Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel. Ezekiel 17:1-10 Prophecy in parable J. Parker, D. D. The word "riddle" may in this connection mean parable, picture, symbol; whatever will excite and interest the imagination. If the zephyr has not voice enough to arrest us, God will employ the thunder; if the little silvery streamlet, hurrying through its green banks, has nothing to say to us, the great floods shall lift up their voices and compel us to attend. Who will say there is only one way of preaching, teaching, educating young men? There are a thousand ways: what we want is that a young man shall say when his way is not being adopted. This will suit a good many: God bless the teacher in this effort; he is not now speaking to me, but to persons who can understand that way alone; let heaven's grace make hearts tender as he unravels his parable, as he takes up his harp and discourses upon its sweet, mysterious music. When a preacher is setting forth riddle and parable, the man who falsely thinks himself a logician — for there can only be a logician once in a generation — should pray that the parable may be blessed. When the preacher or teacher is seeking by hard, strong argument to force home a truth, those who live on wings should carry themselves as high as possible that they may bring down a larger, riper blessing upon the teacher and his method. This is God's administration: this is the many-coloured robe of providence with which He would clothe our naked shoulders. What has come to us — a riddle, a parable, a dream, a process of logic, a historical induction? Take God's gift, and through it find the Giver. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) Truth taught through the imagination Cecil's Remains. The imagination is the grand organ whereby truth can make successful approaches to the mind. Some preachers deal much with the passions: they attack the hopes and fears of men; but this is a very different thing from the right use of the imagination, as the medium of impressing truth. Jesus Christ has left perfect patterns of this way of managing men; but it is a distinct talent, and a talent committed to very few. It is an easy thing to move the passions: a rude, blunt, illiterate attack may do this; but to form one new figure for the conveyance of truth to the mind is a difficult thing. The world is under no small obligation to the man who forms such a figure...The figure of Jesus Christ (the Parables) sink into the mind, and leave there the indelible impress of the truth which they convey. ( Cecil's Remains. ) Illustrating the truth Andrew Fuller. The subject matter of Christian teaching preeminently requires illustration. The barrister has, in a new case, that which stimulates attention, while the preacher has an oft-told tale to set before his people. ( Andrew Fuller. ) I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar. Ezekiel 17:22-24 Divine sovereignty J. Parker, D. D. These verses have been accepted by Jewish commentators and by Christian commentators alike as referring to the Messiah, to be read and pondered and grasped as to their inner meaning and effect. God winds up the whole parable and its application by some marvellous words; He says, "And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree," etc. Then what mistakes we have to correct! What a revelation there will be at last, what a different view, what a correction of our misinterpretations of Providence: Everything has been of God. Is the high tree down? God felled it. Is the low tree exalted? God lifted it upwards to the blue heavens. Is the green tree dry, withered, utterly desiccated? God hath sucked its juice, and left it a barren, blighted thing in the meadow. Is the dry tree flourishing? Is the tree that men thought dead beginning to show signs of vitality? Are there spring buds upon it? Are the birds looking at it curiously, as if by and by, mayhap, they may build even there? The Lord hath made the dry tree to flourish. This is Divine sovereignty. The God of the riddle and the God who works His will among the trees must be regarded as the same God. What is true in this verse is true to all human life. Is one man successful? God made him so, in the degree in which his success was legitimate, healthy, righteous. Is a man vainly, viciously successful? The green tree shall be dried up. Is a man humbled, laid low in the dust? God may have done that for the man's salvation; after a day or two who can tell what may happen, if the overthrow has been accepted in the right spirit, and if, instead of being turned in the direction of despair, it has been turned in the direction of self-examination and self-accusation and penitence and broken-heartedness? Is the nation suffering from singular visitation? Is trade going away? God is looking on, and He will know when to send the ships back to the ports, and when to revive commerce, and when to make the desert blossom as the rose. Is an enemy hard upon me? It is not the enemy, it is God: I have been doing wrong; when I have opposition to encounter I must ask myself serious questions; as for any man that can assail me, who is he? what faculty has he? what can he do? Have no fear of enemies, but interpret their enmity aright. If a man's ways please the Lord He will make even his enemies to be at peace with him; if a man shall try to be right and good, virtuous, generous, and to live a Divine life, no weapon that is formed against him shall prosper; it shall be forged, it shall be whetted, it shall be lifted up, but it shall never come down upon the head of him for whom it was intended. How joyous would be our life if we could live in this strong conviction! ( J. Parker, D. D. ) God's overrule among the kingdoms of the earth A. B. Davidson, D. D. The attempts of the king of Babylon to set up a kingdom in Israel miscarried; He who set up the kingdom took it away. The shoot planted by him was smitten by the east wind, and withered. But Jehovah Himself will plant a shoot of the high cedar, the Davidic house, on a high mountain, that all nations may see it ( Isaiah 2:2 ; Isaiah 11:10 ), even on the height of the mountain land of Israel, and it shall become a great cedar, so that all the fowls of heaven shall lodge in the branches of it. This kingdom shall be imposing and universal, and all peoples shall find protection under it. ( A. B. Davidson, D. D. ) The reign of the Son of God T. Adkins. I. THE BEAUTIFUL AND APPROPRIATE SYMBOL BY WHICH THE SON OF GOD IS HERE REPRESENTED. "The highest branch of the high cedar." 1. Because it was the remotest from the root. 2. Because the loftiest of all. He was at once the mightiest and the meanest: rooted in the earth, yet elevated to the skies. II. THE PLACE WHERE THIS WAS TO BE PLANTED. "In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it." 1. The truth of the promises God had made. 2. A striking evidence of the almighty power of God. This is the triumph of wisdom over folly — of holiness over sin — of the goodness of God over the malice of men. Its being planted at Jerusalem may be regarded — 3. As the last expression of unrequited kindness and love. 4. As an evident demonstration of the truth and power of the Gospel. III. THE RAPID GROWTH OF THIS PLANT. There are few things more delightful and instructive than to observe the commencement of that which has risen to eminence. As the traveller in America steps over a stream which he may almost dry up with his foot, he is struck with astonishment to know that it is the same fountain, fed by tributary streams, which becomes a mighty river and rolls on to empty itself into the sea. Here is the planting of the tree that is to fill the world. Though Christ is now enthroned in glory, filling heaven with a splendour surpassing that of ten thousand suns, He was once a babe in Bethlehem's manger. could say, within a short time after the introduction of Christianity, "Your towns, your cities, your camps, your palaces, your courts, your army, your senate, your forum — all swarm with Christians." IV. THE PRODUCTIVENESS OF THIS TREE. It was to "bring forth boughs, and to bear fruit." 1. This fruit is varied in its character, etc. Are you ignorant? Here are truths to instruct, wisdom that makes wise unto salvation. Are you guilty? Hero is pardon full, free, and everlasting. Are you forlorn? Are you dying, and recoiling from the prospect of futurity? Behold, "the gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 2. It is satisfying in its enjoyment. As Christ united the glories of the Godhead with humanity, in the sacrifice He made, it must prove all-sufficient to supply the wants of the soul for which He made it. His grace can reach and heal all the maladies of the soul, and save it forever. 