Ezekiel 17:11-24

The Double Application of the Parable

v. 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

v. 12. Say now to the rebellious house, literally, "the house of rebelliousness," the children of Israel, to whom this parable had been told as a warning, Know ye not what these things mean? Were they intellectually as well as morally stupid? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, 2 Kings 24:11 ff. ; Jeremiah 24:1; Jeremiah 29:2, and hath taken the king thereof, namely, Jehoiachin, and the princes thereof and led them with him to Babylon, theirs being the first company of exiles from Jerusalem;

v. 13. and hath taken of the king's seed, of the royal family, and made a covenant with him and hath taken an oath of him, the oath of allegiance as a tributary ruler, this man being Zedekiah himself; he hath also taken the mighty of the land, all the representatives of the wealthier class, the landowners and the artisans,

v. 14. that the kingdom might be base, of a low condition, of a very secondary rank, that it might not lift itself up, not develop enough strength to regain its independence, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.

v. 15. But he, the king of Judah, rebelled against him, namely, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, 2 Kings 24:20, that they might give him horses and much people, come to his assistance with a strong army. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape that doeth such things? Or shall he break the covenant, his oath of fealty, and be delivered?

v. 16. As I live, saith the Lord God, the sovereign Ruler of the universe swearing his most solemn oath, surely, in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, rejecting the obligation which it laid upon him, and whose covenant lie brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Zedekiah's revolt was an act of treachery, and was to be punished as it well deserved.

v. 17. Neither shall Pharaoh, upon whom Zedekiah depended, with his mighty army and great company, make for him in the war, as Zedekiah's ally in battle, by casting up mounts and building forts, to cut off many persons, in an effort to relieve the besieged city;

v. 18. seeing he despised the oath, valid and sacred as it was, by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, in a solemn pledge, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape, he was to pay the penalty of his perjury.

v. 19. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, As I live, surely Mine oath that he hath despised, for it was made in the name of Jehovah, and My covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head, in His punishment upon the perjurer.

v. 20. And I will spread My net upon him, like a fowler setting his traps for birds, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, these words coming true a few years later, and will plead with him there, contending with him as when a case is argued in court, for his trespass that he hath trespassed against Me, the accusation here involving also the punishment.

v. 21. And all his fugitives with all his bands, even the picked ones of his military forces, shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds, doomed to death though they escape the first onslaught; and ye shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it, bitter experience teaching them what all the admonitions of the Lord's prophets had not been able to accomplish.

v. 22. Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, a shoot of the royal house of David, and will set it, give it a place where it might grow; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, tender both in age and in character, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent, in a position of power and magnificence;

v. 23. in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, figurative for the exalted position of the Kingdom of Grace; and it shall bring forth boughs and bear fruit and be a goodly cedar, a glorious and beautiful tree; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing, representative of all nations; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. Cf Matthew 13:32.

v. 24. And all the trees of the field, men throughout the world, shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, the proud Zedekiah, have exalted the low tree, the lowly Messiah, have dried up the green tree, which the last king of Judah considered himself to be, and have made the dry tree to flourish, Cf Isaiah 53:2. I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it. The passage sets forth, in a most unmistakable fashion, the rise of the Messiah from His lowly origin, as a branch of the impoverished family of David, to be the King of His Church, which, under His benign and powerful rule, extends throughout the world and gathers into its communion men from every race and nation.