The Caged Lions of Judah Text: Ezekiel 19:1-9
Introduction: A Political Parable
The prophet Ezekiel is a master of the dramatic, the visceral, and the unexpected. God commands him to perform strange street theater, to see visions of wheels within wheels, and to speak in parables that cut to the very bone of Israel's rebellion. He is ministering to a people in exile, a people who are tempted to think of their predicament as a geopolitical accident, a bit of bad luck, or simply the result of Babylon's superior military might. But Ezekiel is sent to tell them that their problem is not fundamentally political, but theological. Their chains were forged in Jerusalem long before they were fastened in Babylon.
Here in chapter 19, God instructs him to take up a lamentation, a funeral dirge, for the princes of Israel. But this is no ordinary song of mourning. It is a sharp-toothed allegory, a political parable that explains with devastating clarity why their royal house has collapsed. God is teaching His people to think biblically about the evening news. He is showing them that the headlines about kings being deposed and carried off in chains are not random events. They are the predictable consequences of a covenant broken, of a divine calling squandered.
The central image is that of a lioness and her whelps. This is not an arbitrary choice. The lion was the symbol of the tribe of Judah, the royal tribe from which David and his sons came. Jacob's prophecy had set this in stone centuries before: "Judah is a lion's whelp... The scepter shall not depart from Judah" (Genesis 49:9-10). The lion represents royalty, strength, and dominion. But in this lament, the symbol is turned on its head. The royal strength has become predatory violence, and the promised dominion has become a cage. This parable is a covenant lawsuit in poetic form, indicting the kings of Judah for failing to be the shepherds God called them to be, and for becoming instead the very beasts from which the flock needed protection.
We live in an age that, like the exiles in Babylon, refuses to connect its political calamities to its spiritual apostasy. We see corruption in our rulers, decay in our cities, and weakness on the world stage, and we think the solution is a new party platform or a different economic policy. But God here shows us the root. When the leaders of a people forget God, when they learn to devour men instead of defending them, God will see to it that they are trapped, caged, and silenced. This is not just ancient history; it is a permanent political principle.
The Text
“As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions; She reared her cubs. So she brought up one of her cubs; He became a lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured men. Then nations heard about him; He was captured in their pit, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt. Then she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, So she took another of her cubs And made him a young lion. And he walked about among the lions; He became a young lion; He learned to tear his prey; He devoured men. He knew how to destroy their fortified towers And laid waste their cities; And the land was in desolation, as well as its fullness Because of the sound of his roaring. Then nations put themselves against him All around from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was captured in their pit. They put him in a cage with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would be heard no more On the mountains of Israel.
(Ezekiel 19:1-9 LSB)
The Royal Pedigree (v. 1-2)
The lament begins by establishing the identity of the mother.
"As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions; She reared her cubs.'" (Ezekiel 19:1-2)
The mother is the nation of Judah, specifically the royal line of David. She is a "lioness," which points to her noble, God-given calling. She was not a hyena or a jackal. God had set her apart, given her a royal dignity and strength. She was "among lions," situated in a world of other powerful nations and empires. She was supposed to be a different kind of lion, one that represented the justice and righteousness of Jehovah. She lay down among young lions and reared her cubs, meaning she produced a line of kings.
There is a tragic dignity in this opening. It acknowledges what Israel was supposed to be. God did not call a weak and pathetic people. He established a royal house with a magnificent pedigree and a glorious destiny. The tragedy is not that they had no potential, but that they squandered it so completely. This is the story of every covenant-breaking people. They take the gifts of God, the strength, the heritage, the calling, and they corrupt them from the inside out.
The First Lion: Jehoahaz (v. 3-4)
The lament now turns to the first of her cubs, a specific historical king.
"So she brought up one of her cubs; He became a lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured men. Then nations heard about him; He was captured in their pit, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt." (Ezekiel 19:3-4 LSB)
This first cub is almost certainly Jehoahaz, one of the sons of the good king Josiah. After Josiah's death, Jehoahaz took the throne, but he reigned for a mere three months before Pharaoh Neco of Egypt deposed him (2 Kings 23:31-34). The text here gives us the divine commentary on his brief and wicked rule. He "became a lion," which sounds positive, but the next line reveals the corruption. He "learned to tear his prey; he devoured men."
This is what happens when strength is untethered from righteousness. A king is supposed to protect his people, to be a shepherd to the flock. But Jehoahaz used his power to prey on his own people. "Devouring men" points to injustice, oppression, and violent exploitation. He saw the throne not as a stewardship from God, but as a platform for personal gratification. He learned the way of the pagan lions around him, not the way of the Lord who had established his throne.
