Ezekiel 17, Two Eagles and a Vine

An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Pilgrim’s Progress is a pretty famous lengthy allegory. The allegory Ezekiel relates is about progress, regress, then progress.

The word of Yahweh came to me: 2 “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh 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, 4 he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.

“Nebuchadnezzar…arrived in Jerusalem (here called “Lebanon”) ten years earlier in 597 b.c. The snipped-off sprig of the cedar is King Jehoiachin, who, after a three-month reign, was carried away captive to Babylon, the “city of merchants,” along with his family, other members of Judean nobility, and the prophet Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah (renamed Zedekiah) in his place to secure the loyalty of the throne of Judah to the Babylonians.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary)

5 “‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, 6 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.

7 “‘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. 8 It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’

Zedekiah, however, turned against Babylon, allying himself with Egypt to help him withstand the sure retribution of Babylon. This was, to be sure, a violation of his agreement with Babylon.

9 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh 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. 10 It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?’”

Yahweh makes it clear that Israel will not thrive in this situation, but rather wither away under another judgment from Yahweh.

11 Then the word of Yahweh came to me: 12 “Say to this rebellious people, ‘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. 13 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, 14 so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. 15 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?

16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Yahweh, 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. 17 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. 18 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.

19 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. 20 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. 21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I Yahweh have spoken.

“Zedekiah’s breaking away from Nebuchadnezzar appears to have coincided with the accession of Psammetichus II (595 – 589 b.c.) as king of Egypt. A papyrus from El Hibeh refers to a visit of the pharaoh to Syria-Palestine in his fourth year (591 b.c.), officially as a religious pilgrimage to Byblos. To conduct a pilgrimage under the nose of the Chaldean overlords carried with it a challenge to Babylonian suzerainty, which was not lost on the local rulers of the region. During the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, the Judeans looked to Psammetichus II’s successor Hophra (589 – 570 b.c.) for help, but to no avail (Jer. 37:5 – 7). Egypt did not take up arms to defend its former ally. Zedekiah’s pro-Egyptian policy was not a last-minute strategy concocted out of desperation but a long-lasting tendency of the Jerusalem nobility that both Jeremiah and Ezekiel denounced as fundamentally wrong and hopeless.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary)

22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh 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. 23 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. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I Yahweh 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 Yahweh have spoken, and I will do it.’” (Ezekiel 17)

Despite all this unfaithfulness, Yahweh will once again replant Israel and cause her to thrive. In her all nations of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3).