FALLEN LIONS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel and say:”

“What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs. She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater. The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.”

“When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion. He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater. He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring. Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit. With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.”

Ezekiel 19:1-9

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As God the Father helped His children, the Israelites, grow up, His expectation would be that they would conform and submit to His rule, word, way, and will. If they did, then they would develop into a nation who would reflect God’s character in the way they dealt with others, a character that would be grounded in grace, mercy, and love.

But as we know, something went terribly wrong. For the children of God decided that they would follow other gods and idols instead of God, adopting the sinful worship practices of other surrounding nations. This led the people, led by kings who supported idolatrous practices, into wickedness and God’s judgment.

We see this shift represented in the parable that God gives to His prophet Ezekiel in the opening verses of Ezekiel 19, the focus of today’s devotion. Look at those words again here:

“Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel and say:”

“What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs. She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater. The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.”

“When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion. He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater. He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring. Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit. With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.”  Ezekiel 19:1-9

Note here that God is likening Israel to a lioness who lay down with lions and reared the resultant cubs that were born. The lions here are the sinful nations that surrounded Israel, the nations who Israel associated with and entered into unfaithfulness with God as a result.

So what was the outcome of this tryst?

Well, we read in the scriptures that the outcome was an offspring, represented by two cubs specifically, that bore the sinful tendencies of their parents.

One of those cubs mentioned was brought up to become a strong lion who learned to tear his prey and become a man eater, hardly the gentle, merciful leader God expected. This cub-turned-lion represented none other than King Jehoahaz of Judah and this is what we know about his tenure as king per the scriptures:

The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.  2 Chronicles 36:1-4

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim, son of Josiah, king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments. 2 Kings 23:31-35

The fact that the lion was great and mighty did not keep it from being trapped and taken hostage, hauled away into captivity into Egypt. Such was the plight of Jehoahaz as he was captured by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt and carried off into Egypt where he died, the penalty for doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

So how did the lioness respond with her hope unfulfilled and expectations dashed, her grown cub having been taken away, never to return to her again?

Well, God’s word tells us she simply took another of her cubs and tried again, making him into a strong lion who prowled among the other lions. Like his brother, this lion also learned how to be viciously dangerous, able to tear prey and eat men. In addition, this lion broke down strongholds and devastated towns, his very roar striking fear into the hearts of those who lived in the land.

But this lion would suffer the same fate as his sibling for scripture tells us “the nations came against him” from all the surrounding regions, spreading their net for him and taking him captive. He would be taken to Babylon where imprisonment awaited him, his roar never heard again on the “mountains of Israel”.

This lion was none other than another king named Jehoiachin and the word of God tells us something about him as well:

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36:9-10

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done.

At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. Jehoiachin, king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials and the prominent people of the land. The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans. He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.  2 Kings 24:8-17

Note here that Jehoiachin, like Jehoahaz, did evil in the sight of the Lord and thus suffered his own consequences. This time it was the Babylonians who filled the role of the captors and as we know from the word of God, Jehoiachin didn’t have to be taken by force because he surrendered and was subsequently taken away to Babylon along with his mother, his wives, his officials, the prominent people of the land, an entire force of seven thousand fighting men, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans.

Now that’s quite a bounty taken by Nebuchadnezzar, one topped off by the so-called mighty king of Judah (or the strong lion if you refer back to our passage for today). It’s obvious the lion no longer struck fear in the hearts of anyone any more.

So what are we to take away from this tale of fallen lions?

Well, I believe the Lord is warning us that we can expect to fall (and fall hard) if we choose to do evil in His sight, no matter what our position of prominence might be. For even powerful kings were disempowered and fell at the hands of a God who judged them for their wickedness and often, the empires they ruled over weren’t far behind in collapsing.

In the case of Judah, the entire nation would soon follow Jehoiachin into exile in Babylon, the country and its beloved, holy city of Jerusalem left in ruins by the Babylonians. Ironically, the Babylonians would suffer a similar fate at the hands of the Persians, who would submit to the power of the Greeks, who would succumb to the Romans, and so on and so forth.

In the end translation, the only true power comes from the Lord Himself who will grant blessing and prosperity to any nation who commits themselves fully to His way, word, and will. To turn from Him is to risk becoming the next fallen lion, one in a long line of them over the history of mankind.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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