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Day 20 Ezekiel 19 Ezekiel 19:1 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. 3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men. 4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. 5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. 6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. 7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. 8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. 9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. 10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. 11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bear rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches. 12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them. 13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. 14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. You need a good understanding of the Bible to be able to read the symbolism involved in many of its chapters and books. Or else you need a good commentary to help you out in understanding what was written. In this case, I used a good commentary – Matthew Henry’s Commentary to unravel the mystery of this chapter. Mother = Israel Whelps – young lions = kings of Israel – David’s line. We know Joseph was taken in chains to Egypt where Israel was enslaved until Moses led her out. Other whelps = kings of Judah who disobeyed God and followed the practices of the other nations who worshiped false gods. We also know the king of Babylon besieged Judah and took them captive to Babylon. Vine = Judah Branches = Kings of Judah Judah’s many kings allied themselves with the nations around them, until God could no longer tolerate her sin and sent her into exile. In the end, Judah is desolate, like a wilderness. She is in bondage, enslaved in Babylon until she acknowledged God and served him. Ezekiel recounted Judah’s history in an allegory to show them their need of God, and that he alone is their king, their help, their fortress, and refuge. He alone would bring them out of exile and back to the Promised Land. Have there been times in your life when you didn’t understand what was going on, and you needed someone to unravel your life and make you understand your need for God? I admit there have been times in my life when I didn’t know why I was going through the circumstances I was. It took a lot of prayer and older Christians to help me unravel the mystery of my life. No one can walk this life alone. We need help from those more knowledgeable than we are. God will provide the help if we ask him. If we don’t, it will feel like we are wandering in a desert, or held captive to something we shouldn’t be. Judah was held captive by Babylon, and the kings of Judah who were brought to her, died in Babylon. Only one of the kings of Judah would acknowledge God and receive royal treatment from the king of Babylon. He too died in captivity. Don’t let Satan hold you captive. Acknowledge God and Jesus your Savior and turn to him and he will bring you out of your bondage, and lead you to safety, showing you grace and mercy as you allow him to teach you and guide you through this life. Let’s pray: Father, I need you every day. I cannot walk this life alone, not physically or spiritually. I need your help. Teach me and guide me, leading me where you would have me go. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 9 January 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay