Ezekiel 19

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Israel’s Lamentation

Who was the king in Jerusalem when the lamentations of this chapter were given by Ezekiel? Was the Temple still standing?
In the first lamentation (vs 1-9), concerning the last kings of Judah, who is it that is likened to a lioness, and who is likened to the cubs of the lioness? Was there any hope of the last kings coming back to power at the time Ezekiel wrote these lamentations?
In the second lamentation of Ezekiel (vs 10-14), who is represented by the tall vine? Who is represented by the strong branches?
In verse 12, the east wind, called the “sirocco,” represents what force that dried the fruit of Judah?

Zedekiah was reigning as the puppet king in Jerusalem at the time Ezekiel wrote these lamentations. The city had not yet been plundered and the Temple was still standing. However, it was only a matter of a few years and the kingdom of Judah would be no more. The lamentations emphasized that the hope for any last minute help for Judah was futile.
In the first lamentation, Judah is likened to a lioness and her cubs are the kings of Judah. Two of the cubs represent two of the last kings of Judah, Jehoahaz, who had already been taken as captive to Egypt, and Jehoiachin, who had already been taken captive to Babylon. These two kings would later die in captivity with no eulogies of praise.
The tall vine in the second lamentation represents the kingdom of Judah, and the strong branches represented the kings of Judah. Ezekiel had already given the parable of the fruitless vine in chapter 15, and we see here in chapter 19 more prophecy concerning her lack of fruitfulness.
The east wind of verse 12 was the force of the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, who dried and devoured the fruit of Judah and Jerusalem, broke her strong branches and consumed them (vs 12-14).

In the future, will there be songs of praise or lamentations of sadness for our nation? What kind of covenants and treaties are we involved in as a nation? Is there a “force” that will consume any fruit that our nation has produced, and if so, what will this “force” be? How can our nation be turned back from the many evils now present? Consider how we should pray for our nation and its leaders?

In view of the fall of Judah and the end of the kings of Israel in the distant past, are you now steadfast in your hope of the coming King, the Lion of Judah, our Lord Himself, once rejected as the true king of Israel, but soon to come and be received as the rightful King in the line of David? Does this hope not only prompt you to look forward to the coming Lion of Judah, but also to prepare and be ready for His coming?

“Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, planted by the waters, fruitful and full of branches because of many waters . . . but she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried her fruit.” Ezekiel 19: 10, 12a