mute. We don’t know if it was that he stopped talking or that he stopped prophesying. Either way, he was mute. But on the day that Israel fell, a fugitive would come to him with the news and he would be able to speak again.

Then “they will know that I am Yahweh” (v. 27).

That is a theme. They truly didn’t believe God anymore, that he was who he said he was. They believed God wouldn’t do anything. He was all talk, no action. But that day was over.

It was a time of terrible, terrible grief as only those who have lived through war and the fall of a city can understand. It’s not just the loss of the people, but the loss of your pride and joy and all that you love.

Sin makes nations weak.

God’s judgment was just.

But one day they would see God again for the God he himself said he was, not the God who they demanded and wanted him to be.

Hoping the same will be with us, that we will open our eyes to see God, not as we want Him to be but for who He is.