Daily Devotional For Sunday, August 23, 2026
Good morning Southside! Our daily devotional from the One Year Chronological Bible is Ezekiel 24:15-19:
“ Then this message came to me from the LORD: (16) “Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears. (17) Groan silently, but let there be no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off your sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any food brought to you by consoling friends.” (18) So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do. (19) Then the people asked, “What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?” (NLT).
Grief is a part of life. We unfortunately lose people we love through their deaths. We lose pets. We lose jobs. We lose our health. We lose money and financial security. We lose our children to their own independence to live on their own when they are old enough. We lose friends for all kinds of reasons, many times at no fault to us. Grief is part of life.
The first grief occurred in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned. God grieved and so did Adam and Eve. Though grief is as much a part of life as joy, it is not an easy pill to swallow. In our text for today, God told Ezekiel the the wife he loved was going to die but not to publicly show any grief about her death. What a strange command, don’t you think? If I lost my wife or daughter, you would know I was grieving.
When read this passage it makes us question the love of the Lord. In verse 16, she is called Exekiel’s “dearest treasure.” Other translations say she was the “delight of Ezekiel’s eyes.” Another translation says “the person you love the most.” The context of this passage involved the final judgment God was bringing against His people. Suffering is a part of the Christian’s life and no amount of faith removes it or protects us from it.
God has never promised us shelter from suffering (Ps. 23:4). God may use suffering as a means to test our faith (1 Pet. 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:12-13). God may use suffering top strengthen our faith (Matt. 15:28; Acts 6:5; and Rom. 4:19-20). God may use suffering to educate and discipline us (Heb. 12:7). God may use suffering to humble us (Deut. 8:2-3; 1 Cor. 12:1-9). God may use suffering to purify us (Mal. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:7). God may use suffering to use us to help others who are suffering (2 Cor. 1:3-7). And God may use suffering to demonstrate His suffering grace (2 Cor. 12:9; Phil. 1:23).
Nowhere does the Bible say that God put to death Ezekiel’s wife. So, please do not infer this or read this into the story here. Ezekiel could grieve privately and God wanted to teach His people a hard lesson about their sin, rebellion, idolatry and infanticide. A new nation could not start until the old one was gone, purified and repented. It says it would be “one blow” that would take her life. In Scripture this often refers to being an innocent victim and casualty of an invading army. In this case, this would be Babylon. It was used to refer to a sudden illness that took one’s life quickly. This is probably the case here.
Ezekiel did exactly as the Lord told him. The survivors in Jerusalem would not be able to mourn the loss of their own sons and daughters because they were being forced by Babylon to travel across the desert to be slaves in Babylon. They would have to mourn privately so that the enemy would not laugh and tease them due to their defeat and mourning. All of this would confirm the word the Lord gave to Ezekiel and how the people should have repented.
Reflection Assignment: What is it in your own life the Lord is telling you to repent from from conviction by the Lord? Why do you mock the Lord and His grace by refusing? I urge you to repent now, immediately less the Lord punish You for your disobedience. Let the grief over your sin be the only grief you have now. Do not add to your grief that that you tested the Lord and now are grieving also due to His loving hand of discipline.
Scripture To Meditate On: Hebrews 12:6, “For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I repent from ______________. Please forgive me and restore to me the joy of my salvation. Thank You for Your loving hand of discipline. I am so sorry that I put You to the test. That had to grieve You. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly