Empathy is an experiential expression. Sympathy they say is from the brain, feeling sorry for a situation but EMPATHY is knowing it from the heart. 

Dealing with death is one situation we all know, and how we feel it for others is either sympathy or empathy. It’s personal and we can let our hearts feel empathy at the same time we use our heads to demonstrate sympathy, without over-stating that we know exactly what the others are going through. Each person relates uniquely to their journeys. Our comfort to them is to say we know it is unique to you. Our ultimate comfort is to demonstrate that we know that the Lord is in control and we expect eternal life with Him – thus making this transition to death just an eyes closed, eyes opened event.

The Lord set up an extremely unique situation for his servant and prophet Ezekiel. The Lord sent an extreme example of demonstration of trust in the Lord, He asked Ezekiel to only groan quietly and muffle the customary rites of mourners. This was when the Lord stated Ezekiel would lose his wife, the sweetest thing in his life, “delight of your eyes”. This was understandably a tough loss, and the Lord understood the mourning, but outward-facing He wanted Ezekiel to demonstrate solidarity with the Lord’s teaching. And the equivalent response when he told his fellow Israelites that the area of Jerusalem would lose their sanctuary, it would be desecrated, a place where they had convened with Holy God, and had been a stronghold of pride. Ezekiel told the community to trust and know God’s actions were God’s – showing His power with purpose. Life would continue but not without judgement.

So first, Ezekiel demonstrated the demands of the Lord, to groan quietly for himself when his wife died, a witness to knowing God’s power and ability to act. God said: “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead.” 

Then God said: “Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary—the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. And you will do as I have done.”

Ezekiel could only speak when directed, and that was a sign from the Lord too: “on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

It was an UNIQUE path of the judgment of God to cause the exile of 70 years and demand back the ongoing trust in the Lord – as these people of Jerusalem had drifted too far, and were to be carried away in exile. The Lord’s plan is unique to Him. He promises to provide a restoration and prophets prophesied of this for the future, but for this moment, this was judgement.

Final judgment will come to us all one day. The Lord will have gathered the found and the lost will be lost. We should have empathy for the Lord’s pain as well as partake in it for the loss is forever when people, His children, are going to lose in a second death, and not know eternal life. We also need empathy for the lost of this generation, for we too once were lost but now are found. We were blind but now we see.

So let us set aside sympathy and even apathy for our generation of lost, and have empathy for them and the Lord.Let us strengthen each other.

All children are God’s children, image-bearers, and held captive until they realize the freedom in Jesus. Pray chains to fall. Pray God’s knowledge comes to them all.

Amen 

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Ezekiel 24:15-24

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.”

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.

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

So I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary—the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of[a] your sins and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’

“And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart’s desire, and their sons and daughters as well— on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”