Eagles and Cedars

We find quite a study in literature forms in Ezekiel. Visions, narrative, drama, proverbs, and here in chapter 17, allegory and parable. God is a God of story, and He delights in “happy endings” for His beloved; this chapter includes more treasure from God’s Word.

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders” (Ezekiel 17:1-4).

• God’s Word came to Ezekiel with instructions to relay a message to Israel.
• At the beginning of the story, an eagle came to Lebanon.
• He broke off the top of a cedar—Lebanon was famous for its cedar trees.
• In this parable, “a cedar” referred to the “strong but devastated Davidic dynasty.”¹
• The eagle planted the top shoot in a city of traders.

What do you think eagles and cedars represented to the people reading Ezekiel’s message?

Why did God speak in a parable?

“‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs’ (Ezekiel 17:5-6).

• The eagle then took seed and planted it in fertile soil.
• The parable implied the seed was planted by abundant water.
• This seed was King Zedekiah, whom “Nebuchadnezzar established in Jerusalem.”²
• The seed became a vine, with branches turned toward the eagle.
• The roots, symbolic for nation or people,³ remained underground, not (yet) uprooted.

What do you envision the fertile soil and abundant water represent?

Why might the branches have turned toward the eagle?

“‘But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water. It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine’ (Ezekiel 17:7-8).

• Another great eagle came.
• The vine sent out its roots toward the second, more powerful eagle.
• It also stretched out its branches toward the second eagle for water.
• The vine had been planted in a place to receive good nourishment and thrive.

What hints have we received through God’s Word as to the identity of this more powerful eagle?

Why did the vine now stretch out its roots toward the second eagle?

How does this parable convey rich layers of meaning for readers?

“Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?’” (Ezekiel 17:9-10).

• But God asked, would the vine really thrive?
• God used a rhetorical question to make the point that the vine’s new growth would wither.
• He used rhetorical questions to suggest what would happen to the vine:
• It would be transplanted and wither away completely from the east wind.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty’ (Ezekiel 17:11-14).

• The word of the Lord that came to Ezekiel called Israel a rebellious house. The word here is the same word, meaning stubbornness and obstinacy, used earlier in Ezekiel.
• King Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem’s royal family, nobles, and leaders captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-17).
• King Nebuchadnezzar made a treaty (agreement) with Gedaliah, a member of the royal family (2 Kings 25:22).
• Therefore, the kingdom of Jerusalem, without leadership, could survive only through the treaty with Babylon.

Why do you think God used rhetorical questions throughout this section to make His points?

How do the rhetorical questions help readers consider the parable’s meaning?

What do we learn about God and His message from this conversation technique?

‘But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?

“‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives’ (Ezekiel 17:15-17).

• Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by requesting aid from Egypt (2 Kings 25:1).
• God’s rhetorical questions beckoned Israel to discern the truth regarding their future:
• Zedekiah’s attempt to oppose Babylon would not succeed and Israel would not escape their fate of captivity.
• How could one possibly hope to break and escape a treaty with a captor?
• King Zedekiah died in Babylon.
• Pharaoh and his might cannot help Israel in a war against Babylon.

Why did God allow Babylon to leave a governor in place in Israel?

What plans did make and why did those plans fail?

 

Hubby reminded me to keep posts short enough to read. So I divided chapter 17 into two parts. At this point in the story, Israel made her own plans, which God overruled.

As Solomon wrote,

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21).

Next week we’ll read about God’s interpretation of the parable and His plans for His people.

 

1. Warren Baker, D.R.E., Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D. The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: Old Testament. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003) 94
2. Ibid., 305
3. Ibid., 1204