Ezekiel 17 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Ezekiel 17 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• We aren’t given an exact date for the revelation given to Ezekiel in chapter 17. It seems safe to assume it was in the same year or shortly after the vision of chapters 8-11, which would date it to 591 BC.

• Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:

  • Amon (642-640 BC)

  • Josiah (640-609 BC)

  • Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)

  • Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)

  • Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)

  • Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)

WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY

• Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.

• Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.

• Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.

• Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.

• Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.

• Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.

• Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.

• Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.

• Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.

• Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.  

• Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.

• Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.

• Ezekiel 15 – God compared the citizens of Jerusalem to useless vine wood that was good for nothing except to burn.

• Ezekiel 16 – God compared his people to a young woman who he had raised and cared for. When she grew up, she turned her back on God and prostituted herself with foreign nations and idols.

OUTLINE:

• PARABLE OF THE GREAT EAGLES (17:1-10):

  • God told Ezekiel to speak a parable to his people.

  • There were two great eagles.

  • The 1st eagle broke off the top of a cedar tree and brought it to a land of trade and a city of merchants.

  • Then it planted seed in a fertile land by flowing water.

  • The seed produced a vine, the vine flourished, it’s branches grew, and they reached out to the eagle.

  • But then the 2nd eagle approached, and the vine turned its back on the 1st eagle and stretched out its branches to the 2nd.

  • Ezekiel was to ask the people about the response of the 1st eagle. Would he let the vine thrive even though it betrayed him?

  • The answer was obvious; the 1st eagle would take offense and tear up the vine.

• THE MEANING OF THE PARABLE (17:11-21):

  • Ezekiel was to tell the people that the 1st eagle represented Babylon.

  • Babylon would come to Jerusalem and take their king captive.

  • In his place, Babylon planted something new, a new king (Zedekiah), who was to rule over a humble vine of a nation (Judah).

  • But Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon and secretly courted the affections of a second eagle (Egypt).

  • Zedekiah broke his covenant with Babylon, and because of it Babylon was going to destroy Jerusalem and take Zedekiah away as their prisoner.

  • While true that Zedekiah would break his covenant with Babylon, his greatest crime was his disrespect for Judah’s covenant with God.

  • God said of Zedekiah, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me” (17:19-20).

• THE BRANCH THAT GOD WILL PLANT (17:22-24):

  • God foretold that one day He would take a branch (twig, 17:22) from the top of a cedar and plant it on a mountain in Israel.

  • The branch would grow into a “noble cedar,” it would grow large, and become a home for birds.

  • This noble cedar represents the work of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. It would surpass all other trees.

  • God would “bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree,” which is exactly what Mary sang when she was told she would be the mother of the Messiah.

  • “He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate” (Luke 1:51-52).

APPLICATION:

• This is yet another occasion in the Bible that we see the Messiah (Jesus) prophesied and presented as a branch.

• In Ezekiel 17, He is the cedar branch that grows into a noble tree.

• In Isa 11:1, He is the shoot from the stump of Jesse (father of King David).

• In Isa 4:2, He is the beautiful and glorious Branch of the Lord.

• In Isa 53:2, He is the tender plant and a root out of dry ground.

• In Jer 23:5, He is the righteous Branch that will rule as king to uphold righteousness and justice.

• In Jer 33:15, He is the Branch from the family of David.

• This language about the Messiah also appears in Zechariah (see Zec 3:8; 6:12).