Ezkiel Chapter 17
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell the house of Israel 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.
" 'He took some of the seed of your 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.'
"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. Even if it is transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?' "
Then the word of the LORD came to me: "Say to this rebellious house, '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. 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. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.
" 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, I will bring down on his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there because he was unfaithful to me. All his fleeing troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken.
" 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
" 'I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.' "
10 comments:
This reads better.
Eze 17:1 And the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
Eze 17:2 “Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Yisra’ĕl.
Eze 17:3 “And you shall say, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “The great eagle with large wings of long pinions, covered with feathers of various colours, came to Leḇanon and took the top of the cedar.
Eze 17:4 “He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of traders. In a city of merchants he placed it.
Eze 17:5 “He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a field for seed. He took it by many waters, set it like a willow tree.
Eze 17:6 “So it grew and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, and its roots were under it. And it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and sent out shoots.
Eze 17:7 “And there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers. And see, this vine bent its roots toward him, and stretched its branches toward him, to water it, away from the beds where it was planted.
Eze 17:8 “It was planted in a good field by many waters, to bring forth branches, and to bear fruit, to be a splendid vine.” ’
Eze 17:9 “Say, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “Is it going to thrive? Is he not going to pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, and let it wither? All of its sprouting leaves wither, without great power or many people, to pluck it up by its roots.
Eze 17:10 “See, it is planted, is it going to thrive? Would it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it – wither in the beds where it grows?” ’ ”
Eze 17:11 And the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
Eze 17:12 “Please say to the rebellious house, ‘Do you not know what these mean?’ Say, ‘See, the sovereign of Baḇel went to Yerushalayim and took its sovereign and heads, and brought them with him to Baḇel.
Eze 17:13 ‘And he took one of the royal seed, and made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. And he took away the mighty of the land,
Eze 17:14 so that the reign would be brought low and not lift itself up, but guard his covenant, that it might stand.
Eze 17:15 ‘But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Mitsrayim, to give him horses and many people. Shall he thrive? Shall he escape who is doing these? And shall he break a covenant and still escape?
Eze 17:16 ‘As I live,’ declares the Master יהוה, ‘in the place where the sovereign dwells who set him up to reign, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, with him in the midst of Baḇel he shall die!
Eze 17:17 ‘And Pharaoh with his great army and great company is not going to help him in battle, when they heap up a siege mound and build a wall to cut off many beings.
Eze 17:18 ‘And he despised the oath by breaking the covenant. And see, he has given his hand and he has done all this, he is not going to escape.’ ”
Eze 17:19 Therefore thus said the Master יהוה, “As I live, My oath which he has despised, and My covenant which he has broken, shall I not put it on his own head?
Eze 17:20 “And I shall spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. And I shall bring him to Baḇel and enter into judgment with him there for the trespass which he committed against Me,
Eze 17:21 and all his fugitives with all his bands fall by the sword, and those who are left be scattered to every wind. And you shall know that I, יהוה, have spoken.”
Eze 17:22 Thus said the Master יהוה, “And I shall take of the top of the highest cedar and set it out. And I Myself shall pluck off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
Eze 17:23 “On the mountain height of Yisra’ĕl I plant it. And it shall bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a big cedar. And under it shall dwell birds of every sort, in the shadow of its branches they shall dwell.
Eze 17:24 “And all the trees of the field shall know that I, יהוה, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish. I, יהוה, have spoken and shall do it.”
Tetragrammaton fan?
Thank you both for the comment.
This is four Hebrew letters (Yod, He, Waw and He) called
"Tetragrammaton". The four characters are the four Hebrew letters that correspond to YHWH and are transliterated IAUE or Yahweh. Yahweh is the name of the Almighty Father in Heaven that people commonly call "The LORD" or "God". The reason we see "LORD" and "God" in our bibles is because of a Jewish tradition that the name Yahweh was not to be spoken for fear that the name be blasphemed. However, the scriptures declare that His name should be exalted (e.g. Ps 68:4) and the third commandment forbids this practice. The Preface of some bibles will admit why they change His name. Nearly all will cite tradition and familiarity as the reason. This, I believe is wrong. Sometimes people pronounce the tetragrammaton as "Jehovah". But Jehovah could never be the right pronunciation. On this web site, the name of Yahweh is used in reference to the Heavenly Father because in the scriptures we are told to praise, exalt, bless, love, teach, preach, anoint, assemble, believe, give thanks, honor and call on His name
I think this is an important parable that is yet unfulfilled.
