Ezekiel 17
Certainty of Judgment
~ the Eagle has Landed!
Pray
Intro
√ Certainty of Judgment ~ the Eagle has landed
Remember that chapters 15-17 record 3 different parables that communicate the sin
of
Parable of the fruitless vine ~ chapter 15
Parable of the faithless wife ~ chapter 16
Parable of the fierce eagles ~ chapter 17
Each of the parables communicates spiritual truth by relating that truth to something we’re familiar with in the material world.
Sometimes parables can be difficult to interpret, but this one is easy because God tells us what it means!
So, let’s look at the enigma of the Eagles and see what God has to communicate to us this evening.
Ap.
The Enigma of the Eagles (vs. 1-10)
Ezek. 17:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 17:2 “Son of
man, pose a riddle, and speak
a parable to the house of
Ezek. 17:3 and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,
Full of feathers of various colors,
Came
to
And took from the cedar the highest branch.
Ezek. 17:4 He cropped off its topmost young twig
And carried it to a land of trade;
He set it in a city of merchants.
Ezek. 17:5 Then he took some of the seed of the land
And planted it in a fertile field;
He placed it by abundant waters
And set it like a willow tree.
Ezek. 17:6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature;
Its branches turned toward him,
But its roots were under it.
So it became a vine,
Brought forth branches,
And put forth shoots.
Ezek. 17:7 “But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers;
And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him,
And stretched its branches toward him,
From the garden terrace where it had been planted,
That he might water it.
Ezek. 17:8 It was planted in good soil by many waters,
To bring forth branches, bear fruit,
And become a majestic vine.” ’
Ezek. 17:9 “Say, “Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Will it thrive?
Will he not pull up its roots,
Cut off its fruit,
And leave it to wither?
All of its spring leaves will wither,
And no great power or many people
Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.
Ezek. 17:10 Behold, it is planted,
Will it thrive?
Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?
It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”
√ The Enigma of the Eagles (vs. 1-10)
I didn’t just pick this title because I like the word “enigma”! Rather, that’s the word that God uses to describe the parable of the Fierce Eagles.
“Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the
house of
The word riddle is the Hebrew “hidah” which means…
“A puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum, a dark saying, a hard question, proverb, riddle.”
It’s the same word the Bible uses when Sampson posed a “riddle” to the Philistines at his wedding. (Judges 14)
And when the Queen of Sheba asked Solomon “hard questions”. (1 Kings 10:1)
The point is that the enigma that God presents to the
captives in
…without His wisdom and interpretation.
√ The parable
Ezekiel presents a parable of two Eagles (vs. 3 & 7).
The 1st Eagle is described as “great” and full of multicolored feathers.
It flies to
He sets the branch and some of the seed by the rivers, in good soil, in a land of commerce where the branch grows into a vine.
Right!
The 2nd Eagle is also described as “great” with large wings and lots of feathers.
The vine grows away from the 1st Eagle toward the 2nd Eagle.
The Lord asks…
“Will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?” ~ vs. 10
Then answers His own question…
“It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.”
Right! Fortunately we don’t have to strain our brains trying to interpret the parable because God does so in verses 11-21!
God makes the interpretation clear because He doesn’t want anyone to miss the important message that He’s communicating through the parable.
Ap. The really important stuff is clear!
There’s no argument that the Bible can at times be difficult to understand.
Proverbs, parables and prophecy take time and effort on the part of the reader before they yield the treasures of God’s Truth.
On the other hand, the important stuff…
That God loves us and has made a way for us to have a relationship with Him that will last for eternity.
That He offers forgiveness of our sins through simple faith in the sacrifice of His Son.
That He gives rest, peace, joy and life to any who come to Him.
That stuff is right on the surface of God’s word because He designed His plan of Redemption such that the simplest mind could grasp it…
…so that everyone who desires to can understand how to be saved!
Ex. The thief on the cross & the woman at the well
The Explanation of the Enigma (vs. 11-21)
Ezek. 17:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 17:12 “Say now
to the rebellious house: “Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them,
‘Indeed the king of
Ezek. 17:13 And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land,
Ezek. 17:14 that the kingdom might be brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
Ezek. 17:15 But he
rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to
Ezek. 17:16 “As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
Ezek. 17:17 Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, when they heap up a siege mound and build a wall to cut off many persons.
Ezek. 17:18 Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact gave his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”
Ezek. 17:19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head.
Ezek. 17:20 I will
spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to
Ezek. 17:21 All his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken.”
√ The Explanation of the Enigma ~ the 1st Eagle
Note vs. 12…
“Say now to the rebellious house: “Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them…”
Then in the following verses God identifies the different parts of the parable, thus giving us the explanation of the enigma! Vs. 12-14 (interpreting vs. 3-6)…
1st Eagle = King of
(Nebuchadnezzar)
Top branch = King of Judah
(Jehoiachin)
Carried away = 2nd Captivity in
(597 B.C.)
