Reflections on Ezekiel 17

Ezekiel 17 (Contemporary English Version)
1. The LORD said:
   
2. Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel the following story,
   
3. so they will understand what I am saying to them: A large eagle with strong wings and beautiful feathers once flew to Lebanon. It broke the top branch off a cedar tree,
   
4. then carried it to a nation of merchants and left it in one of their cities.
   
5. The eagle also took seed from Israel and planted it in a fertile field with plenty of water, like a willow tree beside a stream.
   
6. The seed sprouted and grew into a grapevine that spread over the ground. It had lots of leaves and strong, deep roots, and its branches grew upward toward the eagle.
   
7. There was another eagle with strong wings and thick feathers. The roots and branches of the grapevine soon turned toward this eagle, hoping it would bring water for the soil.
   
8. But the vine was already growing in fertile soil, where there was plenty of water to produce healthy leaves and large grapes.
   
9. Now tell me, Ezekiel, do you think this grapevine will live? Or will the first eagle pull it up by its roots and pluck off the grapes and let its new leaves die? The eagle could easily kill it without the help of a large and powerful army.
   
10. The grapevine is strong and healthy, but as soon as the scorching desert wind blows, it will quickly wither.
    
11. The LORD said:
    
12. Ezekiel, ask the rebellious people of Israel if they know what this story means. Tell them that the king of Babylonia came to Jerusalem, then he captured the king of Judah and his officials, and took them back to Babylon as prisoners.
    
13. He chose someone from the family of Judah's king and signed a treaty with him, then made him swear to be loyal. He also led away other important citizens,
    
14. so that the rest of the people of Judah would obey only him and never gain control of their own country again.
    
15. But this new king of Judah later rebelled against Babylonia and sent officials to Egypt to get horses and troops. Will this king be successful in breaking the treaty with Babylonia? Or will he be punished for what he's done?
    
16. As surely as I am the living LORD God, I swear that the king of Judah will die in Babylon, because he broke the treaty with the king of Babylonia, who appointed him king.
    
17. Even the king of Egypt and his powerful army will be useless to Judah when the Babylonians attack and build dirt ramps to invade the cities of Judah and kill its people.
    
18. The king of Judah broke his own promises and ignored the treaty with Babylonia. And so he will be punished!
    
19. He made a promise in my name and swore to honor the treaty. And now that he has broken that promise, my name is disgraced. He must pay for what he's done.
    
20. I will spread out a net to trap him. Then I will drag him to Babylon and see that he is punished for his unfaithfulness to me.
    
21. His best troops will be killed in battle, and the survivors will be scattered in every direction. I, the LORD, have spoken. *
    
22. Someday, I, the LORD, will cut a tender twig from the top of a cedar tree, then plant it on the peak of Israel's tallest mountain, where it will grow strong branches and produce large fruit.
    
23. All kinds of birds will find shelter under the tree, and they will rest in the shade of its branches.
    
24. Every tree in the forest will know that I, the LORD, can bring down tall trees and help short ones grow. I dry up green trees and make dry ones green. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will keep my word.
    
    

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    God kept repeating His message of judgment to Judah through His prophets, retelling it over and over in different ways. Therefore, the scenario described in this chapter is not new. Fore this retelling of the message a riddle is used to again say that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will defeat Judah, taking captive many of its leaders and other people and establishing a puppet king. This puppet king will rebel and Nebuchadnezzar will return to completely destroy Jerusalem, kill many of the people and take the remainder captive. As this message is retold each time, the accompanying message is of the certainty of the coming judgment. The time of repentance was past and the time had come for judgment.
    
    Why was God trying so hard to get this message of judgment across to Judah when it was too late for repentance? Usually prophecy is intended to bring repentance, but what was the intended purpose of these prophecies? The purpose was at least two-fold: 1- though the judgment would not be pleasant, it would go better for those who accepted God's message and cooperated with the events that were to transpire, and 2- once judgment came, the people would know it was from God because of the messages the prophets kept retelling of the events that were to transpire. Concerning the first of these two purposes, that it would go better for those who accepted and cooperated with the events that were to occur, the rebellion of Zedekiah, who was the puppet king in Judah, is a good example. Had he understood and accepted that his oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar was of God and thus had cooperated with it, things would have gone better for him.
    
    The riddle God used for this retelling of the messsage outlines the events just described. In it there are two different eagles. The first eagle went to Lebanon, clipped the top of a cedar, then flew to the land of merchants and planted it in a fertile field. This eagle represents Nebuchadnezzar who went to Jerusalem, took its top leaders (the top of the cedar) and deported them to Babylon (the land of merchants) replanting them in the fertile soil of Babylon. In Babylon, the new plant flourished. Then there was a second eagle to which the new plant was drawn. Even though the plant was in a good field with plenty of water, the plant "stretched out its branches to him (the eagle) from its planting bed, so that he might water it." (17:7) But in the process of this second eagle nourishing the plant, it will "tear out its roots and strip off its fruit so that it shrivels. All its fresh leaves will wither!" Because it is yet a young plant without much root system, "Great strength and many people will not be needed to pull it from its roots." (17:9) The result of Judah's rejection of her judgment and efforts to fix it herself was considerably worse that the original judgment.
    
    Rebellion against God, foolish in itself, leads to increasingly foolish choices, choices that are clearly not in the person's best interest. But when one is trying to avoid God, their avoidance often drives their actions rather than wise consideration of the best choices. Rebellion against God led Judah to idolatry and wickedness. These choices led to God's judgment and her defeat by Babylon. Had Judah accepted the judgment for what it was and resigned herself to the outcome, waiting for God to again restore her, her plight during exile would not have been so unpleasant, though granted, it would not be in their own homeland where the people would have preferred to be. But rather than accept her temporary plight Judah continued to rebel, trying to fix the problem themselves, turning not to God, but to Egypt who was the second eagle. The result was that most of those remaining in Judah were killed and Jerusalem destroyed.
    
    Apart from God and His wise counsel, we cannot make the best choices for our lives. This is further complicated when we try to avoid God and keep Him out of our lives.