Last week in Ezekiel 18 we studied how each person is judged according to his own sin. Ezekiel 19 is an allegory. Let’s pause and make sure we all know what an allegory is.
Webster states that allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation.
So in Ezekiel’s writing in chapter 19 he is giving symbols to represent a message. I suggest reading Ezekiel 19 along with this interpretation so you will understand it better.
As a whole this political allegory (just like chapter 17 was of the Eagles) goes unexplained but we can determine some meanings by it. I will divide and explain what I can.
1. A lioness gives birth to a young lion. (The kingdom of Judah, and David’s house in particular, is compared to a lioness who gives birth to a cub. Genesis 49:9)
2.The cub is Johoahaz, son of Josiah. In Ezekiel 19:3 it says, “and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.” Johoahaz had a bloody reign and was captured and brought to Egypt.
3.The lioness raises another young lion (Ezekiel 19:5-9). Here scholars speculate on who the second young lion is. Of possible candidates, Zedekiah remains plausible, but Jehoiachin is more likely.
4. The vine – Ezekiel 19:10-14
a.The vine grew and developed because of the abundance of the land.
b. But the vine was pulled up and burnt. (An east wind dries the vine up – Babylon (from the east) removes leadership and those set up to govern are poor quality and then they are destroyed.)
c.The vine is now in the desert (exiles in Babylon).
This is a time for great weeping.
Past Posts on Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 1-3
Ezekiel 4-7
Ezekiel 8-10
Ezekiel 11
Ezekiel 12-13
Ezekiel 14-15
Ezekiel 16
Ezekiel 17
Ezekiel 18
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