I think the Two eagles are the two babylons. King Nebachadnezzer's babylon and then later the babylon of Revelation Chapter 18.
I think the "tender shoot" is Israel as it becomes a large presence in the future of the world.
Jerusalem will become the "praise of the Earth", "like the dawn".
We must take all these verses together, that we may have the parable and the explanation of it at one view before us, because they will illustrate one another.
The prophet is appointed to put forth a riddle to the original audience (v. 2), not to puzzle them, as Samson's riddle was put forth to the Philistines, not to hide the mind of God from them in obscurity, or to leave them in uncertainty about it, one advancing one conjecture and another, as is usual in expounding riddles; no, he is immediately to tell them the meaning of it. Let him that speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret (1 Corinthians 14).
But he must deliver this message in a riddle or parable that they might take the more notice of it, might be the more affected with it themselves, and might the better remember it and tell it to others. For these reasons God often used similitudes by his servants the prophets, and Christ himself opened his mouth in parables. Riddles and parables are used for an amusement to ourselves and an entertainment to our friends. The prophet must make use of these to see if in this dress the things of God might find acceptance, and insinuate themselves into the minds of a careless people.
Note, pastors today should study to find out acceptable words, and try various methods to do good; and, as far as they have reason to think will be for edification, should both bring that which is familiar into their preaching and their preaching too into their familiar discourse, that there may not be so vast a dissimilitude as with some there is between what they say in the pulpit and what they say out.
He is appointed to expound this riddle to the rebellious house, v. 12. Though being rebellious they might justly have been left in ignorance, to see and hear and not perceive, yet the thing shall be explained to them: Know you not what these things mean? Those that knew the story, and what was now in agitation, might make a shrewd guess at the meaning of this riddle, but, that they might be left without excuse, he is to give it to them in plain terms, stripped of the metaphor. But the enigma was first propounded for them to study on awhile, and to send to their friends at Jerusalem, that they might enquire after and expect the solution of it some time after.
Ah but I think Samson's Riddle was also prophetic.
Judges 14:14
"14 He replied,
"Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet."
My thoughts on Samson's Riddle are:
Out of the eater (Israel)
Something to eat (the Word)
Out of the strong (Christ)
Something sweet (Salvation)
I believe the Word speaks to us in many ways like a diamond shining in the brilliant sunlight. There are layers of truths that unfold from the Holy Spirit. I agree with you that all of these truths must line up with SCRIPTURE.
What I meant to say was that this riddle is meant to confuse, but is still solved by the Philistines, right in the same text (the same chapter, v. 18):
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,"What is sweeter than honey?What is stronger than a lion?"And he said to them,"If you had not plowed with my heifer,you would not have found out my riddle."
Samson accepts this answer and that they had won the wager, though he had good reason to dispute it, because they had not solved it as the bargained in verse 12, but he gave it to them anyway.
Where do you get license to just pull out your own meaning? The Holy Spirit brings understanding, not layered truth, whatever that means.
John 14:25-27
"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
The Holy Spirit gives insight and discernment in the study of the Word of God.
When one studies the Bible, God's truths present themselves.
I'm not saying my interuptation of Samson's Riddle is meant as a source for teaching.
It is just that I see a parallel in the scripture to match what's happened since that riddle was written. That is just MY opinion.
As for your other comment, I will gather my thoughts and reply later.
I should have added the Lion of Judah to this riddle.
My thoughts on Samson's Riddle are:
Out of the eater
(Israel the Lion of Judah)
Something to eat
(the Word)
Out of the strong
(Christ)
Something sweet
(Salvation)
Post a Comment