Ezekiel loved his wife, much the way that God loved Israel. So it was terrible news when God told him that his wife was going to die suddenly. It was even worse when he commanded Ezekiel not to mourn for her, not to wear mourning clothes or eat a memorial meal in her honor. He was not to change anything about his appearance or take any action that indicated that he was bereaved.

Ezekiel shared this prophecy with the people who assembled to hear him in the morning, and that evening his wife died. When the people returned the next day, Ezekiel was a widower but he showed no signs of mourning.

“Then the people asked me, ‘Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?’” Ezekiel 24:19

God used Ezekiel’s loss to illustrate the impending destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel’s wife filled him with delight and losing her was heart breaking. The people of Israel delighted in Jerusalem and their hearts would break when it was gone. God told Ezekiel he would know that the disaster had been accomplished when a fugitive from the city arrived to tell him the news.

Prophecies for Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia

Four of Israel’s neighbors rejoiced when Judah fell to Babylon. They clapped their hands, gloated over the Israelites’ misfortune, and even took revenge against them while they were under attack by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Ancient grudges surfaced and Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia tried to exacerbate Israel’s suffering.

God swiftly dealt with those nations. The same army that defeated Judah soon turned against its neighbors and took them down with brutal force. Eventually all of these nations were part of the Babylonian Empire.

Zedekiah’s Fate

God sent Jeremiah to King Zedekiah with a prophecy regarding the end of  his life.

“‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.’” Jeremiah 34:2-3

God promised that Zedekiah would end his life peacefully in Babylon and that the Israelites would make a funeral fire in his honor. They were going to mourn for the last king in David’s line.

King Zedekiah may or may not have believed Jeremiah. He was fighting against Nebuchadnezzar’s army at this time and still hoped to prevail.

“Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out – Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.” Jeremiah 34:6-7

Failing to Free the Hebrew Slaves

God may have given Zedekiah the promise of a dignified death because he was pleased with a proclamation the king made in Jerusalem around this time. Zedekiah covenanted with his people to free all of the Hebrew slaves in the city.

God had given Moses a law that every Israelite who became a slave to another Israelite must be set free after six years of service. The Israelites failed to keep this law as a nation, but now King Zedekiah sought to enforce it.

“[God] said, ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served six years, you must let them go free. Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me. Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.’” Jeremiah 34:14-15

Their obedience was short-lived, however. The people soon rounded up their freed slaves and forced them back into slavery. God was so angry he told them he was going to bring Babylon in for the final assault and they were going to die by the sword and fire.

“I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in furious anger and in great wrath. I will strike down those who live in this city – both man and beast – and they will die of a terrible plague . . . I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.” Jeremiah 21:6-7

The Fall of Egypt

Egypt was a super power in the ancient world, but first Assyria then Babylon defeated them. The Lord told them that Babylon would defeat Egypt and exile its people, but God would bring them back after forty years.

“Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt, the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly kingdom. It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never exalt itself above the other nations. I will make it so weak that it will never again rule over the nations.” Ezekiel 29:14-15

We can look at the history of Egypt and see how this prophecy has been fulfilled.

After Babylon dominated Egypt, Persia conquered Babylon and made Egypt part of the Persian Empire. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and the Greeks ruled over Egypt until the Roman Empire replaced the Greek Empire. Seven hundred years later, Muslim caliphates took control of Egypt and it remained under Ottoman rule until 1867 when first the French then the British occupied it. In 1954 Egypt gained its independence from Great Britain and became the modern state we know today.

To this day Egypt has never again exalted itself above other nations.

The Allegory of the Trees

Our reading today closed with a poetic allegory about trees that represented Assyria and Babylon. The Lord compared them to giant cedar trees that rose above the tops of all other trees. They had strong branches and shade that gave homes to birds and animals. They were well watered and reached great heights, but they were eventually brought down.

The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires encompassed many nations, tribes and people groups. As long as they thrived, the people in the empire thrived, but God didn’t allow them to live forever because they didn’t honor him.

There is not an empire or nation on earth that exists except by the will of God. No matter how large and powerful a nation becomes, God is able to bring it down and he has done so numerous times. The ancient civilizations we read about in the Bible and in history books once ruled their worlds, now they are “just ancient history.”

In the end, all that matters is whether people know and obey God’s laws. Every time God acts in the world, he does it so that “Then they will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 30:26