1 And
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, put forth
a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; 3 And say,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of
feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest
branch of the cedar: 4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs,
and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. 5 He
took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he
placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. 6 And it
grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward
him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought
forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. 7 There was also another
great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend
her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might
water it by the furrows of her plantation. 8 It was planted in a
good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it
might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. 9 Say thou, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof,
and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the
leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by
the roots thereof. 10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper?
shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in
the furrows where it grew. (Ezekiel 17:1-10)
The
Sunday after Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
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O
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GOD, the King of
glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy
kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us
thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our
Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same
Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
As we
become more and more the devoted friend of the Lord, our diligent studies will
reveal more easily His stated Will and Intent for our lives as we read from
every remunerative corner of His Scriptures. There may have been a time when
our reading of today's Old Testament parable would have been a nice story but
one lacking in any obvious application to our lives today. But now that we have
claimed Christ as our intimate Friend and Lord, we read such accounts with
renewed conviction and understanding. Beautiful passages which were once
believed with a casual notice now draw our hearts and minds closer still to the
Heart and Mind of God as we read and study with greater understanding…..and
Love. God presents us with a continuing allegory which requires more than an
elementary regard for understanding. The manner in which muscles are built
stronger and larger is through physical exercise. God uses the same principle
to strengthen our hearts and understanding with soul-stretching exercises in
His Word. A serious regard for the historical, as well as contemporary,
conditions is important in gaining a deeper understanding of this parable.
God is not an obscurantist, but He does desire that we grow in scholarship and
love of His Word by diligence in study of it. In our present case, He uses the
Great Eagle as an illustration of truth. A rudimentary knowledge of the
historical aspects surrounding the story will be helpful in getting its fuller
meaning. The period of setting is during the sixth year of Zedekiah's reign and
the seventh since Jehoiachin's exile to Babylon. It is the fifth year before
the total destruction of Jerusalem. The fact that God makes reference to the
parable as a `riddle' supports the notion that He desired its effects to
provoke a deeper thought. Do we desire only to be spoon fed and bottle
nourished with the milk of the Gospel, or do we desire to cast our buckets into
deeper wells? Is it worth the effort? What do YOU think?
1 And
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying Whose word, once again,
does the prophet quote – his own, or the Lord's? I grow weary of reading
commentaries that quote what the prophet Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Hosea
has said when they should accredit their inspired writings to the account of
the Lord. Ezekiel takes no credit for the Words he receives from the Lord, and
tells us outright, their source. It is the Word of the LORD that comes to
Ezekiel and of which he writes, not his own thoughts. And such is the nature of
the entire Canon of Scripture.
2 Son
of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel.
The dual-pronged nature of this story is that it is both a parable and also a
riddle. It is directed to those who claim to be, in that day, the people of God
who have been blessed, protected, chastised, and yet apostate once more. They
have suffered invasions and exiles. Since they have rejected God's counsel for
their lives and nation, God provides once last warning ere the flood gates of
cruel desolation come upon them. The warning here is not only for the House of
Israel, but for all peoples who have been richly blessed by God and then turn a
blind eye and dumb ear to His Sovereignty and Counsel. Do you know of any
contemporary people who have been so blessed and turned from God?
3 And
say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full
of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest
branch of the cedar. This great Eagle represents the power and King
of Babylon. His power was the greatest known on earth. The Eagle is the King of
the Sky as well. The Eagle is `long-winged' because the scope of the Babylonian
Empire was extensive. It was "full of feathers" depicts the
post-molting stage of eagles in which they grow gloriously beautiful new
feathers and appear as a young and fresh bird. These feathers relate to the
many peoples and cultures that have been added to the province of the King of
Babylon. The diversity of colors relate to the diversity of peoples and customs
that had fallen subject to the Great King. The Eagle, as is the natural habitat
of eagles, comes to the mountainous area of Lebanon that was home to the House
of Israel. It might be observed that the Temple at Jerusalem was called
`Lebanon' by the Jews since, according to the historian, Eusebius, all of its
woodwork was from the Cedars of Lebanon. But to a greater extent, the reference
is more generally to Jerusalem itself. And it shall come to pass in the
last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the
top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations
shall flow unto it. (Isaiah 2:2) The great Eagle took the "highest
branch of the cedar." This makes reference to King Jeconiah, eighteen
years old, taken into exile. The tall and stately cedars of Lebanon are
illustrative of the characteristic of kings. The highest branch is always the
youngest and most tender (Jeconiah).