3. It is free in its gift. V. THE ULTIMATE BLESSINGS WHICH THIS TREE IS DESIGNED TO DIFFUSE THROUGH THE WORLD. "It shall be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell," etc. Have we not numerous indications of this in our day? Never since that sun, which is now setting, began its course — never since he first lightened this earth — have there been such proofs of the increase of the glory of the Gospel as in the day in which we live. ( T. Adkins. ) The goodly cedar and the birds of every wing J. W. Hardman, LL. D. A glorious prophecy of the Messiah concludes this chapter! Recurring to the cedar of Lebanon, as the type of the people of God, in its noble growth and far-extending shade, Ezekiel foretells how God would take a stem or branch from that tall cedar, which should be "the root of David," that, planted by the Divine Hand, it should grow up a goodly cedar tree, and under its boughs the birds "of every wing should dwell." So was the Saviour, as to His lineage, of the ancient people, and a branch taken from the noble cedar tree, which typified the Hebrew race. He was born in humility, and cradled in the rude manger of Bethlehem, but from this lowly origin He becomes like the mighty cedar tree of the prophecy, the very perfection of our humanity, in righteousness and nobility of character! Then, as He invited weary souls to come unto Him, we read how they drew nigh and found peace, and "dwelt under His shadow." The words of this prophecy also apply to the Church, which is the visible representative of Jesus upon earth! It, like a little plant or cutting, began in weakness. The number of the names, it is written, was but one hundred and twenty. But soon, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, the microscopic organisation developed and grew into the mighty cedar, under which dwelt the "fowl of every wing," and found refuge under "the shadows of its branches." That the cedar was to be planted "on the mountain of Israel" foretold that the later, the Christian Church, should grow out of, and be a development from, the older dispensation! But how remarkable to find that the prophet anticipates the admission of the Gentiles. "The fowl of every wing" are to find a shelter under the boughs of the Gospel cedar. Now, that which was prophecy is being fulfilled. The birds of brightest plumage, the feathered songsters of sweetest voices, the noblest intellects, the most melodious souls that earth has produced, have found in the religion of Jesus peace and satisfaction, and have dwelt restfully under its shadow! The Church must take up her missionary work. Whether it be the ease of our own countrymen, "for whose souls no man cares," or the heathen, who abide where overhead flutters the flag of England — the duty lies at our door! ( J. W. Hardman, LL. D. ) Refuge for all in Christ F. B. Meyer, B. A. Christ is the cedar, and all kinds of people seek rest in Him, as birds of every wing. Young and old, rich and poor; men high-soaring as the eagle, fierce as the raven, gentle as the dove. The young, just learning to try their wings; the old, weary, and lonely; those who have kept all the commandments from their youth, and those who have broken them all. It does not matter with what wing we come to Jesus, so long as we come. The practised eye can easily recognise the birds by their flight; each bird has its own wing; so every soul has its own disposition and temperament — one feverish, the other languid and lethargic; one impetuous, the other dilatory; one affectionate and warm, the other cool and shy. But the Lord Jesus knows our frame, and understands us afar off. He does not chide the dove because it cannot breast the storm and face the sun like the eagle. He does not expect the sustained flight of the seagull from the sparrow; or the song of the nightingale from the chaffinch. Do not imitate another: be yourself. Do not go about the world counting that you are useless and a failure, because you cannot do what is done by others. Learn how to be abased, and how to abound. Only rest in Christ. Out of the windy storm and tempest, make for your roosting place under the shelter of His wing. ( F. B. Meyer, B. A. ) And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree. Ezekiel 17:24 The trees of the field and their appointed destiny J. C. Philpot. "The field" seems to set forth the visible Church of God; and "the trees of the field" seem to set forth all the professors of Divine truth, whether they are possessors or not. All these "trees of the field" shall know a certain truth. Now, what is tiffs certain truth? That the Lord will do a certain work in characters, which He Himself has delineated; and that it shall be visible to the Church of God what He does to those characters. 1. The first character of which the Lord speaks is "the high tree"; which "high tree" is to be "brought down." That expression — "a high tree" — seems to bear two significations.(1) There is the "high tree" — that is, a nominal professor who is destitute of the fear of God, who has nothing of the .grace of God in His soul, but stands in the visible Church of Christ in a profession of godliness whilst he is inwardly devoid of its power. In this wood of trees the first object that catches the eye is "the high tree," that soars above them all. You will find this nominal professor in the Church of Christ always ready to come forward; he never hangs back through a sense of his weakness and ignorance; he is never plagued with doubts and fears as to his state before God; he never puts his mouth in the dust from a deep sense of his vileness and baseness before Hint; but let him be present in any company, or on any occasion, he is ready to speak, to exalt himself, and to tower high above the family of God, who are mourning and sighing over the burden of sin, guilt, and corruption, and are suing after the Lord's manifestations of favour to their souls. Now the Lord says, "All the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree." Then this "high tree" must he "brought down"; and not merely brought down, but visibly brought down, — brought down in the sight of the trees of the field, laid low in the sight of all who have eyes to see, who have ears to hear, who have minds to understand what God's dealings are.(2) But the expression "high tree" bears another signification. Whence comes the presumption of self-confident professors? Does it not spring from an internal principle of pride in them? And are not all, without exception, possessed of the same "deceitful and desperately wicked" heart? Then, if the towering confidence of a presumptuous professor springs from innate pride, is there not the Same principle at work in the heart of a living child? But the Lord will never suffer His children to walk in vain confidence; He will never allow them, for a long season together, to stand in false liberty; and therefore He will "bring them down." He has but to look upon us with one frown, and He will bruise into nothingness all our presumptuous liberty. He has but to take the veil for a moment off our hearts, and discover to us what we are and discover to us what He is, and we shall fall down before Him, as Isaiah fell when he saw the glory of the Lord in the temple. 2. And now we come to the "exalting the low tree." Here we have a striking contrast. "The low tree is one who has always the lowest, meanest thoughts concerning himself; who can find in his heart nothing spiritually good; who is continually afraid of presumption; who starts back from every appearance of being more than he really is. Now, "this low tree" the Lord has promised to exalt. But He will never "exalt the low tree" in self. The wise man shall not "glory in his wisdom, the strong man shall not glory in his strength"; but "he that glorieth" shall "glory in this, that he knoweth the Lord." "In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." When "the low tree," therefore, is "exalted," it is by some sweet manifestation of the blood and love of Jesus to his soul; it is by lifting him up out of the mire, and out of the dunghill, and "setting him among princes," and making him "inherit the throne of glory"; it is by Jesus sweetly coming into his heart and conscience, sprinkling it with His atoning blood, bedewing it with the drops of His favour, discovering His glorious righteousness, and binding up every bleeding wound. 