And the consequence is swift and sure. "Nations heard about him." His wickedness made him a target. God used the pagan nations as His instrument of judgment. Pharaoh Neco is the hunter who sets the pit. Jehoahaz, the predatory lion, becomes the prey. He is "captured in their pit" and dragged "with hooks to the land of Egypt." This is a picture of utter humiliation. The proud lion, roaring in Jerusalem, is now a caged animal, led by the nose to a foreign land, never to return. This is what God does to rulers who abuse their authority. He strips them of it in the most degrading way possible.
The Second Lion: Jehoiachin (v. 5-9)
The lioness, Judah, does not learn her lesson. She tries again with another cub.
"Then she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, So she took another of her cubs And made him a young lion. And he walked about among the lions; He became a young lion; He learned to tear his prey; He devoured men." (Ezekiel 19:5-6 LSB)
This second cub is Jehoiachin, who also reigned for a disastrous three months before being carted off, this time by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (2 Kings 24:8-12). The pattern is repeated with chilling precision. The nation's hope was lost, but instead of repenting, they simply installed another wicked king. And he follows the exact same playbook as his brother. He learns to tear the prey and devour men. The royal house has become a school for predators.
But this lion is even more destructive than the first.
"He knew how to destroy their fortified towers And laid waste their cities; And the land was in desolation, as well as its fullness Because of the sound of his roaring." (Ezekiel 19:7 LSB)
His predatory nature is turned outward as well as inward. He is a warlord, a destroyer. His "roaring" is not a sign of noble strength but of terrifying, destructive tyranny. The land itself is laid desolate by his reign. This is a profound theological point. The sin of rulers has ecological and economic consequences. When leaders are wicked, the very land groans under their misrule. Prosperity and peace are fruits of righteousness, and desolation is the fruit of sin.
And again, the end is the same. Judgment comes from the outside.
"Then nations put themselves against him All around from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was captured in their pit. They put him in a cage with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would be heard no more On the mountains of Israel." (Ezekiel 19:8-9 LSB)
The nations, this time led by Babylon, become God's hunting party. The imagery is of a wild, dangerous beast being surrounded and trapped. They put him in a cage, again with hooks, and bring him to the king of Babylon. The lament ends with a note of finality. His voice, his terrifying roar, "would be heard no more on the mountains of Israel." God has silenced the tyrant. The predatory king has been declawed, defanged, and deported. The throne of David, for all practical purposes, has come to an end.
The Lion We Need
This entire chapter is a lament over failed leadership. It is a portrait of what happens when the strength God gives is used for selfish and destructive ends. These princes of Judah were lions, yes, but they were the wrong kind of lions. They were predators, not protectors. They were tyrants, not shepherds. And so God, in His justice, allowed them to be treated like the wild animals they had become.
This parable leaves the exiles, and us, with a profound sense of loss and failure. The royal line, the great hope of Israel, has ended in a cage in Babylon. Is this the end of the story? Is the prophecy to Judah, that the scepter would not depart, now null and void?
Not at all. This lament for the caged lions of Judah is meant to create in us a deep longing for the true Lion of Judah. It is meant to show us our desperate need for a king who will not devour men, but who will lay down His life for them. It points us to the one who is both the Lion and the Lamb.
The book of Revelation shows us this glorious reality. John weeps because no one is found worthy to open the scroll, but the elder tells him, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered" (Revelation 5:5). And when John looks, he sees "a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6).
Jesus Christ is the true Lion. He has all the strength, all the authority, all the royal power that the kings of Judah perverted. But His strength is used to save, not to destroy. His roaring is the sound of the gospel that brings life, not the sound of tyranny that brings desolation. He tears His prey, but His prey is sin, death, and the devil. He was captured in the pit of the grave, but the hunters could not hold Him. He broke the cage of death and ascended to His throne.
The lesson for us is twofold. First, we must reject all political messiahs who promise strength without righteousness. Any leader, any system, any party that learns to "devour men" for its own ends is a false lion destined for a cage. We must evaluate our leaders not by their roar, but by their fruit. Second, we must fix our hope entirely on the one true King, the Lion of Judah. He is the only one who can bring true justice and peace. Our political hopes will always end in lamentation until we learn to submit all our politics, all our culture, and all our lives to the throne of Jesus Christ. He is the only king whose voice deserves to be heard on the mountains forever.