I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forests that will consume everything around you.” Jeremiah 21:14 (Ezekiel 24, Jeremiah 21:1-14, 32 & 34)
God has a different meaning for death than man does. This is evident is the simultaneous death of Ezekiel’s beloved wife and the final siege of Jerusalem, 700 miles apart. Ezekiel was told this was to be a prophecy to Jerusalem, who was in the final throws of death itself.
There are some quandaries in the Bible. Ezekiel’s absolute, ultimate sacrifice is one of them. Was his wife terminally ill? Was it sudden? Scripture doesn’t say, but Ezekiel is denied the traditional process of grief, in which a community comes together, honors the life gone and comforts the surviving family members. There are some assumptions that can be made though. She most certainly was a woman of faith, to have been a help mate to a man of great calling. Also, God Himself comforted His prophet and so, Ezekiel may have seen the Glory his wife now knew.
Jeremiah was in Jerusalem when Zedekiah, the puppet king, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and brought the full wrath of Babylon down on the city. As a last resort, Zedekiah turns to God, and in a gesture of good will, frees the slaves that should have been emancipated years prior. The slave owners quickly regathered their laborers without consequence, so this new found interest in righteousness wasn’t deeply heart felt. In the end, Zedekiah was carried off to Babylonia with his eyes gouged out. Again, God addresses this death, the final passing of an era, an end the children of Abraham and Moses thought they were exempt from, by declaring there would be no time of mourning. This death was of separation from Himself. To mourn would mean to find good and there was none to remember.
As the end for Judah loomed, Jeremiah was instructed to purchase a field, take the land title and preserve it, to be found at a later date. In this instruction, God gave a hope for the future. There was coming a time when Israel/Judah would be a righteous nation and again produce crops and prosperity for those who remain faithful and obey. There would be life after horrible death.
What will death mean for you? Life everlasting or complete and total separation from God?
I hope you have a Friday kind of Monday!
Gretchen