Ezekiel 19

REVIEW QUESTIONS

When are the prophecies of Chapter s 20-21 to be dated?

What historical events probably triggered the utterances in these two Chapter s?

In what sense did Ezekiel become a judge of Israel?

What new information about the Egyptian sojourn of Israel is brought out by Ezekiel?

Why did God spare His people time and again when they so manifestly deserved destruction?

What does it mean to profane the name of God?

What gracious provisions did God bestow on Israel in the Wilderness? HOW did Israel respond to those provisions?

What happened at Baal-peer?

How did God punish Israel in Canaan for rejecting His Law?

In what sense did the ancestors of Israel blaspheme God once they were brought into Canaan?

What is a bamah?

Why did God refuse to allow the elders of Israel to inquire of Him?

Why does God promise the restoration of Israel in this section?

How does Ezekiel describe the worship of the restored remnant?

What was the new wilderness into which God was about to take His people?

Explain the parable of the forest fire.

How did Ezekiel’s audience react to his use of parables? What did Ezekiel do about this?

How did Ezekiel dramatize the agony which the news of Jerusalem’s fall would cause?

What action likely accompanied Ezekiel’s song of the sword?

What was the significance of the prophet slapping his hands together?

What did God have to say to the king of Babylon in chapter 21.

What objects did Ezekiel use to dramatize how the king of Babylon would be guided to attack Jerusalem?

What prophecy did Ezekiel make about the future of the house of and throne of David?

Why does Ezekiel include a brief note about the destruction of Ammon at this point in the book?

Ezekiel 19:1-9

II. BITTER DIRGES 19:1-14

There is a time for a preacher to rebuke his audience; there is also a time for him to weep with them and for them. In chapter 19 Ezekiel becomes a sympathetic mourner. God is grieved over the impending fate of Jerusalem, and Ezekiel is told to give vent to his emotions as a means of illustrating the divine agony. The dirge falls into two sections. Ezekiel 19:1-9 lament the fate of Judah’s last kings; Ezekiel 19:10-14 bewail the fall of Jerusalem.

A. Dirge Over Judah’s Kings 19:1-9

TRANSLATION

(1) And as for you, take up a lamentation concerning the princes of Israel, (2) and say, How your mother was a lioness; among the lions she crouched, in the midst of the young lions she reared her whelps! (3) And she brought up one of her whelps, he became a young lion; and he learned to tear the prey, he devoured men, (4) Then nations assembled against him, he was taken in their pit; and they brought him by hooks into the land of Egypt. (5) Now when she saw that, she was disappointed, her hope was lost. Then she took one of her whelps, and made him a young lion. (6) And he went to and fro in the midst of the lions, he became a young lion; and he learned to tear prey, he devoured men. (7) And he knew their widows, and he laid waste their cities; and the land and its fullness was desolate because of the noise of his roaring. (8) Then the nations cried out against him, round about from provinces, and they spread their net over him, he was taken in their pit. (9) And they put him in a cage with hooks, and they brought him unto the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds so that his voice might not be heard again upon the mountains of Israel.

COMMENTS

Ezekiel is told to take up a lament (qinah) for the princes (i.e., kings) of Israel (Ezekiel 19:1). The fates of the three sons of godly King Josiah Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah are mentioned. The house of David is the mother of these princes. She is compared to a lioness in Ezekiel 19:2 because the tribe of Judah in general (cf. Genesis 49:9) and the family of David in particular were symbolized by a lion. As long as Judah remained faithful to the Lord she dwelt securely and fearlessly among the young lions, i.e., surrounding nations. The period of King Josiah is in view. Tiny Judah was independent and prosperous during the reign of this godly king (Ezekiel 19:2).

The royal lioness (house of David) reared up one of her whelps to become a young lion. The reference here is to Jehoahaz who became king of Judah at the age of 23 when his father was slain by Pharaoh Neco in the battle of Megiddo (cf. 2 Kings 23:31 ff.). As a young lion Jehoahaz learned to catch prey, i.e., to have hostile relations with other nations. He devoured men, i.e., he ventured to war (Ezekiel 19:3). It is implied here that Jehoahaz was hostile to Neco of Egypt.

The nations, i.e., Egypt and her vassal states, listened unto him, i.e., took up the challenge which he hurled at them. The young lion was lured to the pit and captured therein. He was bound in fetters and taken to Egypt (Ezekiel 19:4). The allusion is to the capture of Jehoahaz by Pharaoh Neco in 609 B.C. (2 Kings 23:33).

