Reflections on Ezekiel 19

Ezekiel 19 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Ezekiel, sing a funeral song for two of Israel's leaders:
   
2. Your mother was a brave lioness who raised her cubs among lions.
   
3. She taught one of them to hunt, and he learned to eat people.
   
4. When the nations heard of him, they trapped him in a pit, then they used hooks to drag him to Egypt.
   
5. His mother waited for him to return. But soon she lost all hope and raised another cub, who also became fierce.
   
6. He hunted with other lions and learned to eat people.
   
7. He destroyed fortresses and ruined towns; his mighty roar terrified everyone.
   
8. Nations plotted to kill him, and people came from all over to spread out a net and catch him in a trap.
   
9. They put him in a cage and took him to Babylonia. The lion was locked away, so that his mighty roar would never again be heard on Israel's hills.
   
10. Your mother was a vine growing near a stream. There was plenty of water, so she was filled with branches and with lots of fruit.
    
11. Her strong branches became symbols of authority, and she was taller than all other trees-- everyone could see how strong and healthy she was.
    
12. But in anger, I pulled her up by the roots and threw her to the ground, where the scorching desert wind dried out her fruit. Her strong branches wilted and burned up.
    
13. Then she was planted in a hot, dry desert,
    
14. where her stem caught fire, and flames burned her branches and fruit. Not one strong branch is left; she is stripped bare. This funeral song must be sung with sorrow.
    
    

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    Chapter 19 of Ezekiel is a lament or funeral dirge for the deaths of the last three kings to reign in Judah or Israel as well as the end of the monarchy in Israel. Centuries before, Israel had wanted a king like the other nations. This is not what God had wanted for Israel for He wanted them to be "a holy people for Himself, and to acknowledge Him as King." (Believer's Bible Commentary) Had this been the case rather than exalting a human king, Israel would not have found herself facing destruction and exile as she was at the time of Ezekiel. This desire to be like the other nations led Israel not only to want a king, as did they, but to take on many other practices of these heathen neighbors. Eventually Israel became more evil than the other nations.
    
    Often it is not the things we desire that lead to problems but the motives behind the desires. Why is it we want what we want? Does it represent an eroding of the place God should have in our lives? Do we seek God's counsel in pursuing these desires or do we intentionally avoid His counsel on the subject? These are good questions to consider regarding any pursuits in life so we might not find ourselves one day heading down a path leading to destruction as did Israel.
    
    These last kings of Judah are described in this lament as lions whose lioness mother was Judah. In the end, the conquering nations "spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit. They put a wooden yoke on him with hooks and led him away to the king of Babylon." (19:8-9) The lioness mother (Judah) had once been "like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of plentiful waters. It had strong branches, fit for the scepters of rulers; its height towered among the clouds." But now "it was uprooted in fury, thrown to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were torn off and dried up; fire consumed them." (19:10-12) Israel forgot the source of her blessing. She had what she had because of God, not because of the idols to which she had turned.