3. But consider another tree of which the Lord speaks, and another work which the Lord here promises to do. "I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree." Now, just in the same way as "the high tree" seems to shadow forth two characters (that is, the presumptuous professor, and a child of God drawn aside by Satan's subtlety into presumption), so "the green tree" seems to set forth both a professor of religion and also a child of God in the warmth of youthful zeal. 4. Oh! what a state it is in which to stand before God — a "dry tree"! To feel as though there was not a single particle of spiritual sap or heavenly moisture in us; to feel as though we had no religion worth the name; to feel as though we had no real work of the Spirit upon our soul, and no real grace in our heart given by God Himself! Now, to this "dry tree" the Lord has given a promise. He says this dry tree shall be "made to flourish." How He frustrates and disappoints all the expectations of nature! What! to "dry up a green tree," and to "make a dry tree to flourish"! Would not nature say, "Oh! the 'green tree,' make it greener still: oh! the 'dry tree,' cut it down, and cast it into the fire!" But the Lord's "ways are not our ways," neither are the Lord's "thoughts our thoughts"; but "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts." Cut it down! No; "make it to flourish"! Then the Lord's work is made manifest, as much in "drying up the green tree" as in "making the dry tree to flourish." And how does He "make the dry tree to flourish"? Why, by dropping in His own blessed dew into it; by shedding his own Divine favour into the barren and parched heart; by dropping in some testimony from His own blessed and gracious lips, so as to cause the soul to "revive as the vine," and to flourish as the herb; by causing "showers of blessing" to fall upon the wilderness, and turn it into a standing pool, and so make the rose of Sharon sweetly and blessedly to blossom and flourish therein. ( J. C. Philpot. ) To the rescue Methinks I see a great forest which reaches for many a league. The trees are of divers growths, and of various ages. Some are very lofty. Here a towering cedar, and yonder the storks have made their nests among the tall fir trees. Stout oaks there are that laugh at storms, and elms that will not be twisted with the tempest. See how they rival each other! And there are lowlier trees; some bearing fruit, though scarcely seen, others, like the vine, creeping upon the ground — so obscure they can hardly be observed. I. "THUS SAITH THE LORD, THE TREES OF THE FIELD SHALL KNOW THAT I THE LORD HAVE BROUGHT DOWN THE HIGH TREE." Look over history, and you will see that everything gigantic in stature and colossal in dimensions; whatsoever has been great to human apprehension, grasping at earthly fame, has become an Object for God's penetrating arrows, and a subject for His withering blight. The Lord of hosts always cuts down the high tree, humiliates the creature that exalts itself, and suffers no flesh to glory in His presence. That is the Law of His government. The question arises, How does it concern us? Doubtless it opens a sad prospect to those who are lifted up with pride, or inflated with self-opinion. Among the seven abominations your order ranks highest. No liar or murderer can claim a preeminence over you in vice so long as the Proverbs stand. Ere long the heel of the Almighty shall be lifted higher than thy haughty head. He will cast thee down, be thy look never so proud; for the Lord hath purposed it to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the excellency of the earth. There is, again, an arrogance of mind, of judgment, of opinion, just as ignorant — if not quite so grotesque — as his who dreams that his birth is of higher caste and his blood of richer hue than other men. Humanity in the bulk is the idol of some people; and yonder I see the man who quotes himself as an illustrious specimen. He does not believe in the total depravity of human nature. The Lord will abase thee, whosoever thou mayest be; He will shame thee: the axe is ready to be laid at thy root even now. Thy goodness is not God's goodness, and thy righteousness is not Christ's righteousness; therefore shall the moth consume it, and it shall be eaten away. Or shall it fare better with another class? There is our friend who says, "Well, well, I do not believe in forms and ceremonies; but, mark you, I always judge and weigh everything." He estimates himself as all independent thinker; he is bound by no precedents, fettered by no creeds, and considers that he is amenable to no judgment but his own. Strong in his self-assertion, he makes light of the Word of God, and the will of God, while he holds prophets and apostles in little esteem. Ah, well, brother! God is against you, He will make a fool of you one of these days, if you are so wise as to exalt yourself above His revelation. The world shall see your folly. I tell thee, captious questioner, that the Lord will bring thee down. II. Furthermore the Lord says, "I WILL EXALT THE LOW TREE." Here is a word of comfort to some who specially need it. The low trees are those poor in spirit who think others better than they are themselves; who, instead of carving their names high, are willing to have them written low, because they feel they have nothing whereof to glory, nought wherein to boast. The low trees are the penitents, those who take their stand afar off with the publican, and say, "God be merciful to me, a sinner"; you that feel your own weakness to do anything aright. You that feel your ignorance, and are willing to be instructed; you that are modest as children, and ready to sit at the feet of Jesus; you that have been broken in pieces till you feel that a crumb of mercy would be more than you deserve, and are willing to take any dole He is pleased to give — you are the low trees. And you that are despised, who walk in darkness and see no light; slandered for Christ's sake, reproached with crimes you never committed; you of whom the world is not worthy, though the world accounts you to be unworthy of its esteem — you are the low trees, and God shall exalt you. III. The Lord has also declared that HE WILL DRY UP THE GREEN TREE. Whether that green tree be high or low it does not matter; if it be green in itself, He will cut it down. Mark you, a man may be as high as heaven; if it is God that makes him high, he will stand; but if he be high in creature strength, and creature merits, and creature glory, he shall be brought down; and a man may be low without merit, if he is merely mean and meagre, paltry and pitiable, not worth a straw. That is not the spirit of lowliness that God blesses. In like manner a man may be green because he is planted by the rivers of God's living waters, that is healthy enough; but those that are like the green bay tree of the Psalmist, trees growing in their own soil, never transplanted by grace, green in the verdure of worldly prosperity, and taking all their delight in earthly things — those are the trees God will dry up. IV. Lastly, the Lord MAKES THE DRY TREE TO FLOURISH. How many of God's people may be fitly compared to a dry tree! They have little joy; they have not got to full assurance. They are afraid to say, "My beloved is mine, and I am His." They think they are of no use to the Church; they are half inclined to suspect it was a mistake for them to be baptized, and they were to blame for uniting themselves with the people of God. They come to the assembly of believers, and though they do sing with their lips, the heart cannot sing as it would. There are times, too, when walking home they say, "I go where others go, but I get no comfort; if I were really the Lord's, should I be thus; if I did trust Christ, should I ever be so languid?" If it is of your own bringing about that you are thus dry, I do not offer you any comfort; but if the Holy Spirit has led you to see your weakness, your nothingness, your deadness, then I am glad you have been brought to this pass, for God will cause the dry tree to flourish. When we are weak, then are we strong. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) The advantage of the kingdom of Christ I. IN THE CARRYING ON THE INTEREST OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPEL, GOD WILL WORK WONDERFUL PROVIDENTIAL ALTERATIONS. There are three principal seasons of the Lord's eminent appearance to carry on the kingdom of Christ and the Gospel, and all attended with dreadful providential alterations; and unto one of these heads may all particular actings be reduced. 1. The first is, the promulgation of the Gospel among the Jews by the Lord Christ Himself and His apostles: what this was attended withal is graphically described ( Matthew 24:6, 7 ). 2. The second is, in the further carrying on of the Gospel, after the destruction of Jerusalem, throughout the world of the Gentiles, subject then in a great proportion to the Roman Empire. 3. The most signal is, the coming of the Lord Christ to recover His people from antichristian idolatry and oppression; which of all others is and shall be attended with the most astonishing alterations and desolations, pulling down of high trees, and exalting them that are low: thence is that war, described Revelation 17:14 , and that mighty vengeance poured out by the Lord Christ on the nations, their kings and captains, chap. Revelation 19:11 to the end. Now the reasons of this are —(1) Because amongst all men, where the kingdom of Christ is to be set up, there is something or other possessed, that He alone must and will have; and therefore the Lord giving Jesus Christ but His own inheritance, it must needs be attended with great alterations.(2) The works that God hath to do in such a season require it: God hath three great works to do in the day of His carrying on the interest of Christ and the Gospel — (i) He hath great revenges to take. (ii) He hath great deliverances to work. (iii) He hath great discoveries to make. 1. Of His own, that they may be purged. 