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Ezekiel 17 (ESV)
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; 3 say, Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar. 4 He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. 5 Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, 6 and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out boughs.
7 “And there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage, and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was planted, that he might water it. 8 It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine.
9 “Say, Thus says the Lord God: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots. 10 Behold, it is planted; will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?”
REFLECTION:
This chapter uses two eagles as a metaphor. The first eagle represents King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who arranged for Zedekiah to be the puppet king in Jerusalem. Zedekiah rebelled against this arrangement and tried to ally with Egypt to fight against Babylon. The second eagle represents Egypt. Ezekiel described these events in Babylon, far from Jerusalem. Prophet Jeremiah of Judah also warned Zedekiah not to enter into such a covenant in Jerusalem (see Jeremiah 2:36-37). Although people are on different areas, the prophets have the same message, because the two are God’s vessels, and both are sincerely speaking for God. God guides His chosen spokesperson to speak the truth that God wants to speak to the whole world. Zedekiah eventually formed an alliance with Egypt, but even though Pharaoh led a large army and a large crowd, he still could not help Zedekiah. In 588 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, and Pharaoh Hophra sent troops to relieve the siege, which made King Zedekiah and the people excited. But Pharaoh broke the covenant and quickly retreated. Jerusalem eventually fell in 586 BC. King Zedekiah also abandoned the covenant he made with God, his country was destroyed, his eyes were gouged out, and he died in prison. Reflect whether we are in alliance with God or with the world today. If you turn your back on the faithful God and turn to the embrace of an unreliable world, that would be the most stupid thing! May God give us heavenly wisdom, knowing that the most important thing in life is to keep the covenant with God and do everything under His guidance.
PRAYER:
Pray for God to give you a pair of spiritual eyes that can see the essence of the world’s sins and lies through the superficial prosperity; pray for God to grant you heavenly wisdom, so that you can take Zedekiah as a negative example and seek God in everything in your life, not to be tempted by the world, and not to fall into the trap of the devil.
HYMN:
Seek Ye First – youtu.be/EsBpM9IcBts
