Ezekiel Chapter 17

Friday, 01/16/26 at 10:27
Solitary Man
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Eze 17:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

By now, you are probably wondering if it is worth it to continue with this mad fellow who fancies himself a writer of biblical commentary. After that soul numbing marathon of chapter 16, will this tediously verbose purveyor of inflated bombasticity subject us once again to an endless interpretation of holy writ? Or having exhausted himself, will he relent and graciously grant us a much needed reprieve, by taking care to not suffocate us in overly enthusiastic renditions of the sacred text?

Well, fear no more. Such a chapter as the previous one is rarely found. I can promise that you will not have to book vacation time in order to complete this next leg of the journey. I will try to be as succinct as I can!

The chapter is composed of 2 prophecies which are closely related. The first one is a parable. The second one interprets the key pieces of the parable, so we are not left guessing. Basically, it is a story of Babylon deposing one Judean king and replacing him with another. He gets a firm commitment from this new puppet king. But this new king decides to go behind Babylon’s back, to try and work some mischief on his own, by seeking out the help of Egypt. Yehovah sees what is going on and pronounces doom on the enterprise. But at the end of the chapter, a great promise is also given, so as not to leave the people entirely without hope.

Without the interpretation of the second prophecy, one might have been hard pressed to come to a consensus on the meaning of the riddle. We would have been left with about as many interpretations as there are commentators. But fortunately for us, this is one of the few places in the bible where the interpretation is given, so we don’t have to sweat it. Indeed, the given interpretation will cause us to choose an explanation for some of the earlier verses that one may not have chosen if left to our own devices.

Eze 17:2 Son of man, put forth a riddle (khee-daw – puzzle, conundrum, dark saying, hard question, maxim), and speak a parable (maw-shawl – pithy maxim, metaphor, simile, proverb) unto the house of Israel;

Notice that the word is for all Israel. I believe that whoever is left in the land is whom God is speaking to, not just Judah, although Judah is all that is left of any Hebrew leadership. You may be the only believer in a certain area, but God still desires to speak to you.

God seems to prefer to speak in parables through his prophets. Jesus had something to say about this:

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

This is another one of those troubling passages. Jesus is clearly saying that truth is only given to certain people. If Jesus sees your heart as full of deceit and guile, he will ensure that what you hear will keep you from understanding rather than the other way around. Conversely, the Holy Spirit is to lead his true disciples into all truth:

Joh_16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The same cannot be said for those who come to him with false motives.

So it is here in the Old Testament also. This is an obscure parable. Certain symbols could easily be interpreted in different ways. Thank God that we don’t have to wrestle too much with the text because subsequent verses shed the light that we need.

Here is a portion of text that could easily be used by a false prophet who speaks to a biblically illiterate crowd. If he only speaks of the first prophecy and omits the second, he can twist this to say whatever he wants. If the hearer did not examine the scripture for himself by reading the entire chapter, they could easily be led astray. Always check out the scripture for yourself, to confirm if what the teacher is saying is actually what the scripture says. Read the parts before and after, to ensure that nothing crucial has been left out. This is why I really like to study the bible verse by verse. Far too much damage has been done by those who teach topically. How do you really know that the little portions of scripture that are preached upon are really interpreted correctly? Does the immediate context say something different? And equally important, have they left out many other scriptures that speak to the same topic, but contradict their preferred interpretation?

If we wish to extract a modern day application from this parable, it would go something like this: As Judah was taken captive by Babylon, so has the church been taken captive by the Babylonian system. Looking to Egypt for help is looking back from whence you came out. It is going backward into the old life to find the answers on how to escape the bondage that you are currently in, in this new world order. If you look back to natural human reasoning and what the herd is doing, you will end up doing what most of the church did during the covid lockdown. That is, you will go along with the wicked governments, ignorantly participating in the depopulation and the genocide. Egypt never has the answer to your current situation. Never go backward into the old life and way of living and thinking. Always look forward to the promise, even as Judah was instructed to look to the promise at the end of this chapter.

