Israel Degraded (19) Ezekiel 19:1–20:49 By Scott Huckaby 8/15/2021 Ezek 19:1-14 – Lamentation of the lions & vine. to three of the later kings of Judah. It is also significant that “Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of God referred to them as princes of Israel, even though the Israel, 2 and say: ‘What is your mother? A lioness: northern kingdom was long before conquered and She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she scattered. nourished her cubs. 3 She brought up one of her cubs, And he became a young lion; He learned to catch prey, The lioness was mother to the princes mentioned in the And he devoured men. 4 The nations also heard of him; previous verse. The lioness is best understood as Israel or He was trapped in their pit, And they brought him with Jerusalem itself, who lay down among the lions by taking chains to the land of Egypt. 5 ‘When she saw that she her place in the community of nations. waited, that her hope was lost, She took another of her • The lion of Judah’ was probably as proverbial a term in cubs and made him a young lion. 6 He roved among the Ezekiel’s days as ‘the Russian bear’ or ‘the American lions, And became a young lion; He learned to catch prey; eagle’ is in our own times. He devoured men. 7 He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was She brought up one of her cubs: This refers to Jehoahaz, desolated By the noise of his roaring. 8 Then the nations set the son of King Josiah (also called Shallum in Jeremiah against him from the provinces on every side, And spread 22:10-12). Jehoahaz reigned only for a few months in 609 their net over him; He was trapped in their pit. b.c. His reign was short but evil and brutal (he devoured 9 They put him in a cage with chains, And brought him to men). the king of Babylon; They brought him in nets, That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt. of Israel. 10 ‘Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, King Jehoahaz of Judah was taken prisoner to Egypt in 609 Planted by the waters, Fruitful and full of branches b.c. (2 Kings 23:31-33), after a three-month reign. Because of many waters. 11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. branches, And was seen in her height amid the dense This was King Jehoiachin of Judah, who reigned from 609 foliage. 12 But she was plucked up in fury, She was cast to 597 b.c. He also learned the ways of lions and devoured down to the ground, And the east wind dried her fruit. men. Her strong branches were broken and withered; The fire consumed them. 13 And now she is planted in the He knew their desolate places, and laid waste their cities: wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land. 14 Fire has come out For a time Jehoiachin seemed to rule with power and from a rod of her branches And devoured her fruit, authority. Others heard and were affected by the noise of So that she has no strong branch—a scepter for ruling.’ ” his roaring. This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation. Then the nations set against him from the provinces on What is a lamentation? every side Take up a lamentation: Ezekiel 19 is the collection of two When Jehoiachin rebelled against his Babylonian overlords laments, two sorrowful songs over the condition of Israel in Nebuchadnezzar brought an army against him from the Ezekiel’s day. It is a lamentation both by its poetic many nations and provinces under his empire. arrangement and by its subject matter. They put him in a cage with chains, and brought him to the For whom is the first lamentation? king of Babylon: Jehoiachin was taken as prisoner to For the princes of Israel: This lamentation mainly Babylon in 597 b.c. He never returned, that his voice concerns the later kings of Israel. Significantly, God here should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. called them princes rather than kings, even though it refers 1 Where else have we seen Israel depicted as a vine? you, who will come from your body, and I will establish Ezek 17 – parable of the Eagles and the vine his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and Ezek 15 – the outcast vine I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:8-15, Hosea 10:1, Jeremiah 2:21, will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he Matthew 21:33-40, Luke 20:9-17 commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy v10 – Your mother was like a vine: Ezekiel returned to the shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom familiar image of the vine as a representation of Israel. The I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your picture is of a fruitful and strong kingdom (fruitful and kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your full of branches). throne shall be established forever. From Zedekiah until Jesus the royal line of David went She had strong branches for scepters of rulers: Ezekiel underground. But Jesus will rule beginning at the probably had in mind the most glorious years of Israel’s Millennial Kingdom which foreshadows eternity. Jesus monarchy, the reigns of David and Solomon. In those years will be the ultimate Strong Branch to rule over Israel and God lifted Israel up among the nations and she towered in all the nations of the world in fulfilment of prophecy… stature. Isaiah 11:1 – There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. But she was plucked up in fury, The Messiah would be in the line of King David. There came a day when God no longer blessed Israel and her kings. When they persistently rebelled against Him, she Do the nations have a strong branch today? was cast down to the ground. As a result of God’s They have in history – Napoleon, Washington, Lincoln, judgment, her strong branches were broken and FDR, Churchill, Hitler, Stalin, Mao withered, with the strong branches representing her later But today there is a vacuum of leadership which sets the kings. stage for the strong branch of the Antichrist • Paul-Henri SpaakPaul-Henri Spaak (1899 - 1972) was And now she is planted in the wilderness, a former Belgian Prime Minister and one of the In a dry and thirsty land. principal architects of what has, since its origins, now God transplanted the vine in an unpleasant place, Babylon. become the European Union. His words are chillingly Babylon wasn’t a literal wilderness, but it was certainly 'prophetic' regarding the condition of the Eurozone… one for God’s exiled kings and people. "We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient Fire has come out from a rod of her branches stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift And devoured her fruit, us out of the economic morass into which we are The worst damage to the vine came from one sinking. Send us such a man, and be he god or devil, of her own branches. The corruption and destruction came we will receive him." from within. This particular rod of her branches represents Zedekiah, who was king at the How strong a branch will be the Antichrist? destruction of Jerusalem in 587 b.c. Revelation 13:4 – So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the How is it that this lamentation had become a beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to lamentation? make war with him?” These two parables described and prophesied the tragedy The Antichrist will be invincible. None will be able to of the last few kings of Judah. When kings and leaders over defeat him politically or militarily. God will allow this for the people of God are ungodly and become rightful targets the same reason He allows Satan to walk to and fro on the of God’s judgment, there is truly reason for lamentation. earth, he serves a useful purpose the preparing the world for the Millennial Kingdom. How was it that Israel had no strong branch, a scepter for ruling? How has the strong branch of the Antichrist been Zedekiah was the last of the kings of the line of David, foreshadowed in our day? until the Messiah establishes His reign as promised to • The globalist agenda is unrelenting with government David… policies setting the stage for world government 2 Samuel 7:12-16 – “When your days are fulfilled and yielding national sovereignty to the collective you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after 2 community of nations and ruling against the will of the to an oath He made to Israel in the land of Egypt.