Seed planted = Vassal king
(Zedekiah)
God goes on to explain that His purpose was to bring
…but to leave a remnant so that
“He also took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.”
Vs. 13b-14
That is, God’s judgment was progressive so that the people of
Ex. Jeremiah’s ministry
He encouraged the king and the people of
…He might restore His blessings upon them.
Historically
Each time the disciple got tougher.
The final wave of God’s discipline brought the destruction
of the city, the
The point of God’s enigma is that had King Zedekiah listened
to the Lord he would have lived a good long life under the protection of
Ap. God’s discipline
God brings discipline into our lives with the intention of saving us from worse trouble!
If we ignore Him we can count on that discipline progressing until it hurts enough that we stop sinning and turn back to the Lord.
He’s got out best interest at heart but unfortunately when we’re in the middle of sinning we don’t see it that way and sometimes by our own choices end up in a worse condition.
Ex. Dave
Fooled around with drugs, got busted, went back for more, repeated the pattern until he ended up in prison.
He will be the first to tell you that God put him in prison to keep him from killing himself!
The lesson for us ~ listen and obey when God brings discipline into your life.
Surrender to His will and live lest you push the Lord to bring greater discipline your way.
He is gracious, slow to anger, but He will discipline you because He loves you and wants to protect you from doing greater harm to yourself.
√ The Explanation of the Enigma ~ the 2nd Eagle
In vs. 15-21 God identifies 2nd Eagle and the meaning of vs. 7-10…
2nd Eagle = Pharaoh of
(Hophra)
Vine =
Bent roots =
& branches
The Lord goes on to explain that because the vine (
…God would bring His final judgment upon Zedekiah (captured
and taken to
√ The reason for judgment
Note that God identifies
His reason for bringing this final judgment against
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head.”
Interesting! God equates the treaty of Nebuchadnezzar with Zedekiah as “my oath” and “my covenant”!
That is, just as Jeremiah proclaimed to be true,
Nebuchadnezzar was God’s servant by which He intended to punish and protect
The treaty between
By it God intended to punish and preserve
But Zedekiah rejected the word of God, broke his treaty with
…and suffered for it because he was working against the will of God.
Ex. My friend Dave
As I noted earlier Dave believes God put him in prison to punish and protect him.
Punish him for his continued disobedience.
Protect him from killing himself or doing greater damage to his family.
So, in a sense God is using our legal system in Dave’s life
as He used
Dave could rebel ~ try to escape, fight with the guards, etc.
But all that would do is extend his punishment.
On the other hand if Dave submits to God’s discipline as implemented through our justice system…
…then he probably won’t serve his entire sentence, he will get some time to break his drug addiction, and he has plenty of time to seek God’s will for his life and get back to what God has for him!
Ap. You can’t run from God’s discipline
Ezekiel delivered this parable around 592-591 BC.
Zedekiah rebelled in 588 BC with
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed
The lesson for us is that we can’t stop the word of the Lord from being fulfilled.
It’s always best to receive His word and respond with obedience the first time.
Just like Jonah learned, you can run but you can’t hide!
The Expectation of Another Enigma (vs. 22-24)
Ezek. 17:22 Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.
Ezek. 17:23 On the
mountain height of
Ezek. 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.”
√ The Expectation of Another Enigma
Did you notice the change in the language of the enigma? Instead of an Eagle taking away a branch…
…this time it’s the Lord who takes a branch away!
“Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.” ~ vs. 22
That is, God
Himself takes a branch off the tree and plants it on a high and
prominent mountain in
Grow large
Produce fruit
Become majestic
Provided shelter for many different birds
Bible students suggest that this closing section of the parable is meant to be an encouragement to the Jewish people that God was not finished with them yet.
Rather, He would by His own strength bring about His promise to establish a future King and Kingdom that would bless the whole earth.
A king of the line of David (from the same tree), planted on a high and prominent mountain…
…that was dried up (dead) but that He would make flourish as
a sign to the nations ~ a foreshadowing of the
Greatest “Eagle” = God
High cedar =
Highest branch = King in the line of David ~ Jesus
High mountain =
reference to Jesus’ crucifixion and
the establishment of His throne?
High green tree = Zedekiah ~ from life to death
Low dry tree = Jesus ~ from death to life
Birds = Nations of the world
(subjects of the Eagle)
Another reminder that despite the sinfulness and rebellion of Man, the good news is that God is going to bring all of His promises to pass!
Close
√ Certainty of Judgment ~ the enigma of the eagles
Hopefully the Parable of the Fierce Eagles is no longer an enigma to you!
Reminds us that God wants us to know and understand His Word…
…sometimes it takes a bit of study before it yields its treasure.
Don’t stop studying as we live in a day much like Ezekiel!
God’s word is coming to pass all around us.
While the people of the world, and even some in the Church
cast doubt on that fact, sounding more like the captives in
“The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.” ~ Ez. 12:27
But I’m convinced that there’s never been a more important time to know what God says so that we can warn others of the impending judgment…
…and save those who will listen and obey.