Eze 17:3 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:

If we would skip to verse 12 and onwards, we would understand that this great eagle is Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon. He is said to have great wings, which have a very long reach. This infers that his kingdom touches all the known world. The divers colors represent all the various nations and tribes under his dominion. Other scriptures speak of Nebuchadnezzar as an eagle:

Jer 48:40 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.

Jer 49:22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Daniel spoke of the 1st of 4 great kingdoms (Babylon) with eagle imagery:

Dan 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

Now Lebanon provides some confusion. Situated on Israel’s northern border, the bible does use this name as symbolic of Jerusalem, due to the fact that the temple and other government structures were houses built of cedar. I think the best explanation as to why God chose to speak of Jerusalem with this fairly obscure moniker was that eagles frequent mountains, not cities.

1Ki 5:5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.
1Ki 5:6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

1Ki 7:1 But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
1Ki 7:2 He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

Solomon made the cedars of Lebanon and the temple and palaces of the king synonymous.

Foreign kings could refer to Judah and Jerusalem by the name of Lebabon, as Sennacherib, king of Assyria, did in this passage:

2Ki 19:21 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
2Ki 19:22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
2Ki 19:23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.

While Sennacherib boasted of cutting down the tall trees of Lebanon, he was speaking of destroying the temple of Jerusalem and all its other magnificent palaces.

Even the kings of Israel and Judah spoke of their lands as Lebanon:

2Ch_25:18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.

So what this verse is saying is that Nebby (short for Nebuchadnezzar, as I am tired of typing this guy’s name out!) was the king of most of the world at this time. He came to Lebanon (Jerusalem and Judah), and carried away its highest branch of the cedar tree. That would be king Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, who was only 18 at the time. In his place he installed Zedekiah as his puppet king.

Eze 17:4 He cropped off (plucked, stripped) the top of his young twigs (saplings), and carried it into a land of traffick (ken-ah-an – Canaan, merchant, also to humiliate); he set it in a city of merchants (raw-kal – to travel for trading).

The cropping off the top, or best, of the young twigs, refers to the fact that Nebby not only carried away the king to Babylon, but certain important members of the royal family, as well as many prominent nobles.

2Ki 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
2Ki 24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
2Ki 24:12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
2Ki 24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
2Ki 24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
2Ki 24:15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Ki 24:16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
2Ki 24:17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

The above was the 2nd deportation of 597 BC. The first was back in 605, the 3rd and last would occur at the fall of Jerusalem in 586.

This verse also contains another perfect teaching moment in bible interpretation. The King James translators have correctly translated the word ken-ah-an in this instance not as one would normally translate it as Canaan, but as traffick. If one would insist on using the most common meaning in this instance, the verse would make no sense. How could Jeconiah be carried into the land of Canaan, when he was already in the original land of Canaan? No, the following phrase helps to confirm the interpretation of traffick, as it is also described not only as the land of traffick, or merchandise, but as a city (not a country) of merchants. Babylon was world renowned for its commerce. Jeconiah was carried to the city best known for its trading. They were the New York stock exchange of its era. Remember God is speaking in riddles. It is up to the listener to guess what these symbols represent. Fortunately, God gives us a cheat sheet later on the chapter (yay!).

Eze 17:5 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 (from a root meaning to overflow).

The seed of the land refers to the fact that instead of installing a foreign ruler not of the blood of the Hebrews, he chose a Judean to rule in his place. At this time, Nebby had left Judah relatively unmolested, so that it could still produce crops and other things in abundance.

One may wonder exactly what God is referring to when he speaks of great waters and fruitful fields. Since this is a riddle, you need to go back and find some reference in scripture:

Deu 8:7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
Deu 8:8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
Deu 8:9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

God calls the land of Canaan, which God is giving to the Hebrews, a land of brooks of water, and abundant produce. A land that has no lack of any good thing. Even the mention of a willow tree has meaning. It comes from a root meaning to overflow, and is always planted by an abundance of water. Thus God is speaking of the land of Israel, specifically Judah. In other words, he is still going to allow the residue of people to remain in this fruitful land.

