Ezekiel 17:1-67

God tells Ezekiel to speak a parable to the people about two Eagles, a twig and a vine.  The parable is of one eagle that takes a twig from the top of the tree and places it on the mountain and then takes a seed from a vine and places it in fertile ground next to a stream.  It seems obvious that the seed will sprout and grow while the twig has very little chance of survival.  However, things are not always as they seem.  A vine may grow in fertile ground and bear fruit but it is also fragile enough that it can be pulled up by the roots and destroyed.  Ezekiel then turns the parable around and illustrates God as an Eagle who controls the destinies of twigs and seeds according to His will.  There are things that seem logical to us but God’s ways are not always as we expect them to be especially when we are living in sin.

THE FOOLISHNESS OF SIN: The first illustration of the twigs from the top of the tree is that of the king of Babylon taking the king and rulers from Israel to Babylon while he left the majority of the people in the land with strict instructions to stay there and not rebel against Babylon.  The thought was that if Babylon could capture the king, the people would submit to her and a prosperous Israel would be of great benefit to the nation of Babylon because she was under Babylon’s control.  However Israel began to spread her wings and abuse her freedom and would not keep her promise.  Instead she spread like a vine to the nation of Egypt to ask for help in overthrowing Babylon.  God had made it very clear to the people that this judgment of Babylon was from Him and that they were not to trust in other nations but trust in God and accept their discipline from Him.  The people would not listen and rationalized their own strategy for survival apart from God’s Word.  Ezekiel warns the people that even though from a human perspective it sounded logical, their rebellion was easily overcome because, like a vine, they could be pulled up from their roots.  Sin is never logical.  It is always foolish because God is in control of this world and His power defies our logic.  We must learn to obey God’s Word and not follow our own sinful rationalizations.

THE SIMPLICITY OF FAITH: Faith is a very simple principle because it all depends on the object of our faith.  God pictures Himself as a mighty Eagle that is capable of making the unlikely twig on the top of a mountain flourish, grow strong and become a mighty, fruitful tree in which birds from all around take shelter. He is also capable of taking the vine planted in the most fertile of soils and yanking it up by its roots and throwing it in the fire.  This was God’s plan and this is what God would do.  From the original captives who were taken to Babylon God would raise up a nation that would eventually be restored to the land, flourish and give birth to Messiah who would save many from sin from all nations of the world.  Those who were left in the land but trusted in Egypt instead of obeying God would be utterly destroyed.  The point is that God can do whatever He wants with whomever He wants and there is nobody who can stand in His way or thwart His will.  We can simply trust in the Lord and obey His Word knowing that He is in full control of everything.  Trusting God may not always be easy for our sinful hearts to do but it is a very simple concept that must guide our lives and our direct our decisions every day.