2. Of hypocrites, that they may be discovered. Use 1. — To discover where dwells that spirit that actuates all the great alterations that have been in these nations. Use 2. — To magnify the goodness of God, who unto us hath sweetened and seasoned all His dreadful dispensations, and all the alterations in those nations, with this His gracious design running through them all; this is that which puts all their beauty and lustre on them, being outwardly dreadful and horrible. II. THE ACTINGS OF GOD'S PROVIDENCE, IN CARRYING ON THE INTEREST OF CHRIST, ARE AND SHALL BE EXCEEDINGLY UNSUITED TO THE REASONINGS AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE MOST OF MEN. Some reasons of this may be given; and — 1. The first is taken from the corruptions of the hearts of men squaring the works of God to their fleshly reasonings, corrupt interests, and principles. They are bold with the wisdom of God, and conclude, thus and thus things ought to be, ordering their thoughts for the most part according to their corrupt and carnal advantages. 2. God chooseth thus to do things above and besides the expectations of men, that His presence, and the presence of the Lord Christ, may be the more conspicuous in the world. 3. God will do it for the hardening of many false empty professors, and others in the world, that the judgments appointed may come upon them to the uttermost. Use. — It serves, then, to discover the vanity of those men who, because the works of God have not been carried on in ways suitable to their reasonings and expectations, do utterly reject them, disown them, and oppose Him in them. Can these men give any one instance, of any one eminent work of God, that He hath brought about by such ways and means as men would rationally allot thereunto, especially in things that are in immediate subserviency to the kingdom of the Lord Christ? ( J. Owen , D. D. ) The proud abased and the lowly exalted Anon. Consider the text as exemplified — I. IN THE HISTORY OF GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 1. The Antediluvians and Noah. They were the high and green trees, — Noah and family, the low and the dry. 2. Pharaoh and the Israelites. 3. Goliath and David. 4. Haman and Mordecai. II. IN THE HISTORY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. The Jews expected the high green tree, — earthly magnificence, worldly power and authority. But Christ fulfilled the sayings of the prophets ( Isaiah 53:1 , etc.) In all things He was the opposite of their desires, etc. Hence they killed Him. Yet Christ, the low tree, etc., did God exalt, etc. He hath made Him to flourish, etc. His name shall endure as long as the sun, etc. III. IN THE TRIUMPHS OF THE APOSTOLIC LABOURS. Look at the persons of the apostles, — plain, illiterate, poor men. Not the high green tree. Not learned, affluent, or influential. Hearken to their message. What is it? Christ crucified. Not a religion of metaphysical subtleties. Not elaborate doctrines or profound dogmas of philosophy. Not a splendid system of pompous ceremony. But the lowly doctrines of the cross. Humility, self-denial, spirituality, etc. And what is the result? The high tree of paganism is brought down. The green tree of Judaism is dried up. The low tree of Christianity is exalted and flourishes, and blesses every known civilised land, etc. ( 1 Corinthians 1:21-29 ). IV. IN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE HAUGHTY, AND OF THE PENITENTIAL SINNER. The man of proud heart, exalted self-esteem, etc. "God, I thank thee," etc. The poor publican self-convicted, self-abhorred. He is the dry tree, nothing to trust in, or to plead. "God be merciful," etc. Mark the result. God rejects the high tree; He despises his work, — He brings him low. He beholds with approbation the low tree, etc. He goes down to his house justified. V. IN THE LIVES OF THE HIGH-MINDED AND OF THE LOWLY CHRISTIAN. Pride and self-sufficiency are the great temptations of the human heart. To be something. To do something. To he thought something. To exalt ourselves. How prone we are to this. Well, what, is the result? God knows it will ruin us if not eradicated. We must be brought low in mercy or judgment. He blights the worldly prospects. He reverses the dazzling scene. He sends repeated disappointments. Troops of crosses and troubles. Perhaps keen bereavements. And thus brings down the high tree, dries up the green tree, etc. But behold the low tree, the dry tree. The lowly Christian says, "I am nothing." He lives by faith on the Son of God, etc. He abases Himself, etc. He glories in the cross, etc. He makes mention of Christ's righteousness, etc. He dwells in the dust. God exalts, blesses, makes fruitful, etc., lifts them up forever. Application — 1. Learn the evil of self-exaltation. Avoid it. Watch against it. Pray against it. 2. Be clothed with humility. What peace, safety, and honour are here. 3. God must have all the glory. See the text; also Daniel 6:34. ( Anon. ).

Benson Commentary Ezekiel 17:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Ezekiel 17:2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; Ezekiel 17:2 . Song of Solomon of man, put forth a riddle — A continued metaphor or figurative speech: an allegory. The prophets frequently delivered their instructions in this way, as being well calculated both to engage the attention of their hearers or readers, and to make a deep and lasting impression on their minds. It was a mode of teaching peculiarly adapted to the eastern people, and therefore often adopted by their instructers, whether inspired or uninspired. It is well known that our Lord frequently used it in preaching his gospel. Ezekiel 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: Ezekiel 17:3-6 . A great eagle with great wings — The eagle is the king of birds, swift, strong, and rapacious. And this great eagle, according to all interpreters, represents Nebuchadnezzar. Its “greatness, long wings, beautiful, abundant, and well-coloured plumage, denote the force and greatness of his empire, the rapidity of his conquests, and the number of his subjects. The Scripture has in other places described this prince under the figure of an eagle. See Jeremiah 48:40-45 ; Daniel 7:4 . By his coming to Lebanon, and taking the highest branch of the cedar, is meant his invasion of Judea, his investing the city of Jerusalem, and taking King Jehoiachin and the princes captive.” — Calmet. He cropped off the top of his young twigs — Both the king of Judah, now eighteen years old, and the nobles and chief of the land. And carried it into a land of traffic — “Babylon, and the country about it, being the seat of a universal monarchy, must needs have been a place of great trade. Strabo takes notice that the merchants who travelled by land to Babylon went through the country of the Abrabians, called Scenitæ, lib. 16. p. 747; and vessels of great burden came up the river Euphrates to the walls of it from the Persian gulf.” See Pliny’s Nat. Hist., 50. 6. c. 26; and Lowth. He took also of the seed of the land — Of the king’s seed, as it is explained Ezekiel 17:13 : that is, Zedekiah, whom the king of Babylon made king of Judah instead of Jehoiachin; first exacting an oath of him, that he would be true to him, and pay him tribute. And he planted it in a fruitful field — Hebrew, ????? ??? , in a field of seed, that is, proper for seed: he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow-tree — Judea was a fruitful country and well watered, (see Deuteronomy 8:7 ,) where Zedekiah flourished as a willow-tree, that thrives best in moist ground, Isaiah 44:4 . And it became a spreading vine of low stature, &c. — Though Zedekiah flourished, yet he enjoyed but a tributary kingdom under the king of Babylon, and acknowledged him as his lord and sovereign: see Ezekiel 17:14 . Ezekiel 17:4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 17:6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 17:7-8 . There was also another great eagle — Namely, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, with whom Zedekiah made an alliance; whereupon that king sent an army to raise the siege of Jerusalem, 2 Chronicles 36:13 ; Jeremiah 37:5 ; Jeremiah 37:7 . With great wings and many feathers — Having a great army and many people to support him. And this vine (namely, Zedekiah) did bend her roots toward him, &c. — Zedekiah sought the assistance and protection of the king of Egypt. Dr. Waterland renders this clause, And shot forth her branches under him, from the furrows where she was planted, that he might water it: that is, give it assistance. The auxiliary forces which Zedekiah expected from Egypt are here intended. It was planted in a good soil, &c. — The words are to the same purpose with Ezekiel 17:5 , to show that Zedekiah’s condition was so good under the king of Babylon, that he needed not to have broken his oath out of a desire to better it, whereby he involved himself and his country in ruin: see notes on 2 Kings 24:20 ; and Jeremiah 17:25 . Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. Ezekiel 17:9-10 . Say — Tell them what shall be the issue of all this, and tell it to them in my name. Shall it prosper? — Can it be that such breach of faith and such ingratitude should prosper? No, it cannot be: God will never suffer it. Zedekiah, besides the obligation of an oath, was bound to the king of Babylon by the ties of gratitude, as he owed all he possessed to him. Shall he not pull up the roots thereof? — Shall not Nebuchadnezzar, in return for this perfidiousness, destroy him and his kingdom? see 2 Kings 25:7 . And cut off the fruit thereof — Put his children and those of his nobles to the sword? It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring — It shall wholly wither: not only the old branch shall wither, but its young shoots also: and all the promising hopes they had shall vanish: even without great power or many people — God shall be on the side of the Chaldeans, and he does not need great power or many people to effect his purpose. He can as easily overturn a sinful king and kingdom as a man can root up a tree that cumbers the ground. The king of Babylon, therefore, God being with him, shall easily subdue the land of Judah, and shall not need a large human force to assist him. Yea, shall it not utterly wither when the east wind toucheth it? — Here the prophet compares the Chaldean army, which should come against Judea, to a parching wind that blasts the fruits of the earth, withers the leaves of the trees, and makes every thing look naked and bare. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 17:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Ezekiel 17:12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean ? tell them , Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; Ezekiel 17:12-14 . Say now to the rebellious house — To the house of Judah, which have been and still are rebellious against me, and are now entering into a rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar. This is God’s order to his prophet to explain the riddle. Know ye not what these things mean? — Will you not apply your minds to understand what God speaks to you? And that whether he directs his speech to you in plain words, or delivers his mind in riddles and parables? Behold, the king of Babylon is come — Or rather, did come, or came to Jerusalem — Namely, some time before the delivery of this prophecy: and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof — Namely, Jeconiah and all his princes and officers: see 2 Kings 24:12 . And hath led them with him to Babylon — Judging them unfit to be trusted any more with any office or power in their own country. And hath taken of the king’s seed — Hath taken from among the royal seed Mattaniah, Jehoiakim’s brother, and advanced him to the throne in Jerusalem, 2 Kings 24:17 ; and made a covenant with him — A solemn agreement, on terms acceded to and approved by Mattaniah; and hath taken an oath of him — An oath of fealty: when Nebuchadnezzar caused Mattaniah to enter into this covenant and oath, he changed his name to Zedekiah, which word signifies, the justice of God, to express that God would avenge the crime of this restored captive, if he should break the covenant into which he had entered, and perjure himself: see note on 2 Kings 24:17 . He hath also taken the mighty of the land — Namely, as hostages for Zedekiah’s performance of the covenant agreed on. That the kingdom might be base — Or rather, humble; that it might be kept in subjection and obedience. Zedekiah being made only a tributary king, consequently was not in as honourable a condition as his predecessors had been in; but yet the keeping of his covenant was the only means, under present circumstances, to support himself and his government. Ezekiel 17:13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land: Ezekiel 17:14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. Ezekiel 17:15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors 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 the covenant, and be delivered? Ezekiel 17:15 . But he rebelled in sending into Egypt, that they might give him horses — Egypt was a country abounding in horses, of which there was great scarcity in Judea. This was not only a violation of his oath and covenant, but likewise a breach of that part of the Jewish law which forbade their king to fetch horses out of Egypt, or strengthen himself with the alliance of that nation. Shall he escape that doeth such things? — Shall not the divine vengeance overtake such ingratitude and perfidy? Shall he break the covenant and be delivered? — Can perjury and covenant- breaking be the way to any man’s deliverance? Can such notorious sinning end in any thing but misery? From what is said on this occasion we learn, that an oath ought not to be violated though it was taken under unfavourable circumstances, and though the things to which a man bound himself by it were very disagreeable to him. Ezekiel 17:16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Ezekiel 17:16-21 . As I live, saith the Lord, &c. — This intimates how highly God resented the crime, and how sure and severe the punishment of it would be. He swears in his wrath, as he did, Psalm 95:11 . Observe, reader, as God’s promises are confirmed with an oath, for comfort to the saints, so are his threatenings, for terror to the wicked. Surely in the place where the king dwelleth — In Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar dwells, who made him king, when he might have as easily made him a prisoner. Whose oath he despised — Made light of, and perfidiously violated. Even with him he shall die — Shall be a prisoner in Babylon the rest of his days, and shall die there. Neither shall Pharaoh make for him — See Jeremiah 37:7 . But the Hebrew, ????? ???? ?????? , may be properly rendered, as indeed it is by Bishop Newcome, Pharaoh shall not deal with him, namely, with Nebuchadnezzar, in war: or, shall not make war with him. Accordingly the Vulgate translates the clause, “Et non in exercitu grandi, neque in populo multo faciet contra eum Pharaoh prælium:” neither with a great army, nor with much people, shall Pharaoh fight a battle against him. By casting up, &c. — Or rather, When he hath cast up mounts, &c., that is, when Nebuchadnezzar has raised mounts and builded forts to annoy Jerusalem, and destroy its inhabitants, Pharaoh shall not bring any assistance to it. Seeing he despised, &c., when lo, he had given his hand — In token of entering into a mutual league and covenant. It was a ceremony used especially when an inferior made profession of his subjection to a superior. My covenant that he hath broken — God calls it his covenant, because it was entered into, or promised to be observed, by taking an oath in his name. Even it will I recompense upon his own head — I will punish it as it deserves, and it shall appear by the punishment that my hand doth execute it. And I will spread my net, &c. — See on Ezekiel 12:13 , where this clause occurs word for word. And will plead with him there — God is said to plead with men when he places their sins before their eyes, and convinces them of their disobedience by manifest tokens of his vengeance. And all his fugitives — All the companions of his flight; with all his bands shall fall by the sword — Every thing here denounced by the prophet against Zedekiah exactly came to pass, as the reader may see by comparing these threatenings with the account given Jeremiah 52:8-11 ; 2 Kings 25:5-7 . Ezekiel 17:17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons: Ezekiel 17:18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things , he shall not escape. Ezekiel 17:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. Ezekiel 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 with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. Ezekiel 17:21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it . Ezekiel 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 a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: Ezekiel 17:22-23 . I will also take of the highest branch, &c. — God, having spoken of Jerusalem, in the first part of this chapter, under the figure of a cedar, and the king of it as the highest branch of the cedar, here carries his view to farther scenes, and, after having acquainted his prophet with the fate of Zedekiah, informs him, that as Nebuchadnezzar had taken of the seed of the land, (or the king,) and planted it, so he himself would take of the highest branch of the cedar and set it, &c. This appears plainly to be a prediction of the restoration of the royal family of David; and it was in some degree fulfilled at the return from the captivity, when Zerubbabel, of the lineage of David, had a shadow of kingly authority among the Jews, and by his means their state was again restored. But if the words be properly examined, the expressions will be found to be such as, in their full sense, can only belong to Christ and his kingdom, which shall be extended over all the world. I will crop off from the young twigs a tender one — This may fitly be applied to our Saviour, in respect to the low estate to which the family of David was then reduced, and the meanness of Christ’s outward condition and appearance: see Isaiah 53:2 . And will plant it upon a high mountain — Upon mount Zion, a type of the gospel church; and eminent — Not for outward splendour, but for spiritual advantages. In the mountain of the height of Israel — In Jerusalem, the capital city of my people, will I plant it — I will make him ruler of my church. He alludes to the temple placed on mount