Eze 17:6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low (humble) 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 (boughs, foliage).

The image of a flourishing vine was intended to show God’s will for Judah at this time. Against all human reasoning, God wanted Judah to be a humble and lowly kingdom, as a vine that grows along the ground, rather than a cedar that reaches the heights. The branches were to face Babylon, being under their rule. But at least the roots were under the feet of Zedekiah, signifying that he was still in his own land. This plant was to grow and flourish, in the limited way God intended.

This was the shaw-fat, or decree of judgment that God had intended for Judah at the outset of Zedekiah’s reign at 597 BC. If they would have simply accepted the punishment of their iniquity, as Leviticus commanded them to, then total destruction would have been averted.

Lev 26:40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
Lev 26:41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Lev 26:42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

But in their blindness, pride and arrogance, I suppose they thought of themselves as God’s special people, where the rules of sin and judgment did not apply like it did to the Gentiles. Their false prophets kept preaching victory and restoration. Sort of like what we hear today. The foundation of the damnable prosperity gospel, and all her evil offspring, is the lie that God will only do good things to his people, and never anything evil. This prevents any repentance, which guarantees that God will not be able to help us, since we have chosen not to obey Lev 26:41. If you refuse to accept God’s chastisement, you have chosen death.

Eze 17:7 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 (planting).

We see in verse 15 that this new eagle refers to Egypt. It is not described as a bird with divers colors, as it did not rule over many nations. It had a measure of power, but was not a superpower like Babylon. The vine of Judah thirsted after this new eagle, and turned away from Babylon and toward Egypt. She sent ambassadors there to see if they would aid Judah in rebelling and breaking away from Babylon, even though this chapter says that Zedekiah gave his word that he would serve Babylon.

According to natural human reasoning, would it not be logical to assume that God would always want his children to be free? That his will would always be for his children to not be subject to some godless, pagan ruler? You would think so. Do not all those American patriots speak of freedom as sort of the highest virtue attainable by man?

Normally, yes. Generally speaking, yes. But not always. Life is full of many complex factors that are always interacting with one another. In this case, the judgment of God decreed certain punishments for his people. It was God’s will that for the next 70 years, Judah was to be in subjection to Babylon (from 605 BC to 536 BC). At this point, Yahweh was willing to let this large remnant remain in the land, and keep their temple, as long as they submitted fully to Babylon’s yoke. But these sinful rulers just could not accept the humiliation of being a vassal state. They thought that God’s people should never be in bondage again. They fully embraced the heretical ‘seven mountains of influence’ theology that so plagues our charismatic churches today. They were fed with only one side of the story. That God always wanted his people to be the head, and not the tail. They were not told about the righteous judgments of the Lord. They could not differentiate between God’s perfect will, which he desired for all his children, if they perfectly obeyed, and his actual, moment by moment will, which reflected the reality on the ground.

God always takes into account our current spiritual condition. His will then adjusts accordingly. The most important thing is not to maintain our comfort, but to get us back on track. That, and ensuring that every sin receives a just recompence. Justice must always be served. If you refuse to receive the atonement, whether by animal sacrifice prior to the cross, or the blood of Jesus after the cross, then God would ensure that you personally paid the price for your folly. So if it was time to pay the price, it did not matter what the bible said in regard to those who were assumed to be walking in obedience. That was not their reality, so those verses of blessing were irrelevant. Thus it is the same for us today. Forget about all those blessing verses. We have sinned grievously, and have refused to repent as we should. Your 7 mountains of influence are about as meaningless and irrelevant as you can get, when the consequences for your behavior have been set in motion.

