Ezekiel 17:1-24
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planteda it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soilb by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.
Ezekiel 17:2. Put forth a riddle. A parable, or ingenious allegory, that the acumen of the composition may attract attention from the rulers of Judah. This parable is likewise ingeniously explained by sacred criticism. The eagle is the king of Babylon, who is so called, because he was master of other kings, as much as the eagle is king of birds. His greatness marks the extent of his dominions; and the length of his wings, the rapidity of his conquests. Full of feathers, in opposition to eagles that made themselves bald, Micah 1:16; and which indicates the riches, the armies and resources of the empire. The variety of colour in his plumage, marks the gradation of honour, glory and majesty which distinguished his dominion. He came to Lebanon, that is, to Jerusalem, and took the highest branch of the cedar. He took Jeconiah, heir apparent to the throne of Judah, and the princes, the artists, and the guards, and carried them to the Euphrates, and the Chebar. 2 Kings 24:14. And being thus placed in cities of labour and trade, these artists were compelled to serve the king of Babylon, and his haughty lords. But here the good hand of the Lord encreased their number, and made them prosper, as the jews also prospered under Zedekiah while in alliance with the Babylonians.
Ezekiel 17:7. There was also another great eagle. Apries, or as Origen reads, Vaphres, king of Egypt. He had many feathers, but was not full of feathers, as the king of Babylon. And Judah, a vine, not able to bear the weight of an eagle, did bend to him, as her ally and protection, though formerly the Almighty was her shield and defence. The vine did bend towards him to water its roots, as the Egyptians watered their corn fields from the Nile by machines which threw a small stream along the furrows of the wheat.
Ezekiel 17:9. It shall wither in all its leaves, and branches, as in Ezekiel 17:8. This foretels how Zedekiah's sons should be slain before their father's eyes, as in Jeremiah 39:6.
Ezekiel 17:19. Mine oath that he hath despised. The Lord's covenant. Had Zedekiah remembered the injunction to the man that hath sworn to his hurt, and kept his word, he had reigned in Jerusalem, and would have prospered.
Ezekiel 17:22. I will take of the highest branch. Not Zerubbabel, but Christ, to whom all power is given in heaven and earth. It was constant with the prophets in trouble to fly to Christ. Isaiah 7, 39. 40. Micah 5. See on Daniel 4:14.
REFLECTIONS.
We find the character of the conquerors of the earth described by devouring eagles, as in other places by wild beasts; because they destroy and exile the humankind, as those beasts devour and affright the flocks. The men who are cruel in conquest are not contemplated with approbation in the eyes of God or man.
The proneness of Judah to trust in Egypt for help, was at all times reprehended by the prophets; for the Egyptians perished at Carchemesh, and their own country was presently ravaged by the Babylonians. Oh my soul, never leave thou the Lord to trust in an arm of flesh. His counsel and his arm are at all times adequate for thy help.
God sends confusion on men who despise his counsel. Jaazaniah and Pelatiah, mentioned before, opposed the prophets, misguided the king, and ruined their country by most unfounded systems of superstition and politics, Nebuchadnezzar, after the reduction of the revolted jews, had granted them terms extremely lenient. After weakening their power by about twenty thousand men carried to distant provinces, he left Zedekiah in a situation to rise and prosper. But the wicked cannot rest. Hence the house of David and of Judah forfeited for ever the crown and the regal dignity. None of the Asmonean family ever afterwards rose to a rank higher than governor under a foreign power. Hence, though more than two thousand three hundred years are elapsed, the Hebrews have continued the basest of nations. Their condition among the christian powers has often been severe, but among the Hindoos, Dr. Buchanan asserts, it is much more despicable and mean.
The hope of Israel is, after all, in Jesus Christ alone. From among the young twigs God will take a tender one, and plant it in his holy mountain; yea, on the tops of the mountains, as the prophets have often said; and the fowls or gentile nations shall lodge in its branches. So our Saviour has said of the grain of mustard seed. If this be applied to Zerubbabel, it must be in a very limited sense, for very few of the gentiles in his presidency were proselyted to judaism. In Christ however we see a multitude of nations seeking shelter and defence under the shadow of his almighty wings; and happy and secure are they who know the joyful sound.