Turn with me in your Bibles this evening to the book of Ezekiel The book of Ezekiel in Chapter 19 Again Ezekiel Chapter 19 last week we Covered verses 1 through 4 Seeing that this was a lamentation, Ezekiel is bidden by God to speak a lamentation or to sing a lamentation to those whom he was captured with by the River Kebar in the land of in Babylon. And he said, say, say to the present prince, the present king of Israel, which was Zedekiah at the time. And say, what is thy mother? Well, referring to Judah, or if you please, the house of Israel. And this mother is compared to a lioness. a female lion who laid down among the other lions, laid down among the kings of the nations that were round about her. And we know that This didn't happen in the days of David King it's discounting Saul as King Saul was not of the Judah and Saul was of the people's begging They had seen the king of the nations round about him and they wanted to be like them. They wanted to have a king and so God allowed them to have Saul to be the king but then Saul manifested his evil and disobedience against God and God removed him and chose the house of Judah and David to be the king and his seed following him to be So she laid down among the kings of the other nations. And like I said, we know this was not so with David and it's for the first 20 years of Solomon's reign, it wasn't so of him, but he did. Married wives of the nations roundabout, the nations that God had commanded them not to give your sons to their daughters or take their daughters for your sons, nor give your daughters to their sons. And Solomon was disobedient in that. And so from the latter days of Solomon through the rest of the seed of David was the battle of them. In comparison to the lion for the king's roundabout, the lion's roundabout that she laid down beside was compared to a lion not because of their strength, however, the lion being the strongest of beasts, that's Bible, but because of their fierceness, because of their righteousness. and their evil which they wrought upon man. She, the laying down signified a joining in league with them. Well, she bear some cubs and She reared up those sons, those young princes, those kings of Judah. And they were fierce. They were cruel. They were gauntless. The first one that she made a young lion, according to our text, she made a young lion of him, was Jehoahaz. We looked at Jehoahaz last week and we saw that he was evil, he was wicked, he was an oppressor of men. His reign only lasted for three months. Because he angered the king of Egypt, Pharaoh Necho. And Pharaoh Necho removed him from king and carried him away, captive, where he was to die in Egypt. He was not to return. Pablo Nico has removed Jehovah's From being king and that brings us to verses 5 through 9 That we'll begin to deal with this evening and it brings us to The next well Which is found in verse 5 Now when she saw the mother the lioness saw that she had waited and her hope was lost. Then she took another of her whelps and made him a young lion. This, of course, is speaking of Jehoiakim. Before we go on any further, I want to show you The reason for the comparison to lions In this passage of scripture And just give you a comparison which is found in the book of proverbs Book of proverbs in chapter 30 And Verse 30 Which tells us that a lion, which is the strongest among beasts, and turneth not away from any. So lions are said to be strong, but As we know a lion is is fierce Being the strongest and turning not away from any You think about think about the beast and and you would think certainly certainly a a bear Would would be some kind of a match for a lion wouldn't it We're not Gordon Scripps And a lion could probably outwit and outmaneuver a bear and tear and destroy the bear. So that gives us a little insight into the lion. Lions, of course, we've grown up knowing having it said and cartoons even made of lions being the king of the beast Being the strongest of the beast Now It's upon the example of the life and rule of Jehohas. Think back to last week and think about the life and the rule of Jehohas and how wicked that it was. Would the exiles? Would the captives? Would those remaining in Jerusalem? Would they have any reason at all to trust, to follow the present leadership? Zedekiah? This was the king that was in place. It was the king that was in rule. at this time. Zedekiah. Do they have any reason to trust him? Do they have any reason to follow his leading? Zedekiah, the brother, a brother of Jehoash. So, the answer would be no. But we have another example. Jehoahaz was an example of a wicked reign and what Israel had, what Judah had fallen to. It goes back to Jehoahaz' grandfather to Jehoahaz' great-grandfather Manasseh and Ammon. And it said concerning Manasseh, he shed innocent blood. That vile and that wicked of a ruler and his son followed in his steps, Ammon. God's grace Intervened with Josiah Josiah being a righteous ruler Josiah being a just ruler Josiah having a heart After God hard to imagine having a father as wicked as Ammon and a grandfather as wicked as Manasseh and That josiah would amount to anything but that's the grace of god How is it That I would amount to anything how is it that you would amount to anything considering our ancestry Considering How wicked they are and were considering how evil and how wicked I am and was. Amazing. With the grace of God, what God would do for us. So, verse 5 tells us, after waiting and hoping for the return of Joab, hoping that this three-month reign is not just some fluke