And Now, a Bird Note Moment
- God tells Ezekiel to repeat an allegory to the house of Israel.
- In the allegory, a great eagle takes the topmost shoot from the tallest cedar in Lebanon.
- The eagle drops into a city of merchants, and then plants a seed in the land from which he took the shoot.
- The seed grows into a vine which stretches out towards another great eagle. The vine wants the eagle to water the seed and transplant it in good soil so that the vine becomes a noble vine.
- God asks if this will really happen to the vine. Won't it just get pulled up and die? Hint: yes.
- Finally, God explains the allegory. The King of Babylon is the first eagle who exiles king Jehoiachin (the shoot from the cedar).
- He then plants Zedekiah like the seed to rule over Judah, believing he'll stay allied with Babylon.
- But Zedekiah (the vine) reaches out towards Egypt, the second eagle, hoping it'll become his ally.
- As punishment for breaking this covenant with Babylon, Zedekiah will end up dying in exile in Babylon.
- The Judean troops and survivors will all be scattered throughout the land.
- But God predicts a positive future for his people: he'll pick a shoot from the cedar (the House of David) and place it on top of the mountain of Israel, where it'll grow into a noble tree and give shelter to birds and bear fruit.
- The other trees of the field (nations) will know that God is the lord.
- God says that he makes the high tree low, the low tree high, dries up the green tree, and makes the dry tree flourish. Guy's got a way with words.