Ezekiel 19:1-14
Like the parable of the two eagles and the vine in ch. 17, that of the lioness and her whelps portrays the last kings of Judah and their tragic history. Sons of the faithful Josiah, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim confirmed exactly what the LORD had declared in the preceding chapter. It was for their own sins that these wicked princes suffered punishment, and their father’s righteousness had no power to deliver them (see Ezekiel 18:5 . . . and vv. 10-13).
Once more the captivity of the last king of Judah and the destruction by fire of the vine of Israel are referred to. Some people wonder why these events occupy such a prominent place in the divine Book, while they hardly figure at all in the history books. But in God’s eyes this is one of the great turning points in the history of the human race. The throne of His government was leaving Israel for many centuries. Jerusalem was ceasing to be the place where the LORD had made His dwelling on earth. The times of the Gentiles were beginning; they still continue now and will only end with the reign of Christ and the restoration of Israel.