Ezekiel 17

Ezekiel 17:1

O. The Parable of the Two Eagles (Chap. 17)17:1-6 The LORD told Ezekiel to pose a riddle to the house of Israel. A great eagle came to Lebanon, broke off the topmost . . . twig from a cedar tree, and carried it to a foreign land. It also took . . . the seed of the land and planted it in . . . fertile soil. There it grew into a spreading vine. 17:7-10 Then the vine began to grow toward . . . another great eagle, but it no longer thrived. 17:11-21 The LORD Himself gives the interpretation of the allegory. The first eagle was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (v. 12). He carried off Jehoiachin, king of Judah (the topmost twig), from Jerusalem (Lebanon) into Babylon (land of traffic), and Babylon (city of merchants). He also took Zedekiah, the king’s offspring, and set him up as his vassal king in Judah (v. 13). For a while, Zedekiah, a low spreading vine, flourished in the homeland, but then he turned to the king of Egypt (another great eagle) for deliverance from Babylonia. When Zedekiah broke the covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (2Ch_36:13), it was the same as if he broke it with God (v. 19). As a result, Zedekiah would be carried into Babylon and die there; Pharaoh-Hophra would not be able to help him (vv. 16-21). 17:22-24 In these verses the coming of the Messiah (the tender . . . twig) is promised; He would be descended from the house of David. He would be a fruitful tree and afford safety to the people (v. 23). The God of hope does not leave them hopeless, but directs their eyes towards the Messiah. We also should have the future in view and comfort each other with these truths. Carl F. Keil elaborates: The cedar, . . . as rising above the other trees, is the royal house of David, and the tender shoot which Jehovah breaks off and plants is not the Messianic kingdom or sovereignty, . . . but the Messiah Himself. . . . The high mountain, described in ver. 23 as the high mountain of Israel, is Zion, regarded as the seat and centre of the kingdom of God, which is to be exalted by the Messiah above all the mountains of the earth (Isa. ii. 2, etc.). The twig planted by the Lord will grow there into a glorious cedar, under which all the birds will dwell. The Messiah grows into a cedar in the kingdom founded by Him, in which all the inhabitants of the earth will find both food (from the fruits of the tree) and protection (under its shadow). Politics always proves to be a washout. Only the return of Christ offers any hope to this sin-drugged world.