UNROLL
A high slope of Lebanon in cold morning light: great cedars below a snowy ridge, the tallest with its top snapped off and pale fresh wood at the break, a lone eagle far off over the ridge.

Parables and laments

Ezekiel 17

Whose promise are you leaning on when the pressure comes?

24 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–3Visions of gloryBy the Kebar, about 593 BC: the throne, the scroll, the watchman
  2. 4–7Signs of the siegeA brick, a ration, a razor: the end has come
  3. 8–11The glory departsAbout 592 BC: the temple’s abominations, the mark, the glory goes east
  4. 12–15False hopesExile acted out, false prophets, a useless vine
  5. 16–19Parables and lamentsAn unfaithful bride, two eagles, the one who sinsChapter 17
  6. 20–24The sword drawnRebellion retold; the siege begins, about 588 BC
  7. 25–32The nations judgedAmmon to Egypt: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
  8. 33–36A new heartThe city falls; the Good Shepherd; cleansed and made new
  9. 37–39Dry bones liveOne people raised up, and Gog of Magog defeated
  10. 40–48The LORD is thereAbout 573 BC: the new temple, the river, the land

The Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

God
A golden eagle in full flight in bright air above the cedar forests of Lebanon, its broad wings spread wide and long flight feathers splayed like fingers.

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:

‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,

full of feathers of many colors,

came to Lebanon

and took away the top of the cedar.

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God
God

He plucked off its topmost shoot,

carried it to the land of merchants,

and planted it in a city of traders.

God
A low, wide grapevine spreading over the ground beside a canal of abundant water, willows on the bank, all its young branches leaning one way toward the east.

He took some of the seed of the land

and planted it in fertile soil;

he placed it by abundant waters

and set it out like a willow.

It sprouted and became a spreading vine,

low in height, with branches turned toward him;

yet its roots remained where it stood.

So it became a vine and yielded branches

and sent out shoots.

God

But there was another great eagle

with great wings and many feathers.

And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him.

It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed,

so that he might water it.

It had been planted in good soil

by abundant waters

in order to yield branches and bear fruit

and become a splendid vine.’

God

So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:

‘Will it flourish?

Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit

so that it shrivels?

All its foliage will wither!

It will not take a strong arm or many people

to pull it up by its roots.

God
God

Even if it is transplanted,

will it flourish?

Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes?

It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”

The riddle

The first eagle17:3: came to LebanonThe cedar’s top17:4: to a city oftradersA low vine17:5–6: planted,spreadingThe secondeagle17:7: the vine bendsto himUprooted17:9–10: the east wind

Whiteboard

A riddle first. The LORD explains it next.

The Parable Explained

God

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’

God
Seen from very far off at evening, a long thin line of small walking people with bundles and laden donkeys winds east across a wide brown plain, their dust lit gold by the low sun behind them.

Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.

God

He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to lift itself up, surviving only by keeping his covenant.

God

But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’

God
God

‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke. Pharaoh with his mighty army and vast horde will not help him in battle, when ramps are built and siege walls constructed to destroy many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’

God

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

God
Dawn on a narrow stony path: a fowler’s net of knotted cord pegged flat across the path, a bent-stick trigger at one side, empty.

I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.

God

All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’

Question

Quick question

Look again at how the LORD explains the riddle.

Who is the great eagle of the riddle (17:12)?

God
Dawn on a high bare mountain ridge, terraced valleys far below: a single tender cedar sprig newly set upright in fresh dark soil among pale rocks, its soft green needles catching the first light.

This is what the Lord GOD says:

‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar,

and I will set it out.

I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots,

and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

God
A single majestic cedar standing alone on a high mountain ridge in morning light, small birds of several kinds perched and nesting along its wide flat tiers of branches.

I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel

so that it will bear branches;

it will yield fruit

and become a majestic cedar.

Birds of every kind will nest under it,

taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

God

Then all the trees of the field will know

that I am the LORD.

I bring the tall tree down

and make the low tree tall.

I dry up the green tree

and make the withered tree flourish.

I, the LORD, have spoken,

and I have done it.’”

Ezekiel 17:24

Pray

Pray

Lord, You bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. Keep me true to my word, and plant me in the shade of the King You have promised. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Ezekiel 17

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A verse to carry with you

Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.

Ezekiel 17:24

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