Ezekiel 24:15

Ezekiel 24:15 says, Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  

Verse sixteen adds, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.  God said that Ezekiel's wife was going to die, but he was not to mourn for her.  This seems like strange advice, but even though a spouse is a great comfort when both are living in accordance with God’s word and under His leadership, if one of the two passes away, we shouldn’t allow that to stop us from worshipping God and doing what He has called us to do.  

Verse seventeen continues, Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.  God said Ezekiel was to continue to live his life as he had before. I believe that not eating the bread of men refers to not relying on his neighbors to now provide for him but continuing to put his faith in God to provide for his needs.  There is nothing wrong with people bringing food to a person or even a family when they have a loved one die, but this is not something that a person or family should start to expect.  As Christians, we should still continue to put our faith in God and continue do what He has called us to do.  We should never question or blame God if a spouse dies, since this is what God was talking about with Ezekiel, but it applies to family members as well I believe.  

Verse eighteen states, So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. Ezekiel said he spoke to the people in the morning and that evening his wife died.  God had given him warning that this was going to happen, and we may not always have such a warning, but it doesn‘t change how we should react toward God.  Ezekiel said he then did as God had commanded him to do, and if we lose a spouse, we must still do whatever God has called us to do.  

Verse nineteen adds, And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?  The people around Ezekiel questioned why he was doing what he was doing.  They expected him to be in mourning for a certain period of time, and he wasn’t.  Since he wasn’t, they were very curious about why he was not.  If we are following God’s commands to us, there may be time when people will question our actions, but we can never allow that to stop us from doing what He has commanded us to do.