Failed Rulers, Faithful God

Ezekiel 19 is a lament over the leaders of Israel who led Israel astray and brought that great nation down into their present captivity by Babylon. 

Ezekiel 19:1–2 (ESV) And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched; in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs.

Two pictures are presented as the leaders of Israel: the lion and the vine. The image of a lion stretches back to Jacob's blessing of Judah, the tribe from which the ruler's scepter will not depart. 

Genesis 49:9–10 (ESV) Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

The tribe of Judah had incredible beginnings under the leadership of David and Solomon, but as Ezekiel outlines in this lament, soon those heights were chopped down by the immorality of the nations around Israel. 

Ezekiel 19:4 (ESV) The nations heard about him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

The image here is obviously of Jehoahaz who was taken captive by Pharoah Neco according to Jeremiah 22. Then another king came from Judah's tribe who looked unbeatable:

Ezekiel 19:6–7 (ESV) He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men, 7 and seized their widows. He laid waste their cities, and the land was appalled and all who were in it at the sound of his roaring.

This passage references Jehoiachin who ignored Jeremiah and grew in pride eventually sucumbing to the Babylonian captivity, where he would die. 

Ezekiel 19:8–9 (ESV) Then the nations set against him from provinces on every side; they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit. 9 With hooks they put him in a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into custody, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

From here Ezekiel talks of Israel as a vine, the familiar image throughout scripture regarding Israel. 

Ezekiel 19:10–11 (ESV) Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water. 11 Its strong stems became rulers’ scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.

The image of a strong and vibrant vine is what God always wanted from His people, a light to the nations and a hope for the world. Yet, her adulterous sin cost the nations everything God had given it. At this point in the exile, it looks as if hope is lost in all that God did through this nation. 

Ezekiel 19:13–14 (ESV) Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. 14 And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots, has consumed its fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.

Of course, we know from the end of the story that Israel was not found in Babylon. As Ezekiel has spoken, the Lord has been with them in Babylon to bring them home. And in a few centuries, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah will come to this city, refer to Himself as the True Vine (John 15), and bear the world's sins upon Himself. He will rise again and reign forever, having conquered through His blood. 

But all of this imagery of lamentation is important. Apart from Christ, life is a sad song. Without His intervention, we perish. God humbled Israel but used it to plant the seeds of truth that Israel would one day bring eternal hope to the world through Jesus Christ, His Son.