"I the Lord have spoken it, it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God." What the Lord hath spoken will come to pass; He will do it. This is a solemn word. Men ignore what God has spoken. Others sneer at it and are unbelieving. The mass of professing Christians are indifferent and have no thought that God will do what He has spoken about judgments to come. But they will as surely come upon our age, as the threatened judgments came upon Jerusalem. [16] Literally, Rust. II. The Death of the Wife of Ezekiel. Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 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. 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. 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 (verses 15-18). The second message which is given to Ezekiel in this chapter concerns himself. He is to lose the desire of his eyes, his wife, with a stroke. And the Lord tells him that he is not to mourn or weep, nor is he to shed tears on account of the bereavement. All the customary signs of grief are forbidden him. These were the taking off of the headdress, the turban, and putting ashes on the head; taking off the shoes, walking barefooted (2 Sam. xv:30); the covering of the lips, the beard (Micah iii:7; see also Lev. xiii:45), and the eating of certain food, mourning-food. All this he was not to do. And while he faithfully delivered the Word of the Lord in the morning, at even his wife was taken from him and faithfully he obeyed the commandment of the Lord. Death had dissolved the marriage union and taken from the prophet the beloved wife. Even so the relationship between Jehovah and Jerusalem was now to be completely severed. And instead of a wild lamentation, a wailing cry, there should be a solemn silence. A similar message was also given to Jeremiah, "They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented.... For thus saith the Lord, Enter not in the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them" (Jer. xvi:4-9). III. The Question of the People and the Answer.