EZEKIEL LESSON 20
We will begin this lesson in Ezekiel 19:1 "Moreover take thou up
a lamentation for the princes of Israel,"
"Lamentation" is a dirge, or the beating of one's breast in
sorrow. This is saying, then, be sorrowful for the princes of Israel.
The king was the true downfall of the country. They had really evil
men serving as king. As the king goes, so goes the nation. These kings
were idolaters. They led their people into idolatry. The second book
of Kings tells of the downfall of the leaders of this country. Most of
the kings and the princes were self-centered men who would not worship
God. They were vicious killers in some cases. They treated Jeremiah
and the other true prophets with very little respect. A king should be
a leader of his people. An evil king leads them to destruction.
Ezekiel 19:2 "And say, What [is] thy mother? A lioness: she lay
down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions."
They were so evil, they were even thought to be the offspring of
a lioness. The lions she lay with, were the heathen kings around her.
It is very true, that we become like those we associate with. She had
taken up the evil false worship of these heathen kingdoms around her.
The her, here, is Israel. God had warned them, over and over, to stay
separate. They were not to intermarry with the heathens. They did not
listen.
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 whelp, spoken of here, is possibly Jehoahaz who was very
evil. II Kings 23:31 "Jehoahaz [was] twenty and three years old when
he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name [was] Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah." II
Kings 23:32 "And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the
LORD, according to all that his fathers had done." He was not the only
one who was evil, but is, probably, the one intended here. Zedekiah
was evil, also, but he was put into office by Nebuchadnezzar, the
Babylonian.
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."
II Kings 23:33 "And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in
the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the
land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of
gold." II Kings 23:34 "And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of
Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to
Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died
there."
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."
We read in 2nd Kings, above, that Jehoiachin took the place of
Jehoahaz, so this is the second whelp, spoken of here. He was
eventually captured and spent 36 years in captivity in Babylon. He
was evil, as well.
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."
Jehoiachin did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He was
very evil. Jehoiakim reigned just before Jehoiachin. He was not the
whelp, however.
Ezekiel 19:7 "And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid
waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness
thereof, by the noise of his roaring."
He was a very destructive king. He stripped the people of what
little they had. He had no sympathy for even the widows. He was a
selfish, greedy man. He was made king over the people to help them,
and instead, he took everything they had. Perhaps, some of the evil
he did, was because he was so young when he began to reign. He was 18
when he began to reign. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth
year of his reign.
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."
The Babylonians were not alone in their siege. This is, possibly,
speaking of them. He actually gave himself up to the king of Babylon.
II Kings 24:12 "And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king
of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and
his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of
his reign."
Ezekiel 19:9 "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."
This speaks of the 36 years he was in captivity in Babylon. He
never returned to Israel. The "holds" are speaking of the prison where
he was kept.
Ezekiel 19:10 "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."
The mother, here, is speaking of the mother of all Israel. This
is, possibly, speaking more specifically to Judah. They had multiplied
to great numbers. They were always spoken of as the vine, or vineyard.
They were like a vine near the water which grew profusely and produced
much fruit. God had blessed them with a land of milk and honey. They
had prospered and multiplied.
Ezekiel 19:11 "And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them
that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches,
and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches."
Israel, in the past, had very strong kings, such as David and
Solomon. Now, the kings had been drastically degraded. Israel, and
more specifically Jerusalem, had risen to the very heights of heaven,
and now have fallen. The wonderful heritage they had, did not stop God
from pouring out His wrath upon them for their worship of false gods.
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."
This is speaking of the terrible siege on Jerusalem and Judah.
The land, that had been so great, had now fallen. The fury of God's
jealousy was what really brought the fall. God used Babylon to bring
the fall, but it was God who really did it. They were killed with the
sword, pestilence, and famine. Those who did not die were taken
captive to Babylon. Their fall was great, because their sins were
great. She no longer had the strong rod. The city was burned.
Ezekiel 19:13 "And now she [is] planted in the wilderness, in a
dry and thirsty ground."
The banishment is what is spoken of here. They were driven out.
Most were taken captive in a spiritually barren land.
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 sceptre to rule. This [is] a lamentation, and shall be for a
lamentation."
This is very much like a funeral service. Jerusalem is gone.
Their strength is gone. Their God has left. They are hungry and
thirsty in the physical, as well as the spiritual. They can no more
rule, they are ruled over. This is speaking of the ruin of the nation,
the city of God, and the people. What had been so proud, is gone.
Ezekiel 20 Questions
1. Take thou up a _______________ for the princes of Israel.
2. What is a "lamentation"?
3. Who was the true downfall of the country?
4. Where do we read of this downfall?
5. How had they treated the prophets?
6. What is the mother called in verse 2?
7. What caused them to be called the offspring of a lioness?
8. Who is this lioness?
9. Who is the whelp of verse 3?
10. How old was he, when he began to reign?
11. What was his mother's name
12. What kind of a king was he?
13. Where did Jehoahaz die?
14. Who was the second whelp?
15. How many years did he spend in captivity?
16. Jehoiachin did what was _______ in the sight of the Lord.
17. How old was he, when he began to reign?
18. What year of his reign was he captured?
19. Who surrendered with Jehoiachin?
20. Who was the vine, or vineyard?
21. Who were two of Israel's very strong kings of the past?
22. Why did God pour His wrath out on them?
23. How were some of the ways they were killed?
24. What is spoken of in verse 13?
25. Verse 14 is very much like a __________ service.
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