Ezekiel 17
McGeeCHAPTER 17THEME: Riddle of the two eagles
Ezekiel 17:1
RIDDLE OF THE TWO EAGLES"Put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel"because they would not listen to him, Ezekiel had to come to these people in a strange and unusual way.
Ezekiel 17:3
This great eagle is none other than Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar, the present king of Babylon. The eagle is a figure that is used as a symbol for Babylon elsewhere in Scripture. Jeremiah used it in Jer_48:40 as he wrote of Nebuchadnezzar: “For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.” Then in Jer_49:22 he wrote, “Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.” Daniel saw the Babylonian Empire rising up out of the sea, and it was in the form of a lion with eagle’s wings (Dan_7:4). Therefore, what we have here is a picture of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who is going to come and crop the top of the tree. Who is the tree? It is the nation Israel and specifically, the royal house of David. Nebuchadnezzar is going to clip it off and bring it to naught. That is exactly what he did with Zedekiah.
Ezekiel 17:7
The other eagle is Egypt which was still a great power at this time. Zedekiah had been put on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, and they made a covenant together. However, Zedekiah broke that covenant and turned to Egypt. That is pictured here by the branches which lean toward Egypt. The vine is planted in the soil of Egypt, seeking to draw strength from her, but there will not be any strength because Egypt will go down. Nebuchadnezzar took Egypt and destroyed it and made it subject to himself. Now this is the message which grows out of Ezekiel’s parable:
Ezekiel 17:12
The interesting thing is that Nebuchadnezzar kept his side of the covenant. God’s people broke the covenant, but the pagan nation kept their side of it. What a picture! In some churches you will find people still carrying their Bibles, but their hearts are far from God and you cannot believe what they say. On the other hand, there are businessmen who, although they are unsaved, are men of integrity. Nebuchadnezzar is going to come and destroy Zedekiah:
Ezekiel 17:18
God says, “I intend that Zedekiah be judged for this.” My friend, I sure would hate to be some Christians who are someday going to be taken to the woodshed for the lives they have lived down here. God will certainly judge.
Ezekiel 17:24
Sometimes God allows a godless nation to harass and actually destroy a people who claim to be God’s people but have departed from Him. There has been a great breakdown in morals in America, and apostasy is in earnest. We have not had much peace in this world, either internally or externally. There is trouble everywhere. God says that we will not get by with our sinthere will be a judgment.