Ezekiel chapter 19

vs 1

Well, this is a new start to a chapter at least. Now we're talking about taking up laments. Interesting and different, at least.

vs 2

Is that a compliment? It sounds like a compliment to me.

vs 3

Surely a good lioness is the one that rears strong cubs. So so far it actually sounds like things are starting well. But then, if it's a lament, I guess you have to show that things were good and now are bad.

vs 4

Ack! Poor lion.

vs 5

Interesting idea we have now - so the lioness raises another strong cub, because the first has been captured by the nations and led away to Egypt.

vs 6

Repetitive, but we get the idea.

vs 7

That's one scary ass lion. I don't want to live in a place where lions actually break down walls and come into towns to eat people.

vs 8

Once again, the nations are too strong. It is, after all, just a lion.

vs 9

So I think it's pretty obvious by now that the lion is Israel. The first time she goes into captivity in Egypt. But then the second time it will be in Babylon. Israel may have been powerful and rich, but it was still never more than a relatively small country.

vs 10

Okay, I think we're going onto a new analogy here.

vs 11

I didn't know vine wood was used to make handles for scepters. Doesn't this sort of cancel out what he said about vine wood being useless? Perhaps this is the mark of just how healthy the vine is - so healthy that its wood actually becomes useful for something.

vs 12

What the hell? Who gets angry against a vine that is healthy and produces lots of fruit? Was it the unwitting result of a marriage dispute or something?

vs 13

Ahhhh. I mean, I still don't know who would do this to a vine, but if you were to have a beef with a vine, this would be a fitting punishment.

vs 14

And so the vine is quite obviously owned, some pretty serious punishment there, vinewise. So there are some laments for Israel to sing at this point - their land was fertile, they were strong, but now they are captive in the lands of the nations, now their vine grows weak and on fire in the desert. Why? Well, you'd have to be totally ignorant of the previous chapters to not have any idea. Because they have disobeyed God's covenant and turned away from him, of course.

Now here's a question for you: who is the mother? Is the mother God? Or is the mother the leadership of Israel? I can't see an easy answer here. In the context of what we've read so far, I would say God. The only reason I would say the leaders is because the lament is concerning them.