seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ezekiel 17:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, 4 he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.
5 “‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, 6 and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs.
7 “‘But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water. 8 It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’
9 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. 10 It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?’”
11 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. 13 Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, 14 so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. 15 But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?
16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. 18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.
19 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. 20 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. 21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.
22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
“‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’”
I have to admit..... this chapter just did not make sense at first reading. But the commentaries are pretty clear this morning. This is from Bible-studys.org.This is the allegory of the two eagles and the vine used to show the futility of the nation’s dependence on foreign powers. The first eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, had gone to Lebanon, which represented Jerusalem. Though he took the highest branch of the cedar (verse 3, meaning that he took the king and nobles into captivity (597 B.C.), yet he left the seed of the land (verse 5), or a remnant.
They in turn appealed to another great eagle (in verse 7), which was Egypt. This description refers to Zedekiah’s vain attempt to get military assistance from Egypt. This alliance forced Nebuchadnezzar to return later to Jerusalem and destroy it.
The great eagle in this parable, is speaking of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. This highest branch of the cedar is speaking of the king of Judah. We know that Jehoiachin was captured and taken back to Babylon. The "eagle" symbolizes God, but in this particular instance, Nebuchadnezzar was the instrument God used to bring judgment on His people. The many colors show that they were not all under one flag. Many countries were fighting with Babylon.
“A spreading vine”: Refers to Zedekiah, the youngest son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed king in Judah. The benevolent attitude of Nebuchadnezzar helped Zedekiah to prosper, and if he had remained faithful to his pledge to Nebuchadnezzar, Judah would have continued as a tributary kingdom. Instead, he began courting help from Egypt, which Jeremiah protested.
The downfall of Zedekiah and his sons would be soon. God is opposed to his people making a treaty with the world (Egypt). You remember, this kingdom headed by Zedekiah had not been very strong. It had first reached to Nebuchadnezzar, and then to Pharaoh for help. It will be no great task for Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them. Zedekiah will be uprooted as king. He was so weak, it was an easy overthrow. In fact, his sons are killed before him, and his eyes put out, before he is carried captive to Babylon.
"Taken an oath of him". The parable is explained in detail. Babylon made Zedekiah a vassal subject to her, took captives, and left Judah weak. Zedekiah broke the agreement in which he swore by the Lord to submit to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:13), and sought Egypt’s help, thus he was taken to Babylon to live out his life. Egypt was to be no help to him or any protector of his army.
This is from the easy English site.The first eagle means Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. The top of a cedar tree means Jehoiachin, the king of Judah. In the year 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon. King Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he went to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also took most of the important people to Babylon. Some of these were the exiles that were with Ezekiel.
Nebuchadnezzar chose Mattaniah, the youngest son of King Josiah, to rule over Judah. He gave Mattaniah the name of Zedekiah. He was an uncle of Jehoiachin. But Zedekiah had to agree to be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar and to serve him.
Zedekiah would have signed the form of the agreement. In it, he would promise in the name of the Lord to obey it. In other words, Zedekiah agreed to be responsible to the Lord if he did not obey.
The kingdom of Judah was weak. It could be strong only if it remained loyal to the king of Babylon.
The second eagle in the puzzle means the king of Egypt. His name was Hophra. He started to rule in Egypt in the year 588 BC.
Zedekiah had promised to serve the king of Babylon. But he (Zedekiah) was not loyal to his promise. In the year 588 BC, he asked the king of Egypt to send soldiers to him. He hoped to fight against Babylon. He wanted to be free from Nebuchadnezzar. But Zedekiah’s plan could not succeed. He would not escape.
God would use Nebuchadnezzar to punish Zedekiah and Judah. Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Zedekiah to be king in Judah but now he would kill him. Zedekiah deserved to die because he did not obey his promise.
Zedekiah had promised to be loyal to the king of Babylon. Instead, he *urned to the king of Egypt for help. But the king of Egypt would not help him. Zedekiah would be unable to escape from the king of Babylon. The army of Babylon would surround Jerusalem and attack it.
The agreement was with both Nebuchadnezzar and God. So, God would punish Zedekiah. The army of Judah would fail and many would die. Zedekiah would try to run away but he would not succeed. God would cause the Babylonians to take Zedekiah to Babylon. He would die there.
Many of the people in Judah would die and many would go into exile. All of this would happen. Then the exiles will know that God has spoken.
The Lord now promises a future for the Israelites. He will take a young branch from the top of the cedar tree. He will plant that piece on a high mountain in Israel. That high mountain is called Mount Zion. (See Isaiah 2:2.)
The cedar tree means the family of David. Jehoiachin had come from that family. But God will bring another king from the cedar tree. This is a promise that the Messiah (Christ) will come as king in Israel. He is king David’s greater son. (That is, the most important person born from David’s family. See Matthew 1:1).
When the Messiah is king, the nation called Israel will be strong. All the nations of the world will respect the king of Israel. They will come to him and he will rule them all. (See Zechariah 14:16-21).
At first I had a problem with the chapter promising the Messiah.... as the commentary says..... but then I read it again....
In the parable about Judah, Babylon and Egypt..... there were two eagles.... those eagles did the plucking and the planting. But at the end..... verse 22... God told Ezekiel that God Himself would plant a cedar on Mt. Zion. That's Christ. God used eagles to show stupid human dirty work [going to Egypt after swearing an oath in God's name to be faithful to Babylon]..... but He Himself planted the cedar on Zion. That's just too supernatural to be a stupid human.
I am thinking of Canaan when the descendants of Jacob [Israel] arrived from Egypt. I'm thinking of that one cluster of grapes that was so huge it took two men and a pole to carry it. Wow.... what a wonderful land....
When the Babylonians found out that the appointed king tried to get the Egyptians to take on the Babylonians in Judah..... the stupid humans in Judah were toast. The siege would bring on such hunger.... parents would eat their own children.... and children would eat their parents..... survival of the fittest to the highest degree.... IMHO.
Those descendants of Jacob [Israel] had used up every good thing in Canaan..... including God's patience.... with their shiny baubles, magic charms, and selfishness. On top of that.... the bum appointed by the king of Babylon..... made a promise in God's name.... and then didn't honor it..... giving God a black spot on His reputation.
Back in the day.... when this was happening.... there was no Equifax or Credit Karma..... there was only a man's [or God's] reputation. When one of the descendants of Jacob [Israel] used God's name..... it was making God the cosigner on the agreement.....
I don't think I would like it very much if someone used my name as cosigner and then defaulted..... that's what happened.
HMHO..... this chapter says..... "My Son won't let me down like you stupid humans".
