Ezekiel 19

This week we are reading Ezekiel 19. God instructs the prophet to “raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel” (19:1). Hebrew lamentations, or funerary songs, are a common style in the Old Testament. Often sung at gravesides, traditional laments praised the admirable qualities of the departed and mourned their loss. When King David heard of Jonathan’s death on the battlefield, he composed a sorrowful lament acknowledging their strong bond (2 Sam. 1:25-27). Lamentations is an entire book composed of songs mourning the destruction of Jerusalem. Laments also pop up in the Psalms. Thanks to Bob Marley’s 1977 track “By the Rivers of Babylon,” biblical laments have even made their way into pop culture.

Hebrew poets composed laments with a particular poetic meter with musical qualities that do not come through in English translations, but Ezekiel’s audience would have recognized his style immediately. What they may not have comprehended was the essence and underlying meaning of his lament. Unlike classical laments that focus on personal or communal suffering, Ezekiel 19 uses entirely allegorical language. Rather than focusing on the virtues of the departed, it emphasizes the vices of the deceased. 

Transcript

Welcome to Bible Fiber, where we are encountering the textures and shades of the biblical tapestry through twelve Minor Prophets, two reformers, and one exile. I am Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization devoted to sharing the story of the people of Israel, both ancient and modern. 

This week we are reading Ezekiel 19. God instructs the prophet to “raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel” (19:1). Hebrew lamentations, or funerary songs, are a common style in the Old Testament. Often sung at gravesides, traditional laments praised the admirable qualities of the departed and mourned their loss. When King David heard of Jonathan’s death on the battlefield, he composed a sorrowful lament acknowledging their strong bond (2 Sam. 1:25-27). Lamentations is an entire book composed of songs mourning the destruction of Jerusalem. Laments also pop up in the Psalms. Thanks to Bob Marley’s 1977 track “By the Rivers of Babylon,” biblical laments have even made their way into pop culture.

Hebrew poets composed laments with a particular poetic meter with musical qualities that do not come through in English translations, but Ezekiel’s audience would have recognized his style immediately. What they may not have comprehended was the essence and underlying meaning of his lament. Unlike classical laments that focus on personal or communal suffering, Ezekiel 19 uses entirely allegorical language. Rather than focusing on the virtues of the departed, it emphasizes the vices of the deceased. 

Israel’s last kings

While Ezekiel's lament is largely allegorical, the funerary song is specifically dedicated to the "princes of Israel," whom he regards as illegitimate kings (7:27, 12:12). In Chapter 17, Ezekiel clarified that the ungrateful vine represented King Zedekiah, but in Chapter 19 he put the onus on the listener to discern the reality behind the allegory. The first lion cub, second lion cub, and withering vine all represent Judean kings, but exactly which king is open to interpretation. 

The most logical way to align the historical kings with their corresponding allegorical elements is to consider the succession order of Judah’s last four kings. (First, let me warn you that three have very similar J names, so it is hard to keep them separate in your head.) They are Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. 

King Jehoahaz ascended the throne following the sudden death of his father, King Josiah. During his brief three-month reign, Jehoahaz faced interference from Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt. Necho II had ambitions to expand Egyptian influence in the region and saw Judah as a strategic territory. The Pharoah deported King Jehoahaz to Egypt in 609 BCE where he died. Egypt placed his brother, Jehoiakim, on the throne instead (2 Kings 23:33-34). Jehoiakim reigned 11 years (609-598 BCE). He initially served as a vassal to the Egyptian Pharaoh. However, when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, Judah came under Babylonian control and Jehoiakim subsequently became a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, provoking a Babylonian siege that led to his death (2 Kings 24:1). Jehoiachin was the next to take the throne, but his reign ended after three months. Once he grasped the futility of resistance, he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, who hauled him off to Babylon in 598 BCE (2 Kings 24:12). He spent the rest of his life in exile, along with the rest of his royal court. Nebuchadnezzar hand-picked Zedekiah to take the throne. Zedekiah, like Jehoahaz, was the son of the righteous king Josiah. He reigned eleven tumultuous years (597-586 BCE) until the Babylonian army deported him as well (2 Kings 25). 

(Hold that succession history in your mind as we analyze the symbols and clues in Ezekiel’s lament.)

