Ezekiel 17:11

Ezekiel 17:11 says, Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,   

Verse twelve adds, Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;  God’s word continued to come to Ezekiel, and now he was to give them the interpretation of the riddle or parable.  The first thing was that the king of Babylon was to come and take the king, princes, and people of Jerusalem away captive.  God had given them time to repent and they hadn’t, so now He was going to allow them to be taken away captive.  If we do not accept God’s gift of salvation, one day we will be taken away captive by sin and sent away to everlasting punishment.  It will be our choice and not God’s since He made a way to forgiveness when He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die in our place and we refused to accept His gift of salvation by accepting Him as our Savior and Lord.  

Verse thirteen continues, And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:  The king of Babylon was going to make a covenant with Zedekiah and his descendants that they could rule over Judah but they would still be under his authority.  Zedekiah and his descendants would come out fairly well as long as they lived under the authority of the king of Babylon, but they would never come out as good as they would have if they had lived under their covenant with God.  We may look to other powers in the world today to keep us safe and maybe even put us in a position of power under them, but it will be but a temporary thing.   

Verse fourteen states, That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.  The people of Judah would always be under the rule of Babylon and would never be considered their equals. We are always going to be under the authority of either God or Satan, but Satan will always want us to suffer with him, whereas with God, we are seen as joint heirs with Jesus.  This doesn’t mean that we are equal to God, but that loves us as much as He loves Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. This doesn’t mean that we are equal to God, but that loves us just as much as He loves Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son is.   

Verse fifteen adds, But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?  God said that Zedekiah had broken his covenant with Babylon when he sent to Egypt for help in overcoming Babylon.  These were people who were still known as God’s people, but they were looking everywhere but to Him for deliverance.  We may call ourselves a Christian, but if we are looking to the powers of this world to keep us safe instead of living by faith in God, then as the people of Judah came under the wrath of Babylon when they broke their covenant, so will we come under the judgment of God because we have not entered into a true covenant relationship with Him.  

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.