This message addressed another objection to the destruction of Jerusalem that the exiles entertained. The preceding parable placed much emphasis on Jerusalem's long history of unfaithfulness to the Lord's marriage covenant with her. Was the Lord fair in destroying Jerusalem now since former generations of Judahites had been unfaithful? The present parable clarified that Judah's recent leaders were also unfaithful and worthy of divine judgment.245
17:1-2 The Lord directed Ezekiel to present a riddle (Heb. hidah, allegory, enigmatic saying) and a parable (Heb. mashal, proverb, comparison) to his audience of Jewish exiles.
"It is a riddle in that its meaning needs to be explained; there is a deeper meaning which underlies the figurative form, for something in its presentation is obscure. It is a parable in that it is an allegory."246
"A riddle' . . . was commonly used in international politics between kings . . . If one failed to answer the riddle of the other, he might be called on to submit to him as a vassal. In some cases he might even be put to death."247
The purpose for using riddles was apparently to test the intelligence or cleverness of the hearer (cf. Judg. 14:12-19; 1 Kings 10:1; 2 Chron. 9:1; Matt. 13).248
"This allegory differs from others Ezekiel was commanded to tell his audience because of its opaqueness, so he was to tell it as a riddle (v. 2)."249
17:3-6 In this riddle, a powerful and impressive eagle came to Lebanon, cropped off the top of one of its famous cedar trees, and carried these twigs to a land of merchants and a city of traders. This eagle also took some of the seed from Lebanon and planted it in fertile soil near a body of water so it would flourish, like a willow tree (cf. Isa. 44:4). This seed sprouted and became a low, spreading vine (cf. 15:1-8) that sent out branches upward toward the eagle and roots downward.
Lebanon was an alternative name for the land of Canaan that emphasized its great beauty and fruitfulness (cf. Josh. 1:4; 2 Kings 14:9). The Lord evidently used it here because He wanted to develop the idea of a bird plucking the top off a tree, and this was more typical in Lebanon than in Israel because of Lebanon's many cedar trees.
17:7-8 Another large eagle, not quite as glorious as the first, came along. The vine reached out with its branches and roots toward it so this eagle might water it. The vine did this even though it was growing in good soil with abundant water nearby, enough to make it a luxuriant and fruitful plant.
17:9-10 The Lord asked if the owner of such a vine would not pull it out of its soil and cause it to wither and become unfruitful. Nothing that anyone could do could cause such a vine to recover its original health and fruitfulness after such treatment (cf. vv. 22-24). Even though its roots were still in the ground it would not thrive. The hot east wind would easily wither it where it grew (cf. 19:12; Job 27:12; Isa. 27:8; Hos. 13:15).
17:11-12 Ezekiel was now to tell his rebellious hearers what this story represented.250The first eagle stood for the king of Babylon (cf. Jer. 48:40; 49:22; Dan. 7:4). His invasion of Jerusalem (the specific identity of the Lebanon in the riddle, v. 3) devastated the land like a hot east wind (v. 10).
In Scripture the eagle is often a figure used to describe God as a powerful being that comes swiftly to judge, as an eagle swoops down quickly to snatch in flight an unsuspecting mouse or fish (cf. Deut. 28:49; Isa. 46:11; Jer. 48:40; 49:22). In this case the eagle represented God's instrument of judgment, Nebuchadnezzar, who had invaded Jerusalem, cropped off the Judean king, Jehoiachin (the top of the cedar tree, v. 3), and his advisers (the topmost of its young twigs, v. 4) and carried them off to Babylon in 597 B.C. (cf. Dan. 7:4). Babylon was a city of traders in a land of merchants (v. 4; cf. 16:29; 1 Kings 10:27; 2 Kings 24:10-12; Jer. 22:15, 23). Elsewhere in Scripture the cedar tree (v. 3) is a figure used to describe the Davidic line of kings culminating in Messiah (Isa. 10:33-11:1). Cedar trees were beautiful and very hardy.
