The Two Eagles and the Vine
Ezekiel 17
“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).
Once again, Ezekiel receives another Word from the Lord, but this time, it was directed toward Zedekiah, king of Judah. However, let’s go over a bit of background leading up to the reign of Zedekiah. After the death of King Josiah, who was the last king of Judah to follow the Lord, Jehoahaz, his son, became his successor for three months (2 Kings 23:29-37). Pharaoh Necho took Jehoahaz to Egypt after he dethroned and replaced him with Josiah’s other son, Eliakim, thus changing his name to Jehoiakim. During his reign, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and left Jehoiakim on the throne, but he rebelled against him after three years. After this, the Lord sent Judah’s enemies against him, for it was the Lord’s will to bring Judah to ruin because of Manasseh, Judah’s former king’s sins. Jehoiakim ruled for eleven years. After which, his son, Jehoiachin, succeeded him on the throne.
Jehoiachin’s reign was very short-lived, a mere three months when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Judah and took him prisoner, along with his other family members, the elite class, and government officials in the city. However, Nebuchadnezzar replaced the king with his uncle, Mattaniah, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Similar to his uncle, he later rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar and the Lord, so this allegory God gave Ezekiel was in response to Zedekiah’s pride (2 Kings 24:15-20).
The mighty eagle in this text represents the power of Babylon, who came to Judah with its military might and took its king captive. King Nebuchadnezzar was God’s instrument of judgment that He used against Judah. Therefore, the first part of this metaphor details the events of Babylon dethroning Jehoiachin and replacing him with Zedekiah.
“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. ‘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 17:5-8).
The seed that was described here is Zedekiah, who was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah had been given just enough power to control the land, but not to become too powerful, for he was still subject to the authority of Babylon. He would have been able to remain in Judah as king, but the other eagle, Egypt, became more appealing to Zedekiah as he sought to have an alliance with Pharaoh to gain his independence from Babylon despite already being in a good position and was allowed to thrive, while under Babylonian rule.
To Be Continued...in print TBA
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