This chapter is a funeral song. A Lament. Specifically, it’s a lament “for the princes of Israel,” King Jehoahaz and King Jehoiakim, the sons of King Josiah.

It’s fitting that the two Davidic princes are depicted as lions. The lion was the symbol of the tribe of Judah, David’s tribe.

The first lion cub which was caught and taken in chains to Egypt can be none other than Jehoahaz.

“Then the people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the next king in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. Then he was deposed by the king of Egypt, who demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute. The king of Egypt then installed Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, as the next king of Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Then Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt as a prisoner.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭36‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The second lion cub that was taken in chains to Babylon would be his brother Eliakim (Jehoiakim).

“Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured it, and he bound Jehoiakim in bronze chains and led him away to Babylon.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭36‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

He’s the one who seems to have maybe died before he made it to Babylon. That was the “first wave” of deportations when the young prophet Daniel was also taken to Babylon.

All these events are recent history for the people still in Judah and the exiles in Babylon. When Jehoiakim died, his son Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) became king and only a few months into his reign, he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar and was taken to Babylon along with 10,000 others including Ezekiel.

When your country is being torn apart, you don’t stop and mourn the deaths of your kings. I can imagine Ezekiel sitting under a tree strumming a harp and singing this sad song full of imagery about captured lions.

And then there’s another verse. And this time the imagery is back to a vine as in chapters 15 and 17. At first the vine produces branches strong enough to be used as royal scepters. This is a reference to the line of kings descended from David. But the tragedy is that the vine has now withered and has been transplanted into a desert, and finally burned up.

The text is making it abundantly clear that it is OVER. Dead. Gone. The Royal line of David appears to be broken for the first time in over 300 years.

That’s why it will be a miracle when life resurrects from the burned up stump of Jesse. 🌱

Not only does God not require favorable circumstances, He seems to delight in showing what He can do with the utterly impossible.

I think the kids today call it a “flex.” 💪🏼