Ezekiel 19:1

Ezekiel 19:1 says, Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,  God said that Ezekiel was to take up lamentations against the princes of the house of Israel,  They would not listen to God’s call to repentance that He proclaimed by Ezekiel, so now he was to lament for them.  They were princes of the house of Israel because of God’s covenant with David, who became great in the sight of other nations because of his covenant relationship with God, but the people of Judah had turned their back on that covenant.  We may call ourselves a Christian nation because of what our ancestors may have been, but if we have turned away from God, then He will lament our decision even if we never do.   

Verse two adds, And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. God compared the people of Judah with a lioness.  When they had been faithful to Him and kept themselves dedicated to Him by obeying His commandments, they had been as powerful as a lioness in protecting her young.  Instead of remaining true to Him though, they began mix with other people instead of remaining set apart for God.  We have undefeatable spiritual strength when we put our faith in God and live by His commandments, but if we start to mix in the teachings of the world, we lose that strength.   

Verse three continues, And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.  Matthew Henry says this is a reference to Jehoahaz, who may have been of the house of David, but he wasn’t in that covenant relationship with God.  We cannot just appoint people to be preachers and teachers in the church today if they are not called by God to be so.  Though we may not rule over people today, we still have that same power of God to keep us spiritually safe in the world today.   

Verse four concludes, The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.  Then God begins to speak about how the nation of Israel fell from being a mighty nation to being enslaved in Egypt because they had turned away from God.  Since they were no longer obedient to God, from the king on down, they were taken captive once more.  If we fail to put our faith in God, we are in danger of being taken captive by sin once more, even if we are forever saved as followers of Christ.