Zedekiah was willing to make alliance with anyone and everyone in order to be free of this yoke. This represents the believer who will not submit to correction and chastisement. When the negative things begin to occur, they resent it, and often go back to Egypt to try and obtain relief. Egypt is a type of the word, a type of where the fallen man came from before he gave his life to Christ.

If the pain comes, pray. If there is sin, repent. If there is no sin, try and discern if there is anything you need to do. When all is said and done, it is often the case that you might find yourself in a Job like situation, ie, where the voice of God is silent for a season, to accomplish whatever purpose God has in mind.

Eze 17:8 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.

It was Yehovah himself who had taken this once mighty cedar of Lebanon (Judah and Jerusalem), and brought it low as a vine, due to sin. But Yehovah had assigned his servant Nebby to oversee this vine, and he placed Zedekiah as his servant to watch over it. Nebby had no real desire to destroy this vine. All he wanted was for it to be subject to him, and to produce the required fruit in its season, so Nebby and Babylon could benefit thereof. The land was left in good shape, and was still poised to bring forth abundance.

Eze 17:9 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 (torn off branches), even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.

But since this vine decided to try and obtain its water from another source, Yehovah promises that it shall not succeed. Yehovah himself shall cut this vine off from any water, by pulling up its roots until it dies. Yehovah will send just a small portion of Babylon’s armed forces, and within the space of one and a half years, Jerusalem would crumble.

Eze 17:10 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.

Apparently a north east wind was very hurtful to vines, and Babylon is always stated as coming from the north, except here, where east is the direction mentioned. Thus, one would take them together to signify a northeast wind, which would fit the context of a riddle.

Eze 17:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Thankfully, in this instance God provides us with an interpretation of the riddle.

Eze 17:12 Say now to the rebellious (mer-ee – bitter) house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon (baw-bel – confusion) is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon (baw-bel);

Most likely Ezekiel propounded this riddle to the elders in Babylon. While they were still scratching their heads, Yehovah decides that either these people are too wicked and stupid to figure this out accurately, or that he simply wants to make sure that his words are perfectly understood. So he gives them the interpretation.

Right off the bat, Yehovah wants them to understand that they are rebellious. Even as everything that they have done up to this point is in rebellion to God, so will be Zedekiah’s actions when he decides to break faith and try to double cross Babylon. The idea of rebelliousness seems to also carry the idea of bitterness. And certainly anyone who rebels against God’s commands would have some level of bitterness that goes along with it. In other words, a happy, peaceful fellow does not rebel against God!

God taunts them by saying can’t you even comprehend this simple riddle? Well, I’ll spell it out for you. The great eagle is the king of Babylon. He has lopped off the highest branch of the cedar (the king of Judah Jeconiah), and he cropped off many of the young twigs (the princes), and took them away to Babylon.

Eze 17:13 And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant (ber-eeth – cutting, pass between the flesh) with him, and hath taken an oath (aw-law – imprecation, curse, swearing) of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:

Nebby then took the king’s seed, or of his bloodline (Zedekiah), and cut a solemn covenant with him. Zedekiah was made to swear an oath. He also removed the wealthy and the influential of the land, so that no real strong leadership was left in the land to stir up trouble.

This is crucial for us to understand. Our stupid allowing of ourselves to be reprogrammed by all the media we listen to has really ruined us. For example, instead of being grateful that God gave America a great leader such as Trump, far too many Christians want to nitpick and find something negative to say about him. If someone has proven himself to be on the side of righteousness, we are commanded to support them with everything we’ve got. Christians should be the best citizens, not the most unreliable. Why do we listen to every moron with a keyboard and a youtube account? Why are we so negative all the time? Why do we rebel against the commandment of the Lord, when the word clearly tells us that love thinketh no evil (1 Cor 13:5). That is, stop going out of your way to fault find.

