The End of Divine Right

Sermon on Ezekiel 19:1-14

Today’s passage is about a lament. A lament, also called a dirge, is a sad song. To get everybody in the mood, I will begin today’s sermon with one of the most popular lament songs often sung in funerals, ‘Danny Boy’. This version is sung by Eva Cassidy. [i] *plays song*

It’s hard to say why this song Danny Boy is so successful. It’s not just the melancholic tune, because the Irish tune ‘Londonderry Air’ has been around for hundreds of years without ever going beyond its Irish origin. It’s also not really the lyrics, because if you were to ask people what it means, you’d get all kinds of fuzzy answers. Nobody can be sure what the story of Danny Boy is about, and even interviewing the song writer yields very little. [ii] Yet, when I asked around, many tell me it’s one of their favourite songs. It seems the appeal of this song lies in its generic expression of longing sentiments. There is sadness, but it is sadness mixed with hope and love. We are given the imagery of waiting in vain. But despite this, still the singer calls out to Danny; it seems true love persists and never ends.

In today’s passage, the Lord asked Ezekiel to sing a lament. Ezekiel had prophesied with visions, he prophesied with drama, he prophesied with stories. This is yet another of his creative methods of communication, this time with a sad song. We have no way to know the original tune, but thankfully we preserved the lyrics. The lyrics come in the form of two metaphors, the first about a lioness with her cubs, and then followed by the metaphor about a vine. Why were these two specific metaphors chosen for the lyrics? I believe this was because these were the original metaphors to the divine right of Judah’s kingship. The divine right of Judah’s kingship refers to kings of Judah given a God-ordained right to rule. The Jews of the southern kingdom of Judah would no doubt be familiar with this story. It all began when Jacob was dying, and he gathered his twelve sons for his final blessing. In a way, it was his prophecy for the fate of the twelve tribes of Israel. When it came to Judah, his fourth son, this was his prophecy.

Genesis 49: 8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.

In Jacob’s prophecy, we find the familiar metaphors of lions and vine. Judah is the lioness bearing regal cubs. Judah is also the vine securing the royal mount, its fruits colouring the royal garments. Sandwiched between these two metaphors was the important verse: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet.” This implies that the kingship of Judah shall be forever. Of course, it would be many generations from Jacob before the Jews would come to appreciate this prophecy. In 1010BC, it started promisingly with the great King David, the rightful king (contra Saul) from the tribe of Judah. It continued strongly with King Solomon, a king so famed for his wisdom that rulers from other nations would come to learn from him. Though the kingdom would later be divided into two, the southern kingdom of Judah was a far cry from the northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom was beset with royal assassinations, coups, and civil war, such that there were 9 different dynasties before it finally fell to the Assyrian empire. Judah instead possessed a solid Davidic line of kings, surviving even the onslaught of the mighty Assyrians. In the minds of the Jews, this was an unbreakable dynasty. Through the centuries, it overcame the usurpation of Athaliah [iii], the unfortunate death of Josiah and even the recent siege of the Babylonians. Jacob’s prophecy had proven miraculously true. The kingship was divinely ordained. The reign of Judah would never cease.

To a people so entrenched in their belief, how should Ezekiel wake them from their dreams? Ezekiel sings a sad song, using the very imageries that had given them so much faith. In the first metaphor, yes, the lioness had given birth to many regal cubs. But instead of ruling with benevolence, they became man-eaters. For their violence, they must be trapped and killed. The Jews witnessed this for themselves in the fateful plights of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. [iv] One died in Egypt, the other discarded over the city walls. Now, the lioness waits in vain for their return. “His roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel (v.9)”. Then in the second metaphor, yes, the vines of Judah had enriched and empowered many generations of rulers. But it had been uprooted. And now dehydrated in the desert, death is the inevitable destiny. Ezekiel saw Jehoichin uprooted to Babylon, the decay and death of the puppet king Zedekiah was only a matter of time. Proud lions and magnificent vines they may have been, but the time has come for all these to come to an end. To those who believed that this kingship was a divine right, Ezekiel pronounced that their fortunes were over. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away (Job 1:21).