Moriah, a part of mount Zion, thence styled God’s holy mountain; which expression is often used in the prophets to denote the Christian Church, which is described as a city set on a hill, and conspicuous to all the world. And it shall bring forth boughs — Have many members and subjects; and bear fruit — Do much good. The living members of the church are often compared to fruitful trees and flourishing branches. And be a goodly cedar — The most happy society in the world, Deuteronomy 33:29 ; Psalm 144:15 . And under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing — Persons of all nations shall become members of it. A powerful, especially if it be a mild government, is a shelter and security to all its subjects: compare Ezekiel 31:6 ; Daniel 4:12 . Such shall the kingdom of Christ be to all that submit themselves to his laws. Ezekiel 17:23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. Ezekiel 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 tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it . Ezekiel 17:24 . All the trees of the field — All the nations of the world; shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree — Have subdued and degraded the enemies of my people; have exalted the low tree — Have advanced my church, and made it flourish; have dried up the green tree, &c. — The same thing expressed in somewhat different words. Although these expressions may partly refer to the overthrow of the mighty Babylonian empire, and the restoration of the Jewish state by their return out of captivity, yet they are so magnificent, that they evidently intend much more than this. The Jewish kingdom did never, after the captivity, arrive at such a pitch of greatness as to give occasion to these magnificent expressions. Some more noble kingdom is undoubtedly here pointed at, namely, the kingdom of Christ, as has been observed above, which will at last be exalted above all the kingdoms of the world, and put an end to them all, while it will continue to all eternity: see Daniel 4:35, 44, and Daniel 7:27 ; Luke 1:33 ; 1 Corinthians 15:24 . It is under Christ’s kingdom only that people of all nations, signified here by fowls of every kind, shall be gathered together. And the subjects of that kingdom only have a certain and eternal protection, and a supply of every thing necessary. There is therefore no doubt that this was spoken, in its full sense, of the eternal and all-powerful kingdom to be established in Christ, one of the royal seed of Judah according to the flesh. I the Lord have spoken it, and have done it — The prophets often speak of future events as if they were already accomplished, to assure us that they shall certainly come to pass. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Ezekiel 17:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, THE END OF THE MONARCHY Ezekiel 12:1-15 ; Ezekiel 17:1-24 ; Ezekiel 19:1-14 IN spite of the interest excited by Ezekiel’s prophetic appearances, the exiles still received his prediction of the fall of Jerusalem with the most stolid incredulity. It proved to be an impossible task to disabuse their minds of the pre-possessions which made such an event absolutely incredible. True to their character as a disobedient house, they had "eyes to see, and saw not; and ears to hear, but heard not". { Ezekiel 12:2 } They were intensely interested in the strange signs he performed, and listened with pleasure to his fervid oratory; but the inner meaning of it all never sank into their minds. Ezekiel was well aware that the cause of this obtuseness lay in the false ideals which nourished an overweening confidence in the destiny of their nation. And these ideals were the more difficult to destroy because they each contained an element of truth, so interwoven with the falsehood that to the mind of the people the true and the false stood and fell together. If the great vision of chapters 8-11 had accomplished its purpose, it would doubtless have taken away the main support of these delusive imaginations. But the belief in the indestructibility of the Temple was only one of a number of roots through which the vain confidence of the nation was fed; and so long as any of these remained the people’s sense of security was likely to remain. These spurious ideals, therefore, Ezekiel sets himself with characteristic thoroughness to demolish, one after another. This appears to be in the main the purpose of the third subdivision of his prophecies on which we now enter. It extends from chapter 12 to chapter 19; and in so far as it can be taken to represent a phase of his actual spoken ministry, it must be assigned to the fifth year before the capture of Jerusalem (August, 591-August., 590 B.C.). But since the passage is an exposition of ideas more than a narrative of experiences, we may expect to find that chronological consistency has been even less observed than in the earlier part of the book. Each idea is presented in the completeness which it finally possessed in the prophet’s mind, and his allusions may anticipate a state of things which had not actually arisen till a somewhat later date. Beginning with a description and interpretation of two symbolic actions intended to impress more vividly on the people the certainty of the impending catastrophe, the prophet proceeds in a series of set discourses to expose the hollowness of the illusions which his fellow exiles cherished, such as disbelief in prophecies of evil, faith in the destiny of Israel, veneration for the Davidic kingdom, and reliance on the solidarity of the nation in sin and in judgment. These are the principal topics which the course of exposition will bring before us, and in dealing with them it will be convenient to depart from the order in which they stand in the book and adopt an arrangement according to subject. By so doing we run the risk of missing the order of the ideas as it presented itself to the prophet’s mind, and of ignoring the remarkable skill with which the transition from one theme to another is frequently effected. But if we have rightly understood the scope of the passage as a whole, this wilt not prevent us from grasping the substance of his teaching or its bearing on the final message which he had to deliver. In the present chapter we shall accordingly group together three passages which deal with the fate of the monarchy, and especially of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. That reverence for the royal house would form an obstacle to the acceptance of such teaching as Ezekiel’s was to be expected from all we know of the popular feeling on this subject. The fact that a few royal assassinations which stain the annals of Judah were sooner or later avenged by the people shows that the monarchy was regarded as a pillar of the state, and that great importance was attached to the possession of a dynasty which perpetuated the glories of David’s reign. And there is one verse in the Book of Lamentations which expresses the anguish which the fall of the kingdom caused to godly men in Israel, although its representatives were so unworthy of his office as Zedekiah: "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow shall we live among the nations". { Lamentations 4:20 } So long therefore as a descendant of David sat on the throne of Jerusalem it would seem the duty of every patriotic Israelite to remain true to him. The continuance of the monarchy would seem to guarantee the existence of the state; the prestige of Zedekiah’s position as the anointed of Jehovah, and the heir of David’s covenant, would warrant the hope that even yet Jehovah would intervene to save an institution of His own creating. Indeed, we can see from Ezekiel’s own pages that the historic monarchy in Israel was to him an object of the highest veneration and regard. He speaks of its dignity in terms whose very exaggeration shows how largely the fact bulked in his imagination. He compares it to the noblest of the wild beasts of the earth and the most lordly tree of the forest. But his contention is that this monarchy no longer exists. Except in one doubtful passage, he never applies the title king ( melek ) to Zedekiah. The kingdom came to an end with the. deportation of Jehoiachin, the last king who ascended the throne in legitimate succession. The present holder of the office is in no sense king by Divine right; he is a creature and vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, and has no rights against his suzerain. His very name has been changed by the caprice of his master. As a religious symbol, therefore, the royal power is defunct; the glory has departed from it as surely as from the Temple. The makeshift administration organised under Zedekiah had a peaceful if inglorious future before it, if it were content to recognise facts and adapt itself to its humble position. But if it should attempt to raise its head and assert itself as an independent kingdom, it would only seal its own doom. And for men in Chaldea to transfer to this shadow of kingly dignity the allegiance due to the heir of David’s house was a waste of devotion as little demanded by patriotism as by prudence. I. The first of the