BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

What might a caged lion and a drooping grapevine share in common? For Ezekiel, both symbolize the collapse of Judah’s royal line.

In Genesis 49, we read about Judah’s original royal blessing. We heard God referring to Judah as a “lion’s cub” (v. 9). That blessing was going to be amazing, but not now. Ezekiel laments for Israel’s rulers, inverting the imagery from that royal blessing to envision a fierce lion falling into a net, being caged, and led to Babylon. He repeats this idea with imagery of a strong, fruitful vine that is uprooted and shrivels in the scorching east wind.

Similar to the structure we saw in yesterday’s reading, the author arranged today’s passage in a three-part symmetry. Ezekiel’s lament poem receives emphasis by being placed at the center, between a pair of passages that focus on Israel’s generational sin and exile. It’s almost like the structure shows readers how, in the middle of all this sin and darkness, Ezekiel laments with poetic detail about the catastrophic corruption of something once beautiful.

Ezekiel also disputes one of the exiles’ favorite sayings, a proverb claiming that children suffer the consequences of their parents’ sin. The sullen Israelites had been quoting this proverb to blame their suffering on previous generations: If it hadn’t been for King Manasseh and his child sacrifices, we wouldn’t be in exile. It’s our ancestors’ fault.

Yahweh disagrees. This generation is suffering from its own choices. On one hand, this is a harsh reality check. On the other hand, a bit of good news. If Yahweh is holding them accountable for what their ancestors did, there is nothing more they can do. The decisions of others trap them. But if Yahweh judges each generation based on its own actions, these Israelites may still return to God and live.

Yahweh urges the Israelites to turn away from their transgressions, using the Hebrew word pesha. This is about relational betrayal. To “transgress” is to relate wrongly with others or God. It’s a common word in the Hebrew Bible because, as Ezekiel argues, the people have long suffered from their pattern of breaking relationship with God. Watch the video to learn more about the meaning of pesha (transgression) in the Bible.

Reflection Questions

• Compare the behavior of King Manasseh in 2 Kings 21:1-16 to the behavior Ezekiel observed among his own generation in Jerusalem (Ezek. 8:3-18). What do you notice? What does this suggest about the Israelites’ blame-shifting in Ezekiel 18?
• Meditate on Ezekiel’s discussion of the law in today’s reading. According to Ezekiel 20:11-25, what happened to the Israelites who disobeyed Yahweh’s life-giving instructions? How does Ezekiel’s view of the Torah help you understand Paul’s argument about the law in Romans 7?