19L AMENTATION FOR THE KINGS The previous chapters revealed the sins and iniquities of the people; and now God exposes the evils of their kings. 1- The lioness and her two cubs 1-9. 2- The vine plucked up 10-14. 1- THE LIONESS AND HER TWO CUBS Here, God presents a lamentation for the kings of Judah, especially the two kings: Jehoahaz, who met his sad destiny by his captivation to Egypt, in the year 608 B.C., after a reign that lasted only 3 months; and Jehoiachin, who was captivated to Babylon, also after three months reign (2 Kings 24). In this lamentation we notice: a- He does not say ‘Lamentation for the princes of Judah’ or for ‘Kings of Judah,’ but said, ‘Lamentation for the ‘Princes of Israel,’ for what occurs to one of the two kingdoms, would affect the whole people. God looks at the believing humanity as one people; “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor 12:26). Those two kings did wrong, not only to themselves by their bad practices, nor to the kingdom of Judah alone, but to all Israel, that was at that time, considered as God’s people. When one member of the body gets weak, it would cause the whole body to weaken with it; and for the repentance of one member, all heaven would rejoice! Our worship is a personal relationship with God; yet it is not an individual relationship, isolated from the holy congregation - the striving, the victorious; and even the members coming in the future. It is one Church, interacting together with love and the spirit of unity. b- “What is your mother? A lioness, she lay down among the lions; among the young lions she nourished her cubs” (Ez 19:2). She is a queen who strongly lies down among the kings. Describing her as a lioness rather than a lion, is because she gives birth to kings and raises them. “She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. He learned to catch prey, and he devoured men. The nations also heard of him. He was trapped in their pit; and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt” (Ez 19:3, 4). He is Jehoahaz, who was raised in a royal household, became a king and learned to fight. Yet, instead of fighting to protect his people, he fought his own subjects to devour them. He worked on his own account, not on account of the kingdom that raised him, and made him a king; He proved that he was weak, deprived of ethical principles. He was captivated by Pharaoh ‘Necho,’ and was taken to Egypt, never to return to his land. Anyhow, he has been a cub, who protected neither his people nor even himself; but devoured his subjects. How drastic it is for a shepherd to turn into a wolf. Instead of protecting his sheep, he slays them to fulfill himself! He should have offered his life as a sacrifice of love for his people, and not slay his people for the sake of his own dignity or personal benefit. Concerning this, St. Aphrahat says: [Follow the example of our sweet Shepherd (Jesus), whose life was not dearer to Him than that of His sheep. Educate the young; Love the little sheep, carry them in your bosoms; so that, when you stand before the great Shepherd, you present to Him a complete herd; to be granted what He promised: 5 “Wherever I go, there you will also be.”1] St. Augustine says: [I wish we do not love ourselves, but love Him; and by caring for His sheep, we seek what is His, and not what is ours... As he, who lives by himself, will surely die if he loves himself (as such); and in this case he does not (truly) love himself; as by (thus) loving himself he loses his own life... I wish the shepherds of the flock would not love themselves; would not consider the flock as a personal property, and not being that of Christ. I wish they would not seek material gain; being wealth lovers; Or abuse their people, being benefit seekers; Or arrogantly seek glory from the dignity they get; Or fall into heresies, as blasphemers. Or despise the saintly fathers, as rebel children; Or pay back good with evil, to those who intend to mend their ways; so as not to perish, as deniers of good deeds; Or Kill their own selves and others with no mercy; Or tend to defame the persons of saints, as false witnesses; Or set free their lowly lusts, as unclean; Or continuously complain... as merciless; And know nothing about the ministry of love, as uncompassionate; Or stubbornly disturb humanity by their idiot discussions; Not understanding what they are saying, or are defending, as blind; Who prefer carnal pleasures; being self-seekers and not seek for God. All these and other similar evils; either they are all manifested in one individual; or one of them does in a certain person, and another in somebody else; They are manifested some way or another, because of self-love. This evil that should be avoided by those who shepherd the flock of Christ; to seek what is Christ’s and not what is their own; and not to use those for whose sake Christ shed His blood, to realize their own benefit2.] Jehoahaz devoured his own flock instead of protecting them, and giving his life for their sake; to become himself the prey of the Gentiles; fell into their snares; and carried in captivity to Egypt. Whoever cares for himself at the expense of his brothers, and the expense of his own salvation, would lose even his own carnal pleasure and earthly dignity. The same situation happened to another king, Jehoiachin; who was no better than his predecessor; but devoured his people, and destroyed their cities by his evil practices; to turn the land desolate, before being taken captive to Babylon. 2- THE VINE, PLUCKED UP After giving a lamentation for those two kings, He started to give another for the people of God; who were like a vine, planted by the waters of the divine grace; “fruitful and full of branches because of many waters” (Ez 19:11). Nations could not stand before it, but “towered in stature above the thick branches....”But, having forsaken its God, and gone back to idolatry, it was plucked up, and carried away to Babylon, to dry up by the . 1 للمؤلف: الحب الرعوي ، 1965 ، ص 466 .504 ، 2 المرجع السابق، ص 503 6 winds of chastisement, and to lose its branches through its increasing iniquities... Its branches became fuel, and it entered into a condition of intense weakness, with no one to support it! This is a lamentation for everyone who forsakes the ways of God, and goes after the pleasures of his heart, and the lusts of his body, to end up, denied of the enjoyment of the waters of the Holy Spirit, the Life-giver, and the Giver of fruits; and moved from the position of sonhood to God, to turn, through his evil heart and bad life, in the land of the enemy (the devil); into a stranger and a captive; to have his branches broken, to become fuel for fire; and his soul to dry up completely as a desolate land. 7 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 19 GIVE ME BACK MY ROYALTY The kings of Israel turned from shepherds into wolves! They devoured their sheep; and practiced the love of power! They sought what is theirs, and not what are their people. They perished, and lost every wealth, pleasure, and dignity! I make a complaint of myself before You! I forgot my royalty, and turned to devouring; I did not seek love for others, but what is for myself! Give me back my royal nature, O King of Kings! Teach me how love should be, to become a queen!
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