Ezekiel 17:1-24--Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

Ezekiel 17
English Standard Version

Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine
17 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; 3 say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar. 4 He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. 5 Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, 6 and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out boughs.

7 “And there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage, and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was planted, that he might water it. 8 It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine.

9 “Say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots. 10 Behold, it is planted; will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?”

11 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 12 “Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon. 13 And he took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (the chief men of the land he had taken away), 14 that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and keep his covenant that it might stand. 15 But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?

16 “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. 18 He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. 20 I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me. 21 And all the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken.”

22 Thus says the Lord GOD: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

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The LORD tells Ezekiel to tell the people a parable that tells the story of how the king of Babylon took their king away to Babylon and put a vassal king in his place.  Yet, that vassal king thought that he could seek help from Egypt in defeating Babylon and that Egypt would allow him to remain sovereign.  The vassal king was foolish, because he did not turn to the LORD for help, but to the forces of Egypt that the people of Israel were to never look to for help or support.  The LORD would let the king of Babylon hear of this rebellion.  Then the LORD asks the people what they think the king of Babylon will do.  Don't they know he is going to be so angered that when he comes to attack them that he will wish to destroy as many of the people as he can and destroy the entire city?  He will not be content simply to take the best and brightest and leave the rest of the people alone to work as his slaves.  He will not tolerate their rebellion.

However, the LORD will preserve a remnant of the people.  The king of Babylon will not destroy all of them.  The LORD will teach His people to trust in Him and Him alone for their salvation.  They are not to look to other nations for what only He can do.  Other nations will only seek to uproot them and take what belongs to them by covenant (their land, wealth, and other blessings).  The LORD will punish them, but then He will also avenge them because the wicked nations of the world will not be content to be His instruments to punish His people and turn their hearts back to the LORD.  They will try to destroy them and take both their inheritance and their blessing.  The nations will seek to keep the gospel promises of the LORD from coming true (to cut off the line of Messiah before He can be born), but the LORD will not be thwarted by the evil one or the men who are citizens of the kingdom of darkness (all men who are not born again to become citizens of the kingdom of God and His marvelous light).