View Ezekiel 17 in the note window.
parable relative to the Jewish nation. (1-10) to which an
explanation is added. (11-21) A direct promise of the Messiah.
(22-24)
Verses 1-10: Mighty conquerors are aptly likened to birds or beasts of
prey, but their destructive passions are overruled to forward
God's designs. Those who depart from God, only vary their crimes
by changing one carnal confidence for another, and never will
prosper.
Verses 11-21: The parable is explained, and the particulars of the
history of the Jewish nation at that time may be traced.
Zedekiah had been ungrateful to his benefactor, which is a sin
against God. In every solemn oath, God is appealed to as a
witness of the sincerity of him that swears. Truth is a debt
owing to all men. If the professors of the true religion deal
treacherously with those of a false religion, their profession
makes their sin the worse; and God will the more surely and
severely punish it. The Lord will not hold those guiltless who
take his name in vain; and no man shall escape the righteous
judgment of God who dies under unrepented guilt.
Verses 22-24: The unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of
none effect. The parable of a tree, used in the threatening, is
here presented in the promise. It appears only applicable to
Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah of God. The kingdom of
Satan, which has borne so long, so large a sway, shall be
broken, and the kingdom of Christ, which was looked upon with
contempt, shall be established. Blessed be God, our Redeemer is
seen even by the ends of the earth. We may find refuge from the
wrath to come, and from every enemy and danger, under his
shadow; and believers are fruitful in him.