17:13-14 Nebuchadnezzar set up another king as his vassal, Zedekiah, one of the royal seed whom he planted in the fertile soil of Canaan (cf. v. 5). He deported the leaders of Judah to Babylon so Judah would be a docile servant and continue to exist with a measure of independence under his control (cf. 2 Kings 24:17; Jer. 37:1). Nebuchadnezzar made a binding covenant with Zedekiah obligating him to serve Babylon, and Zedekiah flourished for a time. The vine's roots remained under it, but it grew low and spreading rather than upward and fruitful, and it extended its branches toward the eagle, Nebuchadnezzar (cf. v. 6).
17:15-16 However, the vine rebelled against the eagle. Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and sent to Egypt for arms and troops to resist the Babylonians. Pharaoh Hophra (Gr. Apries, 589-570 B.C.) is the second strong eagle in the riddle to which the vine sent out its roots and branches for sustenance, probably in 588 B.C. (v. 7).251Obviously Zedekiah could not escape Nebuchadnezzar's wrath since he had broken the covenant under which he served him, a covenant that he had sworn in God's name (cf. 5:7; 2 Chron. 36:13). An oath was a sacred thing in the ancient Near East, and even oaths made by fraud were normally honored (cf. Josh. 9; 2 Sam. 21:1-2). The Lord swore that Zedekiah would die in Babylon for breaking his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (cf. v. 19).
"After judgment became inevitable, God's will for Judah was submission to their foreign conquerors as a sign of their submission to him (Jer 38:17-23)."252
17:17-18 Pharaoh would not come to Zedekiah's aid when Nebuchadnezzar invaded and besieged Jerusalem and slew many of the people. There was no way that Zedekiah could escape Nebuchadnezzar's wrath since he had broken the covenant in which he had pledged his allegiance to the Babylonian king.
17:19-21 The Lord also promised that because Zedekiah had broken Israel's covenant with Yahweh he would pay the penalty. The Lord would capture him like an animal in a net, bring him to Babylon, and judge him there for his covenant unfaithfulness to Yahweh. His best soldiers would die, and the survivors of the siege would scatter. When this happened everyone would know that Yahweh had ordained Jerusalem's destruction.
Like the preceding parable (cf. 16:60-63) this one also ends with a promise of hope.
17:22-23 The Lord Himself would also snip a tender twig from the top of the tall cedar tree that represented the Davidic line of kings. He would plant this twig on a high mountain in Israel so that it would grow there, produce sheltering boughs, and bear fruit. Birds of every kind would come and take refuge in its shady branches. People would dwell securely under the protection of this great kingdom (cf. Hos. 14:5-7; Dan. 4:12, 21; Matt. 13:32; Mark 4:32).
"Israel will protect surrounding nations rather than being their pawn. . . .
"Ezekiel compared God's future actions to those of the two eagles (Babylon and Egypt) already mentioned. Neither of those eagles had been able to provide the security and prosperity Israel desperately longed for, but God would succeed where they had failed."253
The tender twig seems clearly to be a messianic reference (cf. Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:14-16; Zech. 3:8; 6:12-13). The high mountain is probably Mount Zion, the place where Messiah will set up His throne in the Millennium (cf. Ps. 2:6). Then the cedar tree (messianic kingdom) will be very stately and fruitful.
17:24 Then the other nations (trees) would know that the one who had done this was Israel's God. He would cut down the high tree (Babylon?) and exalt the low tree (Israel). He would dry up the presently green tree (Egypt?) and make the presently dry tree (Israel) flourish. The one who promised this was Yahweh, and He would also perform it.
"Although some have understood it to have been fulfilled in the restoration of Judah under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, the language goes beyond such limited scope (cf. Ezra 9:8-9) to a time yet future when Israel will have its perfect King, the Messiah, reigning on the earth in righteousness."254
"These concluding verses without question introduce a Messianic prophecy (cf. Isa. 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4)."255