I keep getting emails from fools who are trying to convince me that Charlie Kirk’s assassination was some sort of a false flag, or that his wife killed him. I immediately delete such demon inspired nonsense. If they try to write a second time, I permanently block them. Dear God, he sends us spiritual champions, such as the world has not seen in ages, and our wicked hearts are more interested in hearing and embracing every unsubstantiated rumor and gossip out there. I for one want no part of it.

Eze 17:14 That the kingdom might be base (humble, lowly), that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant (ber-eeth) it might stand.

Part of this oath that Zedekiah swore involved the fact that he promised not to do anything to try and restore Judah to it former glory. He willingly agreed that at this time, Judah would remain in subjection to Babylon. It would not lift itself up, that is, it would not rebel. And if Zedekiah had doubts as to if this was God’s will, God had given him the prophet Jeremiah, who had told him again and again that this was the only way to escape further punishment.

Eze 17:15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors (mal-awk – messengers, angel) 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 (violate) the covenant, and be delivered (escape)?

But this wicked man could not start to obey God at this late stage. A lifetime of rebellion left a soul that would not submit to God’s righteous decrees. It was easy to find an excuse for his treachery. Judah should not be subject to the pagan. His political supporters all wanted him to explore every option. Together, Egypt and he were more than a match for those upstart world rulers in Babylon. And I am sure more delusional thoughts such as these crossed his mind. But in the end, it all comes down to the heart. A wicked heart simply wants to do the opposite of what God wants. If God had told him to rebel against Babylon tomorrow, then tomorrow he would have submitted to them. That is what sin does to us. It makes us contrary to the will of God in all things.

Note here that God expects Zedekiah to honor his word. It does not matter that he swore an oath with a pagan. That does not exempt him. Muslims teach that any agreement made with an infidel is non binding. That is because their god is satan, and treachery is one of his most beloved commandments. But the child of God is never to be like that. I am sure that Zedekiah felt that he had no choice when he made that deal, feeling it was made under duress. Nevertheless, that did not excuse him in the eyes of the Lord. Especially since God had made it crystal clear through his true prophets that this was his will for him at this time. But what is God’s will in comparison to political pressure? Just like king Saul, Zedekiah must have reasoned within himself that his political situation was very unstable and precarious. If the rich and powerful wanted him to see if Egypt could help him break this deal, then what could it hurt to try?

God called it rebellion. Trying to get military aid, when he gave his word to peacefully submit, was treason. God asks if such a one really believes that he will prosper? Shall he escape the consequence of his actions? Can you actually break a solemn covenant, and think nothing bad shall happen?

This word reiterates the seriousness of vows. Jesus spoke of not vowing anything, because the breaking of one is far more serious than most of us realize. Our words are now so full of anything but the pure truth. God considers breaking your word as something with far more dire consequences than most of us understand. God says such a one shall not escape. They will not escape God’s notice, and they shall not escape the just punishment that is due.

Eze 17:16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king (to reign), whose oath (aw-law) he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

This is a prediction that this Zedekiah will be dragged off the Babylon, the place where Nebby resides, the one whose oath Zedekiah despised, the one with whom he broke the covenant, there he shall be dragged off to die. This king Zedekiah had his chance. God set him up so that he could have remained in Jerusalem the rest of this days. He would never have had to worry about anything of a military nature ever again. Babylon would have provided all the protection that he ever needed. But no, he could not accept his fate. No, he could not accept this righteous and lenient judgment of the Lord. He had to rebel. And so he would pay for it with his life. In fact, he would also be blinded before being dragged off to Babylon. God left that little tidbit out of this word, though he did predict that in Jeremiah’s prophecies.

Eze 17:17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by (when) casting up mounts (mounds), and building forts (battering towers), to cut off (kaw-rath – to cut a covenant) many persons:

No matter what the current tech level of Pharaoh’s army, God will not let it prosper. This is why a nation such as America needs to be particularly cognizant of its spiritual condition, as it is far too easy to rely on one’s technological superiority to protect you. As we have seen, it mattered not that America was the world’s only superpower. God has decided to destroy it primarily from within, at least thus far.

