Ezekiel is a theologically rich and glorious book (Calvin preached around 175 sermons on it). But at times it is quite challenging, such as the “riddle” of the eagles and the vine in Chapter 17. Although the riddle is explained in verses 11–21, it doesn’t clear things up very much unless you’re already familiar with the details of Judah’s history. This article walks through the chapter and concludes with how verses 22–24 point forward to Christ and his everlasting kingdom.
The Eagle, the Cedar, and the Seed that Becomes A Vine
1. The riddle begins with a large and impressive eagle coming to Lebanon. He uses his massive talons to break off the top of a cedar and carry it away to a land of trade and city of merchants. (Recall that Lebanon was famous for its cedar trees.)
This represents Nebuchadnezzar, “the king of Babylon” (v. 12), invading Jerusalem and seizing those at the “top”—king Jehoiachin and Judah’s princes (v. 12)—then carrying them away in exile to Babylon, which is called “a trading land” in the previous chapter (Ezek. 16:29). You can read about it in 2 Kings 24:10–16.
2. The eagle also takes “the seed of the land” and plants it in the soil.
This is where it’s easy to get confused. Unlike the top of the cedar, this seed isn’t taken away to Babylon. It’s planted in the soil of Judah. When Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin away, he didn’t leave Judah without a king; he appointed Jehoiachin’s nephew, Zedekiah, as king in his place, hoping that Zedekiah would be his “puppet” (see 2 Kings 24:17. Ezekiel 17:13 explains, “ He [Nebuchadnezzar] took one of the royal offspring [Zedekiah] and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath.” God took this oath seriously, in part because God takes all oaths seriously, and in part because Zedekiah was essentially accepting God’s discipline of his people by making the oath (Nebuchadnezzar was set to Judah as God’s instrument of judgment).
3. The seed is planted in fertile soil beside abundant waters, stays rooted, and grows into a fruitful vine while “turned toward” the eagle.
The seed is Zedekiah, and the fruitful vine is Zedekiah’s flourishing kingdom. As long as Zedekiah kept his oath to Nebuchadnezzar and looked to him for support, Judah flourished. This is a major emphasis in the parable. Zedekiah should have been grateful that he and the rest of Judah weren’t in exile like those who had been taken. They were allowed to stay in their land and actually do quite well, even while paying fealty to a foreign king.
The Second Eagle and the Vine’s Changed Allegiance
4. Another impressive eagle enters the picture and draws away the attention of the vine. The vine bends its roots and branches towards the second eagle, looking to it for water instead of the first eagle.
The second eagle represents Hophra, king of Egypt. Zedekiah made a political alliance with Hophra, hoping that with the help of Egypt, he could break free from Nebuchadnezzar’s influence. 2 Kings 24:20 alludes to this: “And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” Zedekiah broke his oath with Nebuchadnezzar by turning to the “second eagle.” This is the key point of the whole parable. “Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head” (Ezek. 17:9). Zedekiah sinned by breaking an oath that he had made, trying to escape God’s discipline through Babylon, trusting in a foreign nation for help to escape what God had brought about, and putting all Judah at risk by his foolish actions.
5. The vine’s destiny is declared: it won’t thrive under the second eagle; instead, its roots will be pulled up, its fruit will wither, and it won’t even take a strong arm or many people to do this.
This represents Nebuchadnezzar taking vengeance on Zedekiah and Judah, and their Egyptian allies being unable to stop it. Jeremiah 37:1–10 addresses this: The Babylonian army withdrew at first when they saw Pharaoh’s army helping Zedekiah, but the prophet foretold that the Egyptians would return to their land, and Babylon would also come back to destroy Jerusalem (see also Jeremiah 34:21–22). By trying to escape God’s discipline, breaking his oath, and trusting in a foreign nation, Zedekiah brought far greater sorrows upon Judah, and God was angry about it.
A Third Eagle and His Sprig: God and the Messiah
While Chapter 17 focuses on Judah’s history, it concludes with an awesome Messianic prophecy. In verse 22, God depicts himself as a third “eagle” planting a cedar sprig that grows into a tree that can never be uprooted: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one” (Ezek. 17:22). Nebuchadnezzar plucked the twig Jehoiachin from the top of the cedar and planted the seed Zedekiah, but now God himself will pluck a tender twig and plant it. The “tender one” is the king that Judah really needs: the Messiah, King Jesus. He begins as a tender twig: a baby both in little Bethlehem and raised in despised Nazareth as a carpenter’s son. But God plants him “on a high and lofty mountain”—”on the mountain height of Israel”: he is destined to “become a noble cedar,” elevated and exalted as king over all Israel.
The Messiah bears many branches, and they produce much fruit. Zedekiah was a vine under whose leadership Judah bore fruit, but Zedekiah sinned and brought about their demise. Jesus is the true and better Zedekiah who said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (Jn. 15:5). Jesus is the ultimate vine, the ultimate cedar, and through union with him the remnant of believing Judah/Israel and all who believe in him grow into mighty, fruitful branches. They are secure under the eternal reign of the new Davidic King.
In the shade of the branches of this mighty cedar dwells “every kind of bird … every sort.” This is a prophecy of the Gentiles from all nations being incorporated into the vine/tree—the people of God. “Every kind” and “every sort” includes the unclean birds listed in Leviticus 11—birds which Peter was told to eat in his vision in Acts 10 as a symbol of the Gentiles being declared clean by God through Christ. The result of the incorporation of the Gentile “birds” is that “all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord”—Babylonians and Egyptians alike coming to know who is the true God!
Chapter 17 concludes with God saying, “I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” It is through Christ that God accomplishes this great reversal, as Mary recognized in her Magnificat when the angel announced Christ’s birth:
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. (Lk. 1:51–55)
God alone is the “Lord of the Eagles” (think Tolkien’s Hobbit), completely sovereign over the Nebuchadnezzars and Hophras of the world, and he will give to his Son an eternal, universal, secure, and flourishing kingdom. This is very good news—the gospel of the kingdom!
