Study 11 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel
17
In 588 BC Zedekiah rebelled
against Nebuchadrezzar who, nine years previously, had installed him as
puppet-king of Judah, at the time when Jehoiachim had been taken captive to
Babylon. His rebellion encouraged false
hopes among the exiles of a speedy end to their captivity, but Ezekiel silenced
these with this parable about the eagle, the cedar and the vine. The first eagle (verse 3) was Nebuchadrezzar,
removing the Davidic King Jeha Johoiachin (the cedar twig, verse 4). Those who
remained in Jerusalem under Zedekiah (the vine, verse 6) flourished for a time,
but then turned towards the king of Egypt (the second eagle, verse 7), whose
influence caused them to wither away.
1.
What
sin is the prophet specifically rebuking here?
With verses 13-16, cf. 2 Ch. 36:13; and with verses 7 and 15, cf. Je.
37:5-8.
2.
How
do verses 22-24 show that neither the ambitious designs nor the perfidies of
men can frustrate the purposes of God? Notice the emphatic and repeated ‘I’.
Cf. Pr. 19:21; Is. 46:8-13.
