Ezekiel Lesson 7

Ezekiel – A Lamentation and Final Predictions
Scripture: Chapters 19-24
Key Verse: Ezekiel 24:14, “I, the LORD, have spoken it; It shall come to pass, and
I will do it; I will not hold back, Nor will I spare, Nor will I relent; According to
your ways And according to your deeds They will judge you,” Says the Lord
GOD.’”
Overview: In this section we see the truly bitter after affects of the rebel’s choice.
When one rebels against God, consequences that no one would choose bear
down on him. Includes:
Loss of reputation
Spiritual blindness
Personal, emotional numbness
When a society chooses to rebel against God, the results are chaos!
Theme: Consequences of Rebellion
Chapters 4-24 cover the period from Ezekiel’s call to the beginning of the siege of
Jerusalem
Chapters 4-11, the certainty of God’s judgment

Chapters 12-19, the necessity of God’s judgment
Their confidence that the kingdom and the capital would be spared was
baseless
God desires the remnant to be aroused to repent
Outline:
1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14)

2) The rebellions of Israel (20:1-32)
3) God Will Restore Israel (20:33-44)
4) A forest fire and a drawn Sword (20:45-21-32)
5) Indictment of Judah (22:1-31)
6) A Parable of Two Sisters (23:1-49)
7) Symbols of Jerusalem’s Destruction (24:1-27)
Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 1

1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14) (Read 19:1-9,14)

a) Like a funeral dirge
b) Final 5 kings of Judah (2 Kings 22-25)
a) Intro (Read 20:1-4)
a) Israel’s rebellion in Egypt (20:1-8) (Read 20:7-9)
b) Israel’s rebellion in the wilderness (20:9-26) (Read 20:10-14)
c) Israel’s rebellion in the land (20:27-28) (Read 20:27-28)
d) Israel’s rebellion in Ezekiel’s day (20:29-32) (Read 20:30-32)
3) God Will Restore Israel (20:33-44) (Read 20:33-37)
a) A time of gathering
b) A time of judgment
a) Forest fire (20:45-49) (Read 20:47-49)
b) Drawn sword (21:1-32) - The sword is Babylon (Read 21:1-7, 19)
a) Cause of judgment (22:1-12) (Read 22:11-12)
b) Necessity of judgment (22:13-16) (Read 22:15)
c) Israel in the furnace (22:17-22) (Read 22:20-22)
d) Israel’s wicked leaders (22:23-31) (Read 22:25-27)
a) Identity (23:1-4) (Read 23:1-4)
b) Samaria’s harlotry (23:5-10) (Read 23:5)
c) Jerusalem’s harlotry (23:11-35) (Read 23:11,12,17)
d) Jerusalem’s punishment (23:22-35) (Read 23:23-24)
e) Judgment on Jerusalem and Samaria (23:36-49)
a) Sign of a boiling pot (24:1-14) (Read 24:1-5; 10-14)
b) Sign of the death of Ezekiel’s wife (24:15-27) (Read 24:15-19)
Detail:
1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14)

a) Read 19:1-9,14, “a lamentation for the princes of Israel” (vs 1)
i) Metaphorical language
ii) Depicts the kings of Israel
iii) Kingly line portrayed as lion
iv) Ultimately lion “put … in a cage with chains, And brought … to the king
of Babylon; … brought him in nets, … his voice should no longer be
heard on the mountains of Israel”
v) Very sad tone of this chapter!
b) Like a funeral dirge: A dirge is a somber song expressing mourning or grief,
such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral.
i) Example Kennedy funeral procession Source
(1) 1:15 p.m.: The bronze doors of the cathedral open as the requiem
mass is concluded. As the coffin was replaced on the caisson, the
Army Band played "Ruffles and Flourishes" four times, "Hail to the
Chief," and the hymn "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name."
(2) 1:30 p.m.: The funeral procession to Arlington National Cemetery
begins. Three service bands marched in the following order: the
Marine Band; the Navy Band; the Air Force Band. Each organization
had an approved repertory of three pieces which were played:
Marine Band selections were: "Our Fallen Heroes," "Holy, Holy,
Holy," and "The Vanished Army"; Navy Band selections were the
Beethoven "Funeral March," the R. B. Hall "Funeral March," and
"Onward Christian Soldiers”; Air Force Band selections were the
Chopin “Funeral March,” the hymn, “Vigor in Arduis” (Hymn to the
Holy Name), and “America the Beautiful.”
ii) Chapter set in a mournful poetic style with a 3-2 beat
(1) Not readily observable in English but consider vs 3
(2) She brought up ---- one ---- of her cubs,
And he became ----- a young lion;
He learned ---- to catch ----- prey,
And he devoured ---- men.