Lioness and her cubs

Ezekiel’s lament begins, “What a lioness was your mother among lions! She lay down among young lions, rearing her cubs” (19:2). Although Ezekiel pictures the lioness nurturing all her cubs, she promoted one above the others. As the favored cub matured into a strong fierce lion, he learned the predatory ways of survival in the wild (19:3). Soon enough, the nations became fearful of the human-eating lion, and they set a trap to catch him in their pit (19:4). Once caught, Ezekiel describes the lion being pulled with hooks into captivity in Egypt. 

Most scholars agree that the first lion cub was King Jehoahaz. He was the only one of Judah’s kings taken prisoner to Egypt. Jehoahaz’s reign was too short to inflict much damage on the region, but the Egyptians recognized him as a threat like his father Josiah. In the Bible’s retelling, Jehoahaz fell far short of his father’s commitment to Yahweh (2 Kings 23:25). 

At first, the lioness interpreted the capture as a loss of hope (19:5), but she soon promoted a second lion cub as the alpha-male of the pride. The second lion was more ruthless than the first. The lament describes him as devouring humans as his preferred prey, ravaging strongholds, and laying waste to towns (19:6-7). As the drama unfolds, “the nations set upon him from the provinces all around; they spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit” (19:8). They presented the caged lion to the king of Babylon who imprisoned him for the rest of his life. Ezekiel says, “his voice should be heard no more on the mountains of Israel” (19:9). 

Biblical interpreters identify the second lion cub with either King Jehoiachin or King Jehoiakim. Both seem likely candidates for different reasons. During Jehoiakim’s eleven-year rule, he developed a reputation for violence. Jeremiah accused him of injustice, dishonest gain, and shedding innocent blood (Jer. 22:16-17). He also incited a rebellion against Babylon that most certainly provoked the wrath of his neighbors. Ezekiel’s description of a ravenous lion, whose roar terrified the entire land, corresponds with the Bible’s presentation of the prideful king Jehoiakim, who did more damage to his own nation than his enemies (19:7). 

Although Jehoiakim’s reign parallels the actions of the second lion, most biblical historians agree Jehoiakim died in Jerusalem. The Babylonians never took him into captivity. According to the Chronicler, King Nebuchadnezzar deposed Jehoiakim and bound him with chains, intending to take him to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:6). However, 2 Kings states that Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, hinting that he died in Jerusalem, perhaps during the Babylonian siege, and never made it to Babylon (24:6). According to Jeremiah’s prophecies, part of Jehoiakim’s punishment was to be buried like a donkey, his corpse thrown outside the city of Jerusalem and forgotten (Jer. 22:18-19). 

The reason bible scholars more commonly match Jehoiachin with the second cub is because, like the lion, the Babylonians deported him. His three-month rule lacked the duration to leave an impact on nearby nations or cultivate a reputation for arrogance and aggression. However, 2 Kings states that, like his father, he did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 24:9). If the priority for identification is the destination of their exile, Jehoiachin is the preferred candidate. If the most important identifiers are the lion’s manner and exploits, the better match is Jehoiakim. (I will leave you to your own theorizing who you pick.)

Vine and its offshoots

In the second section, Ezekiel switches his allegory from a mother lion to a mother vine. Thus far in the prophetic book, vines have been Ezekiel’s go-to symbol in recasting the nation’s spiritual history (15:1-18; 17:5-10). Ezekiel says, “Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard transplanted by the water, fruitful and full of branches from abundant water” (19:10). The vineyard symbolized Jerusalem, God’s chosen seat for the Davidic kingdom, the only location where the vine could thrive. The vine’s abundance of fruit, shoots, and foliage reflected the steady succession of rulers that stemmed from Judah over four centuries. 

Ezekiel described one of the branches of the growing vine as a "ruler's scepter" and a "strong stem," as it adopted tree-like traits and ceased to behave like a vine. Ezekiel explained, “it towered aloft among the clouds; it stood out in its height with its mass of branches” (19:11). Like Judah’s kings, the scepter had grown prideful, self-reliant, and intent on behaving like the surrounding nations.

An unidentified enemy, irritated by the strong stem’s unnatural behavior, uprooted and transplanted it into an arid land (19:13). The mysterious enemy figure must have been Yahweh since Babylon was only a tool to execute divine punishment. Exposed to the east wind and lacking adequate water, the vine dried up and withered. As the exiles listened to Ezekiel’s lament, which perhaps he even sung, they saw themselves as the withered-up vine struggling for survival. 