A technical point is made by more than one commentary in that casting up mounds and building battering towers is something an attacking force does, not one that is defending. They deal with this in two ways. First, they say that a better translation would be to say ‘when they cast up mounts, etc’, implying that Pharaoh’s army shall be of no help when Babylon is besieging Jerusalem. Or, one would read the implied meaning into the text as ‘instead of Pharaoh doing these military maneuvers, Babylon will do these things, in order to cut off all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

I would translate it as follows:

When Babylon besieges Jerusalem with siege mounds and battering towers, to cut off all the inhabitants of Jerusalem from help, Pharaoh and his mighty army shall be of no help.

Eze 17:18 Seeing he despised the oath (aw-law) by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.

The reason why God will not step in and help Judah is because of this treacherous king Zedekiah. He swore an oath, and now he has broken it. He has despised the covenant that he cut. It does not matter to whom you have given your word, God expects you to honor it.

Psa_15:4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

God honors those who keep their word, even if it costs them dearly to do so.

Eze 17:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath (aw-law) that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken (violated), even it will I recompense upon his own head.

Yahweh considers this oath and this covenant that Zedekiah swore to as his very own, as this was the express will of the Lord at this time. Rebellion against Nebby was considered as rebellion against the Lord himself. Another instance of where one sort of sin is accounted as another. One could say that rebellion to Nebby was as apostasy from the Lord himself.

Funny how quick we all are to claim all the positive promises found in the bible as somehow our own, but no one ever claims promises such as these, which are as sure of coming to pass as any other. God will recompense this king for his oath breaking. He had to watch his sons get executed before his eyes. Then his own eyes were put out. Then he was dragged off to Babylon. Then he was imprisoned for the rest of his miserable life. Then, most likely, he ended up in hell.

Now I ask you, is it worth it to not keep your word? Would you really risk a punishment such as this, just for a momentary easing of your circumstance? In Zedekiah’s case, his treachery did not produce any positive result, but simply hastened his own, and Judah’s demise.

Eze 17:20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead (shaw-fat – judge, pronounce sentence) with him there for his trespass (maw-al – treachery, his coverup) that he hath trespassed (maw-al) against me.

God continues to elaborate on this man’s punishment. It was not the soldiers of Babylon that caught him as he tried to flee Jerusalem secretly at the end of the siege. No, it was God himself who claims the credit. While God mostly works through natural circumstances, that does not make it any the less divine. Sometimes we are too caught up in our obsession to see something supernatural. Learn the principles taught in the bible, and sharpen your discernment of seeing God move in your day to day life. It does not always have to be a trumpet of heaven, announcing his next plan for you.

This man’s treachery has the idea of a coverup associated with it. It’s bad enough when we wilfully sin, it’s worse when we try to hide it. We may be able to hide it before men for a season, but forget it if you think you can hide it from God.

Remember, you may think you are breaking faith with a man. But here God says that you are breaking faith with him. I am sure that Zedekiah swore an oath in the name of his God. To go back on that oath is to blaspheme his name. That is a far worse sort of blasphemy than the odd swear word that you may throw out when you stub your toe, for instance (though it’s always better to praise the Lord than to curse the darkness)!

Eze 17:21 And all his fugitives (refugees) with all his bands (crowd of troops) shall fall by the sword, and they that remain (the remnant) shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.

Jeremiah speaks of this event:

Jer 52:6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
Jer 52:7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.
Jer 52:8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

God is nothing but precise, is he not? He knows exactly what is coming. He does not always give us the details of future events, such that we can accurately discern how things are going to take place. Often the language used is such that only after the fact do we recognize a prophecy fulfilled. In this case the language is fairly clear. Thus Zedekiah’s closest advisers, and his personal bodyguard, tried to sneak away, but to no avail. Yahweh had earmarked them for capture and slaughter, and so it came to pass.