c) Final 5 kings of Judah (2 Kings 22-25)

i) Josiah: Good King. Ruled 640-609 bc. Killed in battle by Pharaoh Necho.
(2 Kings 23:27-29, “And Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when he
confronted him”)
ii) Jehoahaz: Evil king. Ruled 3 months in 609 bc. Taken captive to Egypt, 2
Kings 23:33-44, “Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the
land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed
on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold
… Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there. “
iii) Jehoiakim: Evil king. Ruled 609-598 bc. Died before capture
(1) 2 Kings 23:34, “Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in
place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim”
(2) 2 Kings 24:1-7
iv) Jehoiachin: Evil king. Ruled 3 months 598/597 bc. Taken captive to
Babylon.
(1) 2 Kings 24:8-12, “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became
king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name
was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did
evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
10
At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came
up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, as his
servants were besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his
mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king
of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign,
took him prisoner.”
(2) 2 Kings 24:15-16, “*Nebuchadnezzar] carried Jehoiachin captive to
Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the
mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to
Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and
smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the
king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.”

v) Zedekiah: Evil king. Ruled 597-586 bc. Taken captive to Babylon

(1) 2 Kings 24:17-18, “Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah,
Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to
Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became
king
(2) 2 Kings 24:20, “Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon”
(3) 2 Kings 25:7, “Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes,
put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and
took him to Babylon”
a) Intro (Read 20:1-4):
i) Inquired upon by the elders (20:1)
ii) God tells Ezekiel to “make known to them the abominations of their
fathers” (vs 4)
b) Israel’s rebellion in Egypt (20:1-8) (Read 20:7-9)
c) Israel’s rebellion in the wilderness (20:9-26) (Read 20:10-14)
d) Israel’s rebellion in the land (Read 20:27-28)
e) Israel’s rebellion in Ezekiel’s day (20:29-32) (Read 20:30-32)
3) God Will Restore Israel (20:33-44) – Read vs 20:33-37
a) Looked far ahead prophetically - Gathering and judgment:
b) A time of gathering: “ I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples,
and there I will plead My case with you face to face” (20:35)

c) A time of judgment: “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring
you into the bond of the covenant; 38 I will purge the rebels from among
you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the
country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then
you will know that I am the LORD” (37-38)
i) Use of a shepherd’s staff (Cf Jeremiah 33:13, “’…the flocks shall again
pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the LORD”)
ii) Sheep / goat judgment of Matthew 25:31-41
(1) 32-33, “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep
from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the
goats on the left.”
(2) Feinberg: “will take place during the time of Jacob’s trouble, probably
at the end of the period” (p. 115)
a) Both parables deal with the Babylonian invasion of Judah in 586 bc
b) Feinberg: In the Hebrew text, vs 45 is the first verse of chapter 21
c) Forest fire (20:45-49) (Read 20:47-49)
i) Note “South” (5 times)
ii) The direction of the invasion would be South (North to South)
iii) Parallel is Zechariah 11:1-3
iv) Feinberg, “the land is called forest because the area was more densely
covered in those days” (p. 116)
d) Drawn sword (21:1-32) (Read 21:1-7, 19)
i) The sword is Babylon
ii) Poetically vs. 9 &10, sharpened and shiny
iii) Babylon an agent of God, vss 16-17
iv) Fork in the road, vs 21, “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of
the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the
arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.”
(1) Note the paganism of the decision making process
(2) But God is even in this!

v) Against Jerusalem (20:18-27. Read vss 22 & 27)

(1) 27b is Messianic: “Until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it
to Him.”
(2) Israel’s humiliation will prevail un Messiah’s return to rescue the
suffering nation (cf. Zech 14:1-4; Matthew 24:29-31)
vi) Against Ammon (20:28-32) (Read 20:31-32)
(1) Background:
(a) A nomadic tribe descended from Lot though incestuous
relationship with his daughter (Genesis 19:36-38)
(b) Worshipped Molech (aka Milcom). I Kings 11:5, 7 , 33)
(2) Ammon was part of the raiding party against Judah. 2 Kings 24:2,
‘And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of
Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon”
(3) Involved in the assassination of the Judah governor Gedaliah:
(a) 2 Kings 25:22-26 w.
(b) Jeremiah 40:14, “and said to him, “Do you certainly know that
Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah to murder you?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did
not believe them.”
(4) Her judgment is sealed.
i) To be scattered among the nations
ii) Fulfilled not only in 586 bc
iii) But also 70 ad
iv) Purpose stated: “I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you
throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from
you.” (15)