4 He
cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick;
he set it in a city of merchants. The constant invasions and
dislocations of the people of Israel must be taken into account. Once a nation
has known God, and then turned away in wickedness and apostasy, God removes His
Hand of Protection and Mercy from that nation. The young King Jeconiah was
carried by the Great Eagle into the land of traffic (commerce) which may be
concluded by history and Scripture to be Babylon. He is kept there in the
commerce center of the then known world.
5 He
took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he
placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
The Babylonian King was acting, unwittingly, according to the dictates of the
greater Sovereign who is God. He "took the seed of the land" (one who
was of the stock and lineage of Israel) and set him in a lush place by the
rivers of water. This one was Zedekiah who had thus sworn allegiance to the
King of Babylon. In this case, God had judged Israel and intend their exile in
Babylon to be a chastisement for apostasy; and God intended Zedekiah to be
faithful to his oath of allegiance under that chastisement.
6 And
it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned
toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and
brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. Instead of become an
humble willow tree, or any tree at all of stately bearing, Israel became a vine
of low stature but nonetheless one producing fruit under its chastisement.
Israel owed her allegiance to Babylon and her branches turned toward him in
obeisance. As her "roots were under him (King of Babylon) she received her
nourishment and protection from him – the mightiest power known. When God
rebukes us for our national and personal sins, we must be faithful even under
that chastisement. God would expect Zedekiah to have shown gratitude for the
mercies of the King of Babylon rather than revolting from that power.
7 There
was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold,
this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward
him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
Zedekiah had not only disregarded the counsel of God given by the prophets,
including Jeremiah, but also was disloyal to his beneficent protector, King
Nebuchadnezzar. He played traitor by conspiring with the King of Egypt (the
other great Eagle who did not have long wings because it lacked lacked empire).
The armies of Babylon eventually would conquer Pharaoh Necho's army at
Carchemish and Zedekiah would be forced to capitulate, having his eyes put out,
after seeing each of his family murdered before them, and carried away captive
to Bablyon. The bountiful waters of the Nile feed the fertile fields of that
land by means of furrows and canals (in addition to seasonal flooding).
8 It
was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches,
and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. If we
cannot be a stately Cedar of Lebanon before the Lord, then we can be at least a
fruitful vine. We must be satisfied with the soil in which we are planted for a
seedling cannot remove and replant itself. Wherever the Gardener places us,
there we must produce fruit. Under Babylon's rule, Israel was nourished and
cared for, but pride governed the heart of Zedekiah and he rebelled against the
provision made by God in Babylon's rule.
9 Say
thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots
thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all
the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it
up by the roots thereof. The first great Eagle will not be pleased
at the duplicity of Zedekiah, and neither will our Lord be pleased by ours. We
cannot serve God and Mammon. Shall the American people, who have become a
low-clinging vine, not be pulled up by the roots for her duplicity in turning
from God, her Benefactor, and clinging to a strange ideology that includes
outright and abominable sins against God's Holy Will and Creation? God will use
the King of Babylon to execute further judgment against Israel. God has allowed
is in America to wallow in the muds and filth of opulence. He has reminded us
of our former grandeur in Christ, yet we have gone even deeper in our decadent
and depraved hearts. We have turned God's plan and commandment given in Eden
upside down and allowed vile and abominable marriages of homosexuals to be
given the credibility of marriage – God's first institution in Eden. Instead of
`replenishing' the earth with the gift of birth of new souls, we have murdered
them in their mother's wombs as a choice and not an imperative. How much longer
do you believe God will spare us a greater judgment than that which we are
already beginning to feel?
10 Yea,
behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither,
when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
Perhaps you are wondering, as babies on their mother's barren breast,
"where is the love of God in this? First of all, I hasten to
say that God's love is demonstrated in all of His judgments. The father that
loves does not either spare the rod. If we are immature infants in Christ, we
long for milk and candy; but God, because He loves us, will not allow us to
have our head in such serious matters. There is a time for milk and candy, but
the present predicament of America demands the meat and spinach of more stable
diet. If I wanted better acclaim from the readers of these devotions, I would
write always soft and comforting words, words that avoid the mere mention of
sin, words that give a false sense of security but whose end will destroy. God
has given us minds to see the results of our foolish ways. I can see, based on
my small knowledge of God's Word, a terrible judgment which lays ahead for this
beloved land of my fathers. How can I not reveal what God has promised for
those who turn against Him after enjoying his blessings? That which happened to
Israel in the dispersion fades in contrast to what awaits a nation who is
singular in the abundance of blessings it has received from the very Hand of
God. This Memorial Day, remember that our national freedoms were bought and
paid by the blood of courageous men of war. But the freedom and liberty we have
enjoyed in the shed blood of Christ has bought and eternal estate for us if we
only repent and follow that Ensign of our Souls in the right path and according
to that Ancient Landmark laid in Christ by the Father.