Eze 17:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs (branch) a tender one (weak, soft one), and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent (elevated):

Yahweh now shifts gears by speaking a ‘thus saith the Lord God’, indicating that this verse is beginning an entirely new thought, and is not to be directly connected to the old. In other words, the riddle is now over, and though I (Yahweh) am using similar language, I am now going to speak about something different. It will relate to the story just told, but is of an entirely different aspect.

God is going to take the highest branch of the highest cedar, indicating the best of the best. God will set it in its proper place, implying that no man shall annul this action. God will take one twig or branch from this high cedar a young, tender one, a branch that would even be considered weak in the eyes of men. But God will plant it upon a high mountain, in contrast to this current lowly vine, which is crawling along on the ground.

The highest cedar would refer to the kingly line of Judah, and God will take a weak one (in man’s eyes) from that most eminent line. Remember Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s father’s brother. Not the first choice in kingly succession. God is saying he will make the proper choice, from the most appropriate and worthy line of the Davidic lineage. While Judah was once a tall cedar, this so called weak one will be placed on a mountain top, higher than any previous ruler was ever placed.

Of course, this prophecy is speaking of Jesus. He was a humble man, without any secular authority or power, as previous Davidic kings held. We all remember how Isaiah described him:

Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

He was called a tender plant. He was despised and rejected of men. No one would have looked at Jesus on the cross and considered him a great king, the greatest king of all time. Yet, such is the paradox of the kingdom of God. From lowliness comes elevation. From meekness comes power. From humility comes strength. From suffering and servanthood comes authority and dominion. All that and more shall be displayed at his second coming.

Eze 17:23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs (branches), and bear fruit, and be a goodly (excellent, worthy) cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

Jesus will forever be associated with the nation of Israel. He will come from Israel, and will eventually reign from Israel. But the amazing thing is the fruit that he shall bring. Not only shall the cedar of Lebanon (Israel) be restored, but under its shadow shall all the Gentiles (fowls of every wing) find refuge. Only in the shadows of this Jewish Messiah shall we find everlasting life. Only if we are ‘grafted in’, can we find shelter.

For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone who thinks that they belong to Yahweh can spend any time or energy on denouncing the Jew. And by that I mean spreading lies about Israel, and propagating hatred toward any aspect of Israel itself. Why do you even care what the Israeli government chooses to do? Do you honestly think that Israel has such infinite power, that they control every decision that America makes, through their lobbying, or whatever nefarious, nebulous, control that they magically wield?

What utter rubbish. What nonsensical babble. I suppose you also believe in a flat earth, and that the moon landing was faked, and that there is a secret planet called Nibaru where the lizard people come from. Well, go ahead and believe. I really don’t care. It does not affect me one whit.

It is one thing to believe something that the bible is silent on. But when the bible clearly states the love that God has for his people Israel, and how none can be saved apart of entering into the new covenant that God made with the Jew, and you decide to focus your energy on lying about, and hating the Jew, then you are simply insane.

I dwell under the shadow of the cedar of Lebanon. The branch himself.

Isa_4:2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

Isa_11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

Isa_60:21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

Jer_23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Jer_33:15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

Zec_3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

Zec_6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

Eze 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green (moist) tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.

All the trees of the field represent all the kingdoms of this world. Every power, every sovereign, shall ultimately bend the knee to the king of kings and the lord of lords. Yehovah himself is the one who humbles the proud, raises the lowly, extinguishes the haughty, and rekindles the oppressed. You can take these phrases to mean many such things as what I have just stated.

This utter sovereignty over the affairs of man is something that many give lip service to, but few truly believe. The church mostly speaks of the blessing side of God, but not the cursing side. But the truth of the matter is that he destroys as much as he builds. He damns as much as he saves. He condemns as much as he justifies.

While Judah continues to make the wrong decision at every turn, at least Yahweh promises that one day, someone will come who will be truly exalted, and set all things in their proper place.

Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com