passages in which the fate of the monarchy is foretold requires little to be said by way of explanation. It is a symbolic action of the kind with which we are now familiar, exhibiting the certainty of the fate in store both for the people and the king. The prophet again becomes a "sign" or portent to the people-this time in a character which every one of his audience understood from recent experience. He is seen by daylight collecting "articles of captivity"- i.e. , such necessary articles as a person going into exile would try to take with him-and bringing them out to the door of his house. Then at dusk he breaks through the wall with his goods on his shoulder; and, with face muffled he removes "to another place." In this sign we have again two different facts indicated by a series of not entirely congruous actions. The mere act of carrying out his most necessary furniture and removing from one place to another suggests quite unambiguously the captivity that awaits the inhabitants of Jerusalem. But the accessories of the action, such as breaking through the wall, the muffling of the face, and the doing of all this by night, point to quite a different event- viz., Zedekiah’s attempt to break through the Chaldaean lines by night, his capture, his blindness, and his imprisonment in Babylon. The most remarkable thing in the sign is the circumstantial manner in which the details of the king’s flight and capture are anticipated so long before the event. Zedekiah, as we read in the Second Book of Kings, as soon as a breach was made in the walls by the Chaldaeans, broke out with a small party of horsemen, and succeeded in reaching the plain of Jordan. There he was overtaken and caught, and sent before Nebuchadnezzar’s presence at Riblah. The Babylonian king punished his perfidy with a cruelty common enough amongst the Assyrian kings: he caused his eyes to be put out, and sent him thus to end his days in prison at Babylon. All this is so clearly hinted at in the signs that the whole representation is often set aside as a prophecy after the event. That is hardly probable, because the sign does not bear the marks of having been originally conceived with the view of exhibiting the details of Zedekiah’s punishment. But since we know that the book was written after the event, it is a perfectly fair question whether in the interpretation of the symbols Ezekiel may not have read into it a fuller meaning than was present to his own mind at the time. Thus the covering of his head does not necessarily suggest anything more than the king’s attempt to disguise his person. Possibly this was all that Ezekiel originally meant by it. When the event took place he perceived a further meaning in it as an allusion to the blindness inflicted on the king, and introduced this into the explanation given of the symbol. The point of it lies in the degradation of the king through his being reduced to such an ignominious method of securing his personal safety. "The prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the darkness, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he may not be seen by any eye, and he himself shall not see the earth". { Ezekiel 12:12 } II. In chapter 17 the fate of the monarchy is dealt with at greater length under the form of an allegory. The kingdom of Judah is represented as a cedar in Lebanon-a comparison which shows how exalted were Ezekiel’s conceptions of the dignity of the old regime which had now passed away. But the leading shoot of the tree has been cropped off by a great, broad-winged, speckled eagle, the king of Babylon, and carried away to a "land of traffic, a city of merchants." The insignificance of Zedekiah’s government is indicated by a harsh contrast which almost breaks the consistency of the figure. In place of the cedar which he has spoiled the eagle plants a low vine trailing on the ground, such as may be seen in Palestine at the present day. His intention was that "its branches should extend towards him and its roots be under him"- i.e. , that the new principality should derive all its strength from Babylon and yield all its produce to the power which nourished it. For a time all went well. The vine answered the expectations of its owner, and prospered under the favourable conditions which he had provided for it. But another great eagle appeared on the scene, the king of Egypt, and the ungrateful vine began to send out its roots and turn its branches in his direction. The meaning is obvious: Zedekiah had sent presents to Egypt and sought its help, and by so doing had violated the conditions of his tenure of royal power. Such a policy could not prosper. "The bed where it was planted" was in possession of Nebuchadnezzar, and he could not tolerate there a state, however feeble, which employed the resources with which he had endowed it to further the interests of his rival, Hophra, the king of Egypt. Its destruction shall come from the quarter whence it derived its origin: "when the east wind smites it, it shall wither in the furrow where it grew." Throughout this passage Ezekiel shows that he possessed in full measure that penetration and detachment from local prejudices which all the prophets exhibit when dealing with political affairs. The interpretation of the riddle contains a statement of Nebuchadnezzar’s policy in his dealings with Judah, whose impartial accuracy could not be improved on by the most disinterested historian. The carrying away of the Judaean king and aristocracy was a heavy blow to religious susceptibilities which Ezekiel fully shared, and its severity was not mitigated by the arrogant assumptions by which it was explained in Jerusalem. Yet here he shows himself capable of contemplating it as a measure of Babylonian statesmanship and of doing absolute justice to the motives by which it was dictated. Nebuchadnezzar’s purpose was to establish a petty state unable to raise itself to independence, and one on whose fidelity to his empire he could rely. Ezekiel lays great stress on the solemn formalities by which the great king had bound his vassal to his allegiance: "He took of the royal seed, and made a covenant with him, and brought him under a curse; and the strong ones of the land he took away: that it might be a lowly kingdom, not able to lift itself up, to keep his covenant that it might stand" ( Ezekiel 17:13-14 ). In all this Nebuchadnezzar is conceived as acting within his rights; and here lay the difference between the clear vision of the prophet and the infatuated policy of his contemporaries. The politicians of Jerusalem were incapable of thus discerning the signs of the times. They fell back on the time-honoured plan of checkmating Babylon by means of an Egyptian alliance-a policy which had been disastrous when attempted against the ruthless tyrants of Assyria, and which was doubly imbecile when it brought down on them the wrath of a monarch who showed every desire to deal fairly with his subject provinces. The period of intrigue with Egypt had already begun when this prophecy was written. We have no means of knowing how long the negotiations went on before the overt act of rebellion; and hence we cannot say with certainty that the appearance of the chapter in this part of the book is an anachronism. It is possible that Ezekiel may have known of a secret mission which was not discovered by the spies of the Babylonian court; and there is no difficulty in supposing that such a step may have been taken as early as two and a half years before the outbreak of hostilities. At whatever time it took place, Ezekiel saw that it sealed the doom of the nation. He knew that Nebuchadnezzar could not overlook such flagrant perfidy as Zedekiah and his councillors had been guilty of; he knew also that Egypt could render no effectual help to Jerusalem in her death-struggle. "Not with a strong army and a great host will Pharaoh act for him in the war, when mounds are thrown up, and the towers are built, to cut off many lives" ( Ezekiel 17:17 ). The writer of the Lamentations again shows us how sadly the prophet’s anticipation was verified: "As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us". { Lamentations 4:17 } But Ezekiel will not allow it to be supposed that the fate of Jerusalem is merely the result of a mistaken forecast of political probabilities. Such a mistake had been made by Zedekiah’s advisers when they trusted to Egypt to deliver them from Babylon, and ordinary prudence might have warned them against it. But that was the most excusable part of their folly. The thing that branded their policy as infamous and put them absolutely in the wrong before God and man alike was their violation of the solemn oath by which they had bound themselves to serve the king of Babylon. The prophet seizes on this act of perjury as the determining fact of the situation, and charges it home on the king as the cause of the ruin that is to overtake him: "Thus saith Jehovah, As I live, surely My oath which he hath despised, and My covenant which he has broken, I will return on his head; and I will spread My net over him, and in My snare shall he be taken and ye shall know that I Jehovah have spoken it" ( Ezekiel 