i) Prophets
ii) Priests
iii) Princes
iv) People also guilty (vs 29, “The people of the land have used oppressions,
committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they
wrongfully oppress the stranger”)
a) Identity (23:1-4) (Read 23:1-4)
i) With Assyria (23:11-13)
ii) With Babylon (23:14-21)
i) Invaders mentioned in detail
ii) Hordes would judge Judah according to their customs
iii) Note the brutality: “they shall deal furiously with you” (25)
e) Judgment on Jerusalem and Samaria (23:36-49) (Read 23:46-49)
i) This sign came on the very day that Nebuchadnezzar began his assault
on Jerusalem. January 1, 588 BC. Cf. 2 Kings 25:1 and Jeremiah 52:4
ii) Note the minuteness of the detail: “in the ninth year, in the tenth
month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to
me, saying, 2 “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very
day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very
day”
iii) Miles away, Ezekiel fully aware of what was transpiring in the doomed
city!

iv) Pot a symbol of Jerusalem. Cf. Ezekiel 11:3, “this city is the caldron, and
we are the meat”)
(1) City is called a “bloody city” not a “holy city” (vs 6)
(2) “choice cuts” (4) = elite
(3) Fire = the fire of war
(4) “scum” is probably better “rust” (cf. NASB). 5 times in the text (vs
6,11,12)
(5) Not only are the contents to be thoroughly consumed … but the
empty pot is to be melted (vs 11, “Then set the pot empty on the
coals, That it may become hot and its bronze may burn, That its
filthiness may be melted in it”)
i) Personal sorrow to be eclipsed in the hour of national calamity
ii) The prophet (as Hosea was in his day) a representative of the people
iii) Details:
(1) What happened
(a) Wife called the “the desire of your eyes” (17)
(b) God would take her “with one stroke” (sudden death?)
(c) Ezekiel instructed to “neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your
tears run down”
(2) What he did (18)
(a) So I spoke to the people in the morning
(b) At evening my wife died
(c) The next morning I did as I was commanded
(3) What he was asked
(a) This unusual behavior aroused the spiritual curiosity of the people
(b) “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you
behave so?”

(4) His response

(a) Explains that he himself is a sign to Israel.
(b) “Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done
you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the
Lord GOD”
(c) Sanctuary to be destroyed … that very day: “I will profane My
sanctuary”
(d) Six months later (news traveled slowly in the ancient world), news
came of the destruction of Jerusalem: Ezekiel 33:21-22, “And it
came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth
month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped
from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been
captured!” 22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the
evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had
opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my
mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.”

1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14) (Read 19:1-9,14)

a) Like a funeral dirge
b) Final 5 kings of Judah (2 Kings 22-25)
a) Intro (Read 20:1-4)
a) Israel’s rebellion in Egypt (20:1-8) (Read 20:7-9)
b) Israel’s rebellion in the wilderness (20:9-26) (Read 20:10-14)
c) Israel’s rebellion in the land (20:27-28) (Read 20:27-28)
d) Israel’s rebellion in Ezekiel’s day (20:29-32) (Read 20:30-32)
3) God Will Restore Israel (20:33-44) (Read 20:33-37)
a) A time of gathering
b) A time of judgment
a) Forest fire (20:45-49) (Read 20:47-49)
b) Drawn sword (21:1-32) - The sword is Babylon (Read 21:1-7, 19)
a) Identity (23:1-4) (Read 23:1-4)
e) Judgment on Jerusalem and Samaria (23:36-49)

Ezekiel Lesson 7

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Ezekiel Lesson 7

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Ezekiel – A Lamentation and Final Predictions

Scripture: Chapters 19-24

Theme: Consequences of Rebellion

Chapters 4-11, the certainty of God’s judgment

1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14)

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 1

1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14) (Read 19:1-9,14)

1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14)

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 2

c) Final 5 kings of Judah (2 Kings 22-25)

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 3

v) Zedekiah: Evil king. Ruled 597-586 bc. Taken captive to Babylon

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 4

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 5

v) Against Jerusalem (20:18-27. Read vss 22 & 27)

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 6

d) Israel’s wicked leaders (22:23-31) (Read 22:25-27)

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 7

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 8

(4) His response

Lesson # 7 (January 17th, 2010) Page 9

1) Lamentations for the Kings of Israel (19:1-14) (Read 19:1-9,14)

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