Tevet 11 – Ezekiel is a Sign to You…

December 23, 2023

Tevet 11, 5784; from sunset December 22, 2023, to sunset December 23, 2023

This is an image of one of the 66 stone tiles known as the “Ezekiel Plates” discovered in the 1800s at the traditional tomb site of the prophet Ezekiel. The tiles contain the entire book of Ezekiel and were placed inside the tomb with the letter-side facing toward the wall. There is an old Talmudic tradition that the original book of Ezekiel was buried with the prophet in his tomb and was left there to be revealed in the last days.

The name of the prophet Ezekiel is only mentioned twice in the Bible. First in chapter 1 verse 3; and, second, in the passage below (chapter 24, verse 24). In Hebrew his name is pronounced “Ye-khez-kayl.” His name means something like, “Strength of God” or “God Strengthens.”

Yesterday, the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel regarding Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem. We pick up where we left off…

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.

And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”

Then I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, `Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: `Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another. Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’”

`And you, son of man– will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters: that on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears? On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.’” – Ezekiel 24:18-27 (NKJ)

In the verses above, God told Ezekiel, “that on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears? On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute.” This event is dated to the ninth year of their captivity. Just last week, on Tevet 5, we read about the fulfillment of that day which occurred twelve years into their captivity, three years after the word that God had for Ezekiel today. On that day, God opened Ezekiel’s mouth and he was no longer mute (Ezekiel 33:21-33).

There are very few people in the Bible where we have been given the date of their death. Aaron the priest and Ezekiel’s wife are the only two that I can think of. Last evening, Ezekiel suffered the loss of his wife, yet God told him that he should not engage in any of the customary mourning practices (sack cloth & ashes, uncovering the head, walking barefoot, etc.). Instead, he was to put on sandals and wear a turban (not be barefoot and not uncover his head – in other words – not mourn). The very next morning he did as he was commanded and this caught the attention of the people. They began to ask questions. The pain of Ezekiel and his obedient reaction to God in the midst of it opened up an opportunity for God to speak to His people through him.

Ezekiel’s wife was meant to parallel the Holy Temple, just as she was the “delight of his eyes,” so, too, the Temple was “the delight of [the Jews’] eyes.” God wanted to make His intent clear, He was going to give His Holy Temple over to be destroyed by the Babylonians. Through this destruction, He hoped the people would turn to Him and not the gods of man that they had allowed to creep into their society. It must have grieved Him deeply to have His House – the place where He dwelled among His people – be destroyed. But if He was losing them anyway, it was something He was willing to do to get their attention. How can you dwell among your people if you have no people? If there is no one who follows the laws of the King, then there is no Kingdom. In a way, you could say He sacrificed Himself in order to save them.

The destruction of the Temple did not occur for another two and a half years. Our good and compassionate God once again gave them time to repent. The people had a hard time realizing that their God would actually allow His Temple to be destroyed. When Jerusalem and the Temple did indeed fall – it could have caused some to lose faith in Him. If He really was the Almighty God, how could the Babylonians destroy His Temple? Was Babylon stronger than God?!

Yet they could look back at what happened to Ezekiel and his wife and remember that the Lord, in whose name the prophet spoke, had been warning them all along. By telling the people what was to happen ahead of time they would realize that it only happened because God had allowed it. Hopefully this would lead them to put their faith and trust in Him alone; not in foreign gods, not in Pharaoh, not in other nations.

This pattern was repeated in the person of our Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus). He is the living Temple who was allowed to be “destroyed” – only to rise again. He told His disciples ahead of time that this would happen. He called upon the people to repent. It was another costly move by our Father. This time it was Yeshua who paid the price and this time it was Yeshua’s obedience which allowed God to speak to His people through Him.

This is a scenario that can apply to us today. When tragedies occur in this world and we have trouble understanding how our good and compassionate God could let this happen…we can think back to Ezekiel and his wife and to our Messiah and remember that our good and compassionate God is still good and compassionate and is still working for the ultimate good of His people.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. – Romans 8:18 (NKJ)

In the coming days, when we see the events that were revealed to John, in his book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, begin to occur before our very eyes…when we experience heart-breaking loss…may we remember Ezekiel and his wife. May we remember the Temple. May we remember our Messiah. May we remember that He made it so we could be the Temple. May we remember that it is still the desire of our God to dwell with us. May we remember that our good and compassionate God is still good and compassionate. May we remember that He told us ahead of time. May we remember that He is allowing these events to happen in order to bring His people to repentance and put their faith and trust in Him alone. May we be like Ezekiel and may we be like our Master and let our acts of obedience be a vehicle for Him to speak to His people through us.

Thus, Ezekiel is a sign to you.

To view all of our posts revolving around Ezekiel, click on the image above.