17:19-21 ). In the last three verses of the chapter the prophet returns to the allegory with which he commenced, and completes his oracle with a beautiful picture of the ideal monarchy of the future. The ideas on which the picture is framed are few and simple; but they are those which distinguished the Messianic hope as cherished by the prophets from the crude form which it assumed in the popular imagination. In contrast to Zedekiah’s kingdom, which was a human institution without ideal significance, that of the Messianic age will be a fresh creation of Jehovah’s power. A tender shoot shall be planted in the mountain land of Israel, where it shall flourish and increase until it overshadow the whole earth. Further, this shoot is taken from the "top of the cedar"-that is, the section of the royal house which had been carried away to Babylon-indicating that the hope of the future lay not with the king de facto Zedekiah, but with Jehoiachin and those who shared his banishment. The passage leaves no doubt that Ezekiel conceived the Israel of the future as a state with a monarch at its head, although it may be doubtful whether the shoot refers to a personal Messiah or to the aristocracy, who, along with the king, formed the governing body in an Eastern kingdom. This question, however, can be better considered when we have to deal with Ezekiel’s Messianic conceptions in their fully developed form in chapter 34. III. Of the last four kings of Judah there were two whose melancholy fate seems to have excited a profound feeling of pity amongst their countrymen. Jehoahaz or Shallum, according to the Chronicler the youngest of Josiah’s sons, appears to have been even during his father’s lifetime a popular favourite. It was he who after the fatal day of Megiddo was raised to the throne by the "people of the land" at the age of twenty-three years. He is said by the historian of the books of Kings to have done "that which was evil in the sight of the Lord"; but he had hardly time to display his qualities as a ruler when he was deposed and carried to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho, having worn the crown for only three months (608 B.C.). The deep attachment felt for him seems to have given rise to an expectation that he would be restored to his kingdom, a delusion against which the prophet Jeremiah found it necessary to protest. { Jeremiah 22:10-12 } He was succeeded by his elder brother, Eliakim, (Jehoiakim) the headstrong and selfish tyrant, whose character stands revealed in some passages of the books of Jeremiah and Habakkuk. His reign of nine years gave little occasion to his subjects to cherish a grateful memory of his administration. He died in the crisis of the conflict he had provoked with the king of Babylon, leaving his youthful son Jehoiachin to expiate the folly of his rebellion. Jehoiachin is the second idol of the populace to whom we have referred. He was only eighteen years old when he was called to the throne, and within three months he was doomed to exile in Babylon. In his room Nebuchadnezzar appointed a third son of Josiah-Mattaniah-whose name he changed to Zedekiah. He was apparently a man of weak and vacillating character; but he fell ultimately into the hands of the Egyptian and anti-prophetic party, and so was the means of involving his country in the hopeless struggle in which it perished. The fact that two of their native princes were languishing, perhaps simultaneously, in foreign confinement, one in Egypt and the other in Babylon, was fitted to evoke in Judah a sympathy with the misfortunes of royalty something like the feeling embalmed in the Jacobite songs of Scotland. It seems to be an echo of this sentiment that we find in the first part of the lament with which Ezekiel closes his references to the fall of the monarchy (chapter 19). Many critics have indeed found it impossible to suppose that Ezekiel should in any sense have yielded to sympathy with the fate of two princes who are both branded in the historical books as idolaters, and whose calamities on Ezekiel’s own view of individual retribution proved them to be sinners against Jehovah. Yet it is certainly unnatural to read the dirge in any other sense than as an expression of genuine pity for the woes that the nation suffered in the fate of her two exiled kings. If Jeremiah, in pronouncing the doom of Shallum or Jehoahaz, could say, "Weep ye sore for him that goeth away; for he shall not return any more, nor see his native country," there is no reason why Ezekiel should not have given lyrical expression to the universal feeling of sadness which the blighted career of these two youths naturally produced. The whole passage is highly poetical, and represents a side of Ezekiel’s nature which we have not hitherto been led to study. But it is too much to expect of even the most logical of prophets that he should experience no personal emotion but what fitted into his system, or that his poetic gift should be chained to the wheels of his theological convictions. The dirge expresses no moral judgment on the character or deserts of the two kings to which it refers: it has but one theme-the sorrow and disappointment of the "mother" who nurtured and lost them, that is, the nation of Israel, personified according to a usual Hebrew figure of speech. All attempts to go beyond this and to find in the poem an allegorical portrait of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin are irrelevant. The mother is a lioness, the princes are young lions and behave as stalwart young lions do, but whether their exploits are praiseworthy or the reverse is a question that was not present to the writer’s mind. The chapter is entitled "A Dirge on the Princes of Israel," and embraces not only the fate of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, but also of Zedekiah, with whom the old monarchy expired. Strictly. speaking, however, the name qinah, or dirge, is applicable only to the first part of the chapter ( Ezekiel 19:2-9 ), where the rhythm characteristic of the Hebrew elegy is clearly traceable. With a few slight changes of the text the passage may be translated thus:- 1. Jehoahaz. "How was thy mother a lioness!- Among the lions, In the midst of young lions she couched- She reared her cubs; And she brought up one of her cubs- A young lion he became, And he learned to catch the prey- He ate men." "And nations raised a cry against him- In their pit he was caught; And they brought him with hooks- To the land of Egypt" ( Ezekiel 19:2-4 ). 2. Jehoiachin. "And when she saw that she was disappointed- Her hope was lost. She took another of her cubs- A young lion she made him; And he walked in the midst of lions- A young lion he became; And he learned to catch prey- He ate men". "And he lurked in his lair- The forests he ravaged: Till the land was laid waste and its fulness- With the noise of his roar". "The nations arrayed themselves against him- From the countries around; And spread over him their net- In their pit he was caught. And they brought him with hooks- To the king of Babylon; And he put him in a cage, That his voice might no more be heard- On the mountains of Israel" ( Ezekiel 19:5-9 ). The poetry here is simple and sincere. The mournful cadence of the elegiac measure, which is maintained throughout, is adapted to the tone of melancholy which pervades the passage and culminates in the last beautiful line. The dirge is a form of composition often employed in songs of triumph over the calamities of enemies; but there is no reason to doubt that here it is true to its original purpose, and expresses genuine sorrow for the accumulated misfortunes of the royal house of Israel. The closing part of the "dirge" dealing with Zedekiah is of a somewhat different character. The theme is similar, but the figure is abruptly changed, and the elegiac rhythm is abandoned. The nation, the mother of the monarchy, is here compared to a luxuriant vine planted beside great waters; and the royal house is likened to a branch towering above the rest and bearing rods which were kingly sceptres. But she has been plucked up by the roots, withered, scorched by the fire, and finally planted in an arid region where she cannot thrive. The application of the metaphor to the ruin of the nation is very obvious. Israel, once a prosperous nation, richly endowed with all the conditions of a vigorous national life, and glorying in her race of native kings, is now humbled to the dust. Misfortune after misfortune has destroyed her power and blighted her prospects, till at last she has been removed from her own land to a place where national life cannot be maintained. But the point of the passage lies in the closing words: fire went out from one of her twigs and consumed her branches, so that she has no longer a proud rod to be a ruler’s sceptre ( Ezekiel 19:14 ). The monarchy, once the glory and strength of Israel, has in its last degenerate representative involved the nation in ruin. Such is Ezekiel’s final answer to those of his hearers who clung to the old Davidic kingdom as their hope in the crisis of the people’s fate. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.