CHAPTER 19 A LAMENT FOR THE KINGS OF JUDAH. Having faced all Israel up to their personal responsibility Ezekiel now brings the lesson home by writing a lament for the kings of Judah (called ‘the princes of Israel'), Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin. These were the men to whom Israel had looked but in each c... [ Continue Reading ]
THE YOUNG LIONS OF ISRAEL-JUDAH. “Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say.' Those who represent Judah now represent Israel, for Israel has been taken up into Judah. So the lamentation is for ‘the princes of Israel'. The princes in mind are those who reigned only shortly a... [ Continue Reading ]
“What was your mother? - a lioness, In the midst of the lions she couched - rearing her whelps, And she brought up one of her whelps - he became a young lion, And he learned to catch the prey - he devoured men. The nations also heard of him - he was taken in their pits, And they brought him wit... [ Continue Reading ]
“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. And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion. And he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. And he humbled (or ‘knew' - the root yth‘ can mean eit... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WITHERING OF THE VINE. “Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters. She was fruitful and full of branches, by reason of many waters. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of those who bare rule, and their stature was raised high among the thick boughs. And he was see... [ Continue Reading ]
“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 off and withered, The fire consumed them. And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land, And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, it ha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘This is a lamentation, and will be for a lamentation.' A lamentation is a suitable ending to Chapter s 12-19. They have depicted the failure of Israel-Judah to respond to God's goodness and gracious love. And now all that remains is lamentation, a dirge for their failure and the failure of their k... [ Continue Reading ]