When the lioness (Davidic dynasty) saw that Jehoahaz had been deported, she was disappointed.[337] She took another of her whelps and trained him to be a young lion (Ezekiel 19:5). He took his place among the other lions (kings), and quickly learned the ruthless conduct which oriental kings manifested (Ezekiel 19:6). Because of his misrule he knew their widows,[338] i.e., he caused many women to lose their husbands and sons. Because of his boisterousness (noise of his roaring) he brought destruction and desolation upon his land (Ezekiel 19:7).

[337] The Hebrew verb vachal in the Niphal stem means to wait expectantly. In certain contexts Hebrew verbs take on the opposite of their usual meaning, and this appears to be the case here.

[338] Some think the Hebrew word is an unusual form of the word meaning castles or citadels.

Some difference of opinion exists as to whether Ezekiel has in view Jehoiakim who ruled Judah from 605-598 B.C. or his son Jehoiachin who ruled but for three months early in 597 B.C. Jewish commentators generally prefer the former; modern commentators the latter. Some details of the allegory seem to fit best the one, and some seem to point to the other. On the whole, however, the Jehoiachin interpretation is superior. The nations led by Nebuchadnezzar attacked the kingdom of Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. The young king was taken captive (Ezekiel 19:8) and brought before the king of Babylon. Thus did his rule over Judah come to an end. The growl of this young lion was no longer heard in the land (Ezekiel 19:9).

Ezekiel 19:10-14

B. Dirge over Judah’s Collapse 19:10-14

TRANSLATION

(10) Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by waters; she was fruitful and full of branches because of much water. (11) And she had strong rods to be scepters for rulers; and her height was exalted among the branches, and she was in her height, in the multitude of her tendrils. (12) But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong rod was broken and withered, the fire consumed her. (13) And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. (14) And fire has gone out from the rod of her branches, it has consumed her fruit, so that she does not have a strong rod as a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation and it became a lamentation.

COMMENTS

The figure changes in Ezekiel 19:10. The mother is now the state of Judah, and she is compared to a vine rather than a lioness. The vine had its blood, i.e., sap, and was full of vigor. Because this vine was planted near abundant water the vine was fruitful (Ezekiel 19:10). The allusion is to former days when the nation prospered under the rule of righteous kings. The vine put forth strong rods strong and resolute kings who ruled over the nation. Among the other thick branches (prosperous nations) Judah had a position of honor (Ezekiel 19:11).

Judah the exalted vine was plucked up and cast down to the ground. The present lowly position of the nation could only be due to divine determination. The east wind (Nebuchadnezzar and his armies) dried up the fruit of that ignoble vine. Enormous tribute to Babylon over several years had drained the royal coffers of Judah. The strong rod of that branch the last king of Judah had been broken off and withered by that mighty king from the east. The fire of war and divine judgment had consumed Zedekiah. He lost his crown and his eyesight before being carried away in humiliation to Babylon (Ezekiel 19:12).

That once luxuriant vine planted by many waters is now forcibly transplanted to the wilderness of exile in Babylon (Ezekiel 19:13). The fire which would ultimately destroy the nation had gone OUT of the rod. Zedekiah’s rebellion against Babylon was the cause of the ruin which engulfed the nation of Judah. With the deportation of Zedekiah the royal house of David was reduced to insignificance so that there is in her no strong rod to assume the rule (Ezekiel 19:14).

Chapter 19 is a prophetic lamentation spoken before the final calamity took place. What is here recorded as prophecy became the general theme of the national lamentation after the disaster had transpired (Ezekiel 19:14).

REVIEW QUESTIONS

With what seven false attitudes does Ezekiel deal in Chapter s 12-19? How does he respond to each attitude?

How would Ezekiel respond to modern sociologists who would blame anti-social behavior on environmental factors?

Explain the proverb the fathers have eaten sour grapes, but the teeth of the children have been set on edge.

How did Ezekiel describe a righteous man?

What did Ezekiel have to say about the results of true repentance?

How would Ezekiel respond to the Calvinistic doctrine of once saved, always saved?

How did Ezekiel expect his hearers to acquire a new heart and a new spirit?

To what animal does Ezekiel liken the house of David in chapter 19?

What king of Judah is represented by the first young lion mentioned in chapter 19? What was his fate?

Identify the second young lion raised by the Davidic lioness. What punishment came upon the land because of his actions?

To what plant does Ezekiel liken Judah in chapter 19? What had been the fate of that plant?

Who was the strong rod which was to be broken off the vine tree?