Eagles & Twigs - Ezekiel 17

Ezekiel 17:3 "And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar;

v4 "He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants."

These stories are beautiful to me. I do not understand the exact meaning but I can see Jesus here. He is telling a truth with a story just as he did in the New Testament.

Telling of two eagles, I believe this first one is Israel and the second one is Babylon. I cannot be sure.

v12 "Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell the, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;"

It seems that the purpose for the invasion of Judah was to bring down the mighty nation so that it would again learn to trust the Lord. They rebelled again by going to Egypt for help.

v14 "That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand."

v17 "Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons."

So Judah was suppose to yield to the captivity but they went to Egypt for help. This caused judgment on Egypt as well and the destruction of many.

There is hope in the chapter.

v24 "And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I the LORD have spoken and have done it."

God's chosen people are to learn that they serve the true God who is able to tear down the mighty and do the impossible with that which seems useless. "...have made the dry tree to flourish..."

Isaiah 53:4 Isaiah 53:2 "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: ...."