The allegory ends with the scepter branch catching fire and engulfing the entire vine. The way Ezekiel describes it as fire going out from the stem makes it seem as if the branch combusted. Although Ezekiel did not explain his allegory, the ruler’s scepter and strong stem represent King Zedekiah (the butt of many of Ezekiel’s allegories). Zedekiah’s leadership failures and refusal to take heed of the prophetic warnings brought the Davidic line to its ultimate destruction. Even if Zedekiah had not been the worst of all Judah’s kings, he had the dubious distinction of being the last king. Ezekiel grimly stated, “there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling” (19:14). The lament mourned not just Israel’s last kings, but the entire royal office. 

Lion and vine imagery and Jacob’s blessing

By choosing the imagery of lions and vines, Ezekiel intentionally connected his lament over the end of Jerusalem’s dynasty to the tribe of Judah’s origin blessing. In Genesis 49, when the patriarch Jacob was on his deathbed, he gave a prophetic blessing to each of his twelve sons. The blessings contained both positive affirmations and warnings, reflecting the strengths, weaknesses, and destinies of each tribe. To Judah, Jacob prophesied, “Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?” (Gen. 49:9). Ezekiel’s lion allegory purposefully evoked Jacob’s blessing over Judah. 

Ezekiel further evoked Jacob’s deathbed blessing with his incorporation of the term “ruler’s scepter,” rather than branch or cedar shoot, like in his earlier prophecies. The second part of Jacob’s blessing over Judah appointed his tribe as the producer of the entire nation’s rulers. Jacob promised Judah, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and the obedience of the peoples is his” (Gen. 49:10). A millennium separated Jacob’s prophecy to the crowning of David, Israel’s first king from the tribe of Judah. 

It is incredible to think that a refugee living in in Egypt had the gumption to pronounce future kingship over one of his sons. Yet, the prophecy came true a millennium later with the coronation of David, Israel’s first king from the tribe of Judah. For four centuries, the tribe of Judah had a king on the throne. No wonder Ezekiel called for a national lament over the collapse of the Davidic dynasty. Even if many of Jerusalem’s kings did evil in the sight of the Lord, the destruction of the royal office was a travesty. 

Hope not in earthly kings

God’s final directive to Ezekiel at the end of the chapter was, “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament” (19:14). Unlike Ezekiel’s earlier vine oracle that ended with the promise of a new cedar shoot, the lament closes with a lingering feeling of sorrow. 

For Ezekiel’s fellow exiles, the continuance of the kingship in Jerusalem was their last shred of hope. As long as a Davidic descendant remained on the throne, victory over Babylon seemed possible. They rooted their confidence in the Davidic covenant that promised God would bless the House of David forever (2 Sam. 7:29). However, what also should have rung in their ears was the warning in 1 Samuel that earthly kings serve themselves rather than the people (1 Sam. 8: 11-18). Far too often, Judah’s kings misunderstood their divine patronage as a right, rather than a privilege, and ruled as they pleased. 

Ezekiel’s message was that they needed to abandon any hope in Judah’s kings saving them. As Ezekiel had explained in Chapter 18, every individual stands before God on his own. Kings are no different. The righteousness of King David or Josiah did not impart righteousness to Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. Davidic kings who lost sight of God’s will, and became disloyal and prideful, disqualified themselves from the role. 

Although a lament provided the exiles the vehicle to mourn the loss of the Davidic kingship, Ezekiel’s bigger message was that Yahweh was their true ruler and true king. They needed to look to him as their only source of hope. Yahweh was the king of kings, the only sovereign with a right to rule over them. 

Jesus the lion

The entire Old Testament later ends without resolving the longing to restore the line of David. The remnant returned to the land and rebuilt the temple but there was never again a Davidic king ruling over an independent Judah. For Christians, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Jacob’s promise that the scepter will never depart from Judah. The gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus to present him as a lawful descendant of King David. Only someone from the royal line of Judah could claim the title of Messiah. In the book of Revelation, a mysterious elder comforted John of Patmos with the declaration: “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed” (Rev. 5:50). Jesus was the long-promised lion of the tribe of Judah. The scepter may have departed from Judah temporarily, but God not cancel his eternal promise to Judah. 

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Am Israel Chai