The Lord said Israel’s king broke God’s covenant. Ezekiel faithfully recorded God’s Words regarding judgment and a new relationship with the Lord. God added a piece to the overall theme in Ezekiel’s message: I the Lord have spoken. Israel needed to pay attention to God’s Word as well as His actions and judgments.
“‘He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken’ (Ezekiel 17:18-21).
- God revealed the parable.
- This verse hints at God’s role in these events, with the word covenant used in the context of the broken treaty.
- God would punish the “king” for despising His oath and the broken covenant with the Lord.
- God would capture Israel in a snare and carry them off to Babylon.
- The word for “net” is the same as “snare,” used first in Ezekiel 12. Such a net was used to hunt prey.
- They would experience judgment in and through Babylon for being unfaithful to the Lord.
- Their unfaithfulness to the Lord was a willing act of sin against God Himself, they literally “violated their duty against” Him.1
- The army would fall by the sword.
- The survivors scattered and became fugitives, “Israelites who fled in every direction because of God’s judgments.”2
- The original includes the word “remain” as well as “fugitives” (survivors), reminding Ezekiel’s readers that God always saves a remnant.3
- God reinforces the importance of listening to His Word, even if the actions have not yet come to pass.
- Hannah prayed to the Lord for a son, and she worshiped and praised God before her prayer was answered.
Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her” (1 Samuel 1:19).
- Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.
*What was God’s role in the parable’s events?
*Why is it important to listen to what God says?
“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a 
tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
“‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it’ (Ezekiel 17:22-24).
- God spoke then of a future parable.
- He would take tender new growth from the top branches of a cedar and plant it on a mountain.
- Perhaps the Lord spoke of how His people would worship Him in spirit and in truth, since in that culture high places were often associated with worship. Jesus said,
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. … Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:1, 4).
- Those from every nation will find rest and shelter in this new, splendid cedar, a place of refuge and protection.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
- All the trees—the whole world—will know that I the Lord will bring down the tall tree and establish a more splendid cedar, the Messiah.4
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
- Perhaps Israel still doubted, even after Ezekiel’s trademark phrase “then you will know that I the Lord….”
- God repeated His promise, that He would “[destroy] Babylon.”5
- “I the Lord have spoken and I will do it.”
*How might Ezekiel’s readers have interpreted this future parable?
*What do we learn about God’s character from His final words in this chapter?
*What is our perspective of this future parable?
*What takeaways do you glean from more “happy ending” news here at the end of chapter 17? Send them along; it would be fun to create one or more graphics.
- Warren Baker, D.R.E., Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D. The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: Old Testament. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003) Ibid., 642
- Ibid., 565
- Bible Hub. Interlinear Hebrew Old Testament. https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ezekiel/17-21.htm
- I didn’t want to misguide you, so I confirmed my interpretation that these last three verses point readers to the Messiah, Jesus. The commentaries I read didn’t mention a reference to the cross as a “tree,” although we know Jesus was crucified on a tree and now is truly exalted above all else.
MacDonald Publishing Company. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1712. Vol.IV. Isaiah to Malachi. (McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company, 1985) 850-851
William MacDonald. Believer’s Bible Commentary. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989). 1051
- Baker, 415