Ezekiel 24:16
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. 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.
God takes Ezekiel's wife from him by sudden death as a commanded sign of Jerusalem's coming destruction. She is precious to his sight, and in that cherished place she represents the sanctuary beloved by the people and everything they held dear. As he is forbidden to show outward grief, neither mourning nor weeping nor letting tears flow, so the people are to refrain from the usual signs of mourning when Jerusalem falls and their sons and daughters die. That restrained grief signifies the severity of the judgment upon them and their sorrow over their own iniquities.