As I was preparing this sermon, I wondered just how hard this must be for Ezekiel. Judah was his motherland. Far away in Babylon, absence only makes the heart grow fonder. It would be easier to stick to a blind conviction that the Davidic line would never die. There was the prophecy of forefather Jacob, the miraculous strokes of “luck” time and time again, the sacred land, the holy temple and the eternal covenant. For each and every year that Judah endured, it became harder and harder to let go. But Ezekiel must stick to his calling as a prophet. He must believe the unbelievable and speak the unspeakable. The rule of Judah is dying and would soon come to an end. And so Ezekiel sang a lament for his country. It was a funeral song for his own people, a dirge for his family. He sang of the sorrowful wait of a broken-hearted mother, twice broken-hearted. He sang of a tree drying up, its strength fading, its fruits shrivelling, and its life receding. These are familiar themes, present also in the song Danny Boy. But it must be especially impactful for the Jews when they were reminded of Jacob’s prophecy. They lived through the glorious days, and now Ezekiel leads them to mourn its demise. This is the courage of a prophet. Ezekiel’s integrity remains even if he must give up his most treasured possession: his national identity.

I have two reflections to today’s passage. Firstly, though the fate of Judah seems far removed from us Singaporeans, the cycle of life holds true for us just as it was with Judah. In our transient lifespan, many things seem so lasting because we have never lived without them. We think the church will always be here, our ministry will perpetuate as it should be, and our family will remain faithful to God as tradition dictates. But these are illusions of permanence. When we assume anything to be a divine right, we start taking it for granted. There is no divine right. Not even the kingdom of God has a divine right to exist. It is there by the grace of God. I wish for all to serve and enjoy this church, but it exists only to live out its calling. All these can end easily if God is tired of our pride and sloth. Similarly, our ministry will have its days of glory and days of decline. We greed not the good days, and we envy not greener pastures in days of hardship. I wish to be thankful for each day I can give my fair share. As for my family, I am a third generation Christian. I am reminded of my late grandaunt who brought my father and uncles to church. But our long stay in Jubilee is no guarantee that this will continue. There is no divine right. And there is especially no divine right for a pastor’s kids to be good Christians. Let’s take nothing for granted and cherish every moment to do the right thing.

My second reflection is this: it is only when I truly come to terms with death, that I appreciate what is life. In a way, it was good for the prophecy of Jacob to die. The worship of the Jews was becoming no different from idolatry. Instead of honouring the inhabitant of the temple, they were honouring the temple itself. Instead of trusting the provider of kingship, they were trusting in the divine right to kingship. And so this vision must die and Ezekiel sang of its death. The people of God experienced the pain, the loss and the abandonment. From this, they learnt that there is no divine right. The kingship of Judah lay dead for centuries before God performed his act of creation once again. The kingdom was eventually restored and its king is Jesus Christ. From earlier sermons, we are familiar with the imagery of Jesus as the true vine.[v] Today, I wish to focus on Jesus as the lion of Judah.

Revelations 5:5 “See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.

When Zedekiah was killed and Jehoiachin exiled in Babylon, the Davidic line was seemingly terminated for good. The dynasty had ended and the hope and dreams of a kingdom of God died along with it. But in Revelations, we now know that it was not so. The angel of God revealed that the lion of Judah is now alive. The lion of Judah refers to Jesus who has triumphed over sin and death. But this lion of Judah is far beyond in nature compared with the previous lions. For when John looked at the new lion of Judah, he saw a lamb that was slain. The lion was revived and the kingship was reinstated. But this lion was no man-eater. Instead it sacrificed itself like a lamb. The previous lions were judged for their violence and idolatry. But we know that Jesus' reign will be eternal. He is the true king fully obedient to God, and for that he is enthroned forever by the right side of God. It is only when I truly come to terms with death, that I appreciate what is life. Having known the total destruction of the kingdom of Judah and its line of kings, I now fully appreciate the renewed kingship of Jesus Christ.

Our response is true worship, and in worship we cry out to the lion of Judah: (Revelations 5:12-13)
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

i http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=852gverKRPo
ii You can read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3826136
iii See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athaliah and 2 Kings 11
iv See 2 Kings 23:31ff
v See http://www.jubilee.org.sg/sermons/?sermon_id=292 and http://www.jubilee.org.sg/sermons/?sermon_id=82