Ezekiel

Ezekiel Chapter 19

• Ezekiel 19:1 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 

Ezekiel bewails the kings of Judah and the fallen royal family. 

• Ezekiel 19:2 And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. 

Judah was referred to as a lion's whelp in the prophecy given by Jacob before his death in Egypt.

• Genesis 49:9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 
• 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 

The nation of Israel today is actually mostly Jews from the tribe of Judah. In the latter days all other tribes will be gathered together with them if they have not already gathered there. After 1948, we can actually see latter day prophecy starting to be fulfilled. Praise God. My generation has seen all these things.

• Ezekiel 19:3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men. 

The mother of the kings described here was the wife of Josiah. Jehoahaz was the first son who reigned only three months before he was carried away to Egypt in chains.

• Ezekiel 19:4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. 

The law of sowing and reaping is in effect here. Jehoahaz was a violent king who devoured men. The pit is a word indicating this king was trapped like a hole that used to be dug with grass over it to trap animals who would walk across it and then fall into the pit. 

• Ezekiel 19:5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. 

This second king was Jehoakim who also was violent and a devourer of men. 

• Ezekiel 19:6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. 
• 7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. 

This king was also taken because of his wickedness. He was taken by the Babylonians also in chains as his brother was taken to Egypt. 

This is so sad to hear how these kings fell into idolatry and caused the whole nation to sin; then was taken into captivity by the same nations that they had learned idolatry from. 

This is exactly a picture of what sin does to an individual. It seems to be fun at first but in the end, it takes us captive and destroys us both physically and spiritually. Satan gives nothing away free. When we serve him, we are in bondage that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can free us from.

• Ezekiel 19:8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. 
• 9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. 
• 10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. 

This mother could refer to the tribe of Judah. But the actual mother of the first two kings and Zedekiah was Hamutal. She may be the one referred to here. She was strong in the days of Josiah, her husband like a tree planted by waters. 

• Ezekiel 19:11 And she had strong rods for the scepters of them that bore rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches. 

Strong rods indicate her sons who were very strong kings but were removed from their thrones because of the sin of idolatry which leads to the other sins of violence, sexual immorality and harlotry. 

• Ezekiel 19:12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them. 
• 13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. 

The mother of the kings was left desolate and with nothing. The mother was taken to Babylon at the same time as Zedekiah.  If Judah is the mother referred to, the very same prophecy applies. 

• Ezekiel 19:14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. 

This mother's last hope was destroyed when king Zedekiah another one of her sons rebelled against the king of Babylon and was also taken away in chains. 

Anyone who loved their homeland and grieved over the takeover of Babylon must have really lamented and mourned at this time. They were losing their land to a nation that was evil and cruel. They desired the merchandise and longed after the ways of Babylon and now they were taken captive by the very nation they wanted to be like. 

They first forsook God, they began to worship the idols of the nations surrounding them, they went into fornication, adultery and whoredom. They eyes could not cease from sin. This is how they ended up. 

God loved the people of Israel. He brought them out of Egypt and made them a mighty nation. Because they forsook Him, there was no longer a strong protection from wicked rulers of other nations. This caused all these things to come upon them. 

Will the same thing happen to the church if they also forsake His word and stop serving Him only claiming to belong to Him. Israel still claimed to know God and believe in God just like we do today. But in works they denied Him exactly like we also do today. If God judged Israel, will He not judge us if we forget His word and only honor God with our lips? 

I don't want to leave this chapter without reminding us of a time of restoration of Israel in the latter days. Many of them are coming to Christ now. We should rejoice and be glad this is happening and join with them in serving the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, mind and spirit so that we can partake in the same blessings God bestows on them. We do not have to live in bondage to sin. We can be made whole and free by faith in what Jesus did on our behalf when He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins? We can become a new creature in Christ Jesus and receive the gift of the Hoy Spirit to abide with us forever. He gives each believer the power to overcome if we just come to Him and ask. Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto us.

Ezekiel Chapter 20

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