and that the king of Egypt will return him to the land. Finally, this lioness gives up. And, says the lioness, took another of her whelps, of her cubs, of her sons, and made him a young lion. Made him king. Made him ruler. See, Jehoahaz was not to return out of Egypt. Jehoahaz was, because of his wickedness, he was to die in Egypt. Turn with me back to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah in chapter 22. And look with me at verse 10 here. Jeremiah is telling to the people in the land yet, the ones that remain in the land. He says, weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him, but weep sore for him that goeth away. For he shall return no more, nor see his native country. For thus saith the Lord touching Chalim, touching Jehoahaz. Chalim was his Hebrew name. The son of Josiah, king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah, in the stead of Josiah, his father. Which went forth out of this place. He shall not return thither anymore But he shall die in the place Whether they have led him captive See he was to die and he's if he wasn't to return to the lane So this line is so The house of Judah gets tired of waiting for his return. And she takes another one of her sons, Jehoiakim. Now, we might say the rule of Jehoiakim is twofold. Because not only did Jehoiakim reign, but his seed, Jehoiachin followed his dad, Jehoiachin. But he only, he like Jehoahaz, like his uncle Jehoahaz, he only reigned for three months. So we have reference here to Jehoiachin and his seed. He is the brother of Jehovah's Son of Josiah Grandson of Ammon great grandson of Manasseh Instead of following after After his father Josiah Does the same as his brother he follows in his brother's footsteps in the steps of his grandfather And his great-grandfather And he his rule Is one of wickedness one of evil turn with me to second kings The book of second kings in chapter 23 2nd Kings 23 and verse 34 And Pharaoh Nico made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father and turned his name to Jehoiakim and took Jehoaz away and he came to Egypt and died there, just as Jeremiah had said that he would. And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh. But he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh Necho. Pharaoh Necho says to Jehoiakim, this is what you're going to pay me. And Jehoiakim went out and taxed the people of the land heavily. we know is how tax collectors were in the days of Jesus and you can imagine how they were in the Old Testament days, just as evil, just as wicked. Probably padded his own coffers, probably exacted double from him. In fact, you're going to see in his rule that he, that's probably exactly what he did. Because he said that it lays the land desolate. Jehoiakim was 20 and 5 years old when he began to reign. And he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebuda, the daughter of Padua of Rumah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done, according to all that his grandfather had done, according to all that his grandfather had done, according to all that Ammon and Manasseh did. And you can turn back to the 34th chapter of the book of 2 Chronicles and read that. And you can see how wicked Manasseh was. And Ammon followed in his steps. And Jehoaz and Joachim are said to follow in their steps, did according to all that they did. In other words, they had learned well, not what their father Josiah had done, they learned well what their grandfather and their great-grandfather had done. And that pleased them more. than righteousness did. Well, back to the sixth verse of our text. And he went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion and learned to catch the prey. Oh, we have a nice visual, don't we? Partly because of television and watching those nature shows and watching lions stalk their prey and then catch their prey and tear their prey and devoured men. You see, these lions, their prey was men. And they caught their prey. They caught men. And they devoured men. He went up and down among the kings, among the lions, among the kings, being subject to Pharaoh and then to Nebuchadnezzar. Allegiance back and forth to one and the other. At the beginning of his reign, Pharaoh and Egypt was the dominant rule. But then along comes the Babylonian reign, the Chaldean reign, and Nebuchadnezzar. And his reign went all the way to the land of Egypt. It became stronger, mightier than Egypt. He rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. And the inclination thought is that he ran to Pharaoh Necro for help. By this time, Pharaoh Necro was in no position Help him turn with me to the book of 2nd Kings again 2nd Kings in chapter 24 Look at verses 1 & 2 here In his days that is in in Kim's days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehoiakim became his servant and three years, then he turned and rebelled against him. You see, he served Nebuchadnezzar for a while, but he got tired of serving Nebuchadnezzar. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the servants, the prophets. You see, Stop and consider with me for a moment who who the Syrians were said bands of Syrians bands of mobile ends of Children of Ammon who who were they? By this time they're there they're under the rule and reign of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon they're under Chaldean rule and So it is His army of these people taking the best and the strongest of these and making Him servants in His army. And the Lord sent against Judah, not only the Chaldeans, but the Moabites and Ammonites and Syrians. He was an impressive prince, Johiah Kim was. He was king. He was a cruel tyrant. Just to collect the money, to pay the taxation, He was cruel. He was noted for his unjust deeds, for withholding wages, for withholding wages to collect the taxation and to make himself rich. The violence and the oppression That he wrought wrought upon the people the plundering Even as his great father was noted for the shedding of innocent blood You give me this much and if you don't give me this much off with your head What a shame It's hard for us to imagine One being so evil Being so ruthless so cruel To write such oppression turn with me the book of Jeremiah Jeremiah chapter 22 Again and look with me verses 13 through 18. I Woe unto him that builteth his house by unrighteousness. This is woe set against Jehoiakim. Woe unto him that builteth his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong. that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work. He said that he withheld wages from them. That saith, I will build me a wide house, Large champ, I see didn't I tell you that that it was for his own profit as well as to pay the taxation You see what he was collecting from them was not just to be paid to own equal Was not just to be paid to Nebuchadnezzar Which for his own benefit and cutteth him out windows, and it is sealed with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink and do judgment and justice? And then it was well with him? Did not your father Josiah do that which was right and just and good? And it went well with him? Did you not learn from your father, from the righteous rule of your father, He judged the cause of the poor and needy Then it was well with him Was not this to know me the Lord Did he not know me Did did he not do this because he knew me said the Lord Dine ice And thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence to do it. Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, they shall not lament for him, saying, ah, my brother, or ah, sister. They shall not lament for him, saying, ah, Lord, or ah, his glory. They're not going to lament him. Would you lament a great oppressor as Jehoiach a shatter of innocent blood for his own means, for his own gain, for his own purpose? Would you lament such a ruthless individual? No, rather, upon his capture and death. I'm afraid the people would rejoice. Would they not? Back to our text. Ready for verse 7. He knew their desolate palaces. And he laid waste their cities. And the land was desolate. And the fullness thereof by the noise of roaring. More violence, more evil, more wickedness. He took note of the dwelling places of men. The thought there is to what the Lord Jesus Christ charged the Pharisees with, in devouring widows' houses. That's what the same notation is in this passage of Scripture. The idea is that He devoured their dwelling places, their palaces, of especially the widows and fatherless. Even the weak and poor. Plundered. He plundered their wealth. What little bit they had. He confiscated it for his own use. For his own benefit. And so those houses, those dwelling places became desolate. And the land becomes desolate as well. But he kills the owners to get their possessions, leaving their wives to be widowed and defiling them. He laid their cities waste, barren, desolate, so that he could make wide his house, so that he could live well, so that he could live scrumptiously. Not to mention the heavy taxation that was placed upon him. The kings placed it upon him, and he placed it upon the people. Was it doublefold? Was it threefold? Was it fourfold? He was evil and wicked. King. Put the inhabitants. If they did not pay. So. The land of plumbing. The land of milk and honey. This war that Israel's in now with Hamas. I've seen pictures posted concerning Israel, the land of milk and honey. And all the pictures I've seen is just the land that's barren. You've probably seen advertisements on Fox and Newsmax and whatever for the poor of the Jewish people. And they show pictures of the poor people that are suffering. And they're pictures that just rent your heart out. His rule was a cruel rule, giving forth threatening demands. And his rule was tyrannical. Turn with me to the Book of Proverbs. The Book of Proverbs. Chapter 19 Look with me at verse 12 The king's wrath Is as a the roaring Oh Jehoiakim was made a young lion. He was a young, roaring lion. His rule was one of oppression and shedding of innocent blood for his wealth and his benefit. Turn with me to chapter 28 of Proverbs. And look with me at verse 15 of chapter 28 of Proverbs. As a roaring lion and a reigning bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people. The prince that wanteth, that lacketh understanding, The king that lacketh understanding is also a great oppressor. But he that hateth covetousness, and Jehoiakim was a covetous king. Jehoiakim, how much is enough? Jehoiakim, when will you have It didn't matter how much he amassed to himself. It wasn't enough. He wanted more. More. Our minds could probably, probably wouldn't have to think too hard of people we know and folks in government who depict this very thing. It doesn't matter who they have to walk on, who they have to hurt. All so that they pad their pockets. When will it be enough? It's never enough. They never have enough. They go to their grave desiring more and more and more. Well, we'll see that. We'll see that next week. We're going to stop there with verse 8. We'll look at verses 8 and 9 next week to finish up this thought. We'll see his plight next week.