Ezekiel 17:7

Ezekiel 17:7 says, 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.  This is still a part of the parable or riddle, but it moves to a different aspect of it.  God said there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers, and the vine then shot forth her roots toward this other eagle to be watered by the furrows of her plantation.  The vine had been growing and prospering where it was, but it was not satisfied' Sometimes people who profess to be Christians, and even some who are, become dissatisfied with what God has blessed them with and begin to look to other things to bring them satisfaction.   

Verse eight adds, 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.  Once more, the vine was planted where it could bring forth fruit.  If we are looking to anything other than God to bring us a good life, we may be successful materially, but the question is are we being successful spiritually and bringing forth fruit for God's kingdom.?

Verse nine continues, 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.  God told Ezekiel to ask the people if this vine would then continue to prosper after it had put itself under the provision and protection of another or would it wither.  We will never prosper spiritually if we attempt to live life under the authority of anyone or anything other than God and bring forth fruit for God's kingdom. We will certainly wither if we attempt to grow spiritually by relying on anything other than God to be our source of nourishment. 

Verse ten concludes, 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.  God said that if it were planted in the wrong place that it would wither from the wind in the furrow that it was planted in.  We cannot produce fruit for God if we are not planted in His will. 

Ezekiel 17:1

Ezekiel 17:1 says, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  

Verse two adds, Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;  God’s word came to Ezekiel again, and this time he was told to speak to the people in a riddle and a parable. God had been dealing with the people of Judah and their treachery, but now He is dealing with the king of Judah, Zedekiah, as he dealt treacherously with the king of Egypt in an attempt to throw off the rule of Babylon over Judah.  The way that God provides for forgiveness of sin through the death, burial, and resurrection of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ will always seem like a riddle of God to lost people, and Jesus often taught people with parables. As followers of Christ, salvation should no longer be a riddle to us, and we should understand the parables that the Bible uses to teach us about God.  If we rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of God to us from the scripture, we will always understand its meaning. Of course, this means that we should spend time studying the Bible. God’s holy word.   

Verse three continues, 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:  Ezekiel was not to leave them speculating for long about the meaning of what God was saying to them, but he was soon to tell them the meaning.  God told Ezekiel that this riddle or parable would be about a great eagle who came to Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar.  So far, this could mean many things, so it would be a riddle or parable.  We may not always immediately understand what God is saying to us, but if we remain faithful to Him even if we don’t immediately know what He is saying, then I believe He will give us the answer.   

Verse four states, 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.  Ezekiel was to tell the people that this great eagle cropped off the young twigs and took them to a land of traffic and merchants.  This would be explained later in the chapter, since the people of Judah evidently didn’t understand it when Ezekiel told it to them.  If God speaks to us in parables today, He will not leave us without an understanding of what He means if we are willing to look to Him if we cannot understand what He is saying by our own ability.     

Verse five adds, 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.  This twig was planted in another land and became a fruitful field planted by a great water.  The twig had all it needed to grow and prosper.  We may be but a twig when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, but when we are planted in God's kingdom and allow Him to be the Lord of our life, we will have everything we need to grow spiritually and be fruitful.   

Verse six continues, 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.   Ezekiel was to continue by saying that the twig grew even more and became a vine that brought forth branches and sprigs.   Since we will have the meaning of this explained later, I will not give the explanation of it now.  Sometimes, we may not understand what God is saying to us, but if we are patient, He will help us to understand, even if we cannot reach an understanding of what He is saying by our own ability, which I have already stated.   

Ezekiel 16:60

Ezekiel 16:60 says, Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.  God said that He would remember His covenant with them made when they were first becoming a nation of God’s people, even if they had forgotten it.  When God gives His word, it will never fail to be true, even if people stop believing it. God then said He would establish an everlasting covenant with them, which He did when He sent Jesus Christ to die in their place so that anyone who put their faith in Him would be able to enter into this everlasting covenant.  This covenant would not be based on keeping God’s law, which people were unable to do, but on a personal relationship with God through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, which was always the only way to enter into this everlasting covenant.  Before Jesus Christ came, they had faith in His coming and after He came, they and we have faith in the fact that He came.   

Verse sixty-one adds, Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.  God said when He gave them this new covenant that they would remember their ways and be ashamed and repent and come to Him.  When we come to Jesus Christ by faith and accept Him as our Savior and Lord, we should remember what we were before and be ashamed of it.  God said when He did this, that He would accept them once more.  This was not based on the fact that they were born into the kingdom of Israel but on their putting their faith in His new covenant.  We cannot become a child of God by the fact of where we were born or by our own righteousness but can only come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ.  Faith in Him as our Savior and Lord is the new covenant.   

Verse sixty-two continues, And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:  God said that when He established this new covenant with them that they would know that He is God.  We cannot become a Christian and not know that God is the only God.   

Verse sixty-three concludes, That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.  God said that when they entered into this new covenant that they could no longer boast of their own goodness because they knew the shame that they brought to Him by doing this.  God then said that when they entered into this new covenant that He would be pacified toward them.  It is only through faith in Jesus Christ, the new covenant, that a person can be reconciled to God, and then we should feel shame for what we had been before, but I don’t believe that we should dwell on it.