Ezekiel 21:6-7 (ESV)
“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord GOD.
This entire section of Ezekiel is God speaking through the prophet to let Israel know that God was going to discipline them in an extreme manner. They had sinned and the payment for that sin was due. In the above passage we read that the prophet’s words to groan and moan over this sin and the news of the discipline to come. Their hearts are to melt. Because of this news their hearts are supposed to melt and their knees even become weak.
However, note what God will tell the prophet later in this section. God tells him his wife is going to die and he is NOT to weep and morn about it. This is long but worth the comparison:
Ezekiel 24:17-23 (ESV)
Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.
And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” Then I said to them, “The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another.
On the one had they are to mourn what they did and the discipline that is to follow, but they are also to keep quiet and accept that discipline. Weep and mourn over your sin, but also accept what God is bringing to us as a result of that sin.
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