And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth
a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel: And say,
Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings,
long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto
Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 (verses 1-10).
The great eagle mentioned first is Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon.
"For thus saith the Lord: Behold he shall fly as an eagle, and shall
spread his wings over Moab" (Jer. xlviii:40). "Behold, he shall come up
and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah" (Jer. xlix:22).
When Daniel saw the Babylonian Empire rising out of the sea it was in
the form of a lion with eagle's wings (Daniel vii:1-2). Nebuchadnezzar
had been constituted by God the first great monarch of the times of the
Gentiles after the complete apostasy of Israel. Thus Jeremiah had
announced it (Jer. xxvii:5, etc.), and Daniel also told the King, "Thou,
O King, art a King of Kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a
Kingdom, power, and strength and glory" (Dan. ii:37). Ezekiel's parable
describes him as a great eagle with great wings and long-winged,
denoting his great power and the vast dominion which belonged to him.
"Full of feathers" pictures the multitude of his subjects and the
"divers colors" the different nations of his empire.
This eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch
of the cedar. He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it
into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. The cedar of
Lebanon is the symbol of the royal house of David, which was conquered
by the eagle. The top of his young twigs, whom Nebuchadnezzar cropped
off and carried into the city of merchants, Babylon, describes Jehoiakim
and his captivity (2 Kings xxiv:1-5) (2 Chron. xxxvi:6-7). Then
Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah, the youngest son of Josiah, King over
Judah, and changed his name to Zedekiah. This action of the King of
Babylon is described in verse 5. And Zedekiah might have done well if he
had held to the King who had set him into the place of authority. He was
placed like a willow tree beside great waters, so that he became a
spreading vine of low stature; his roots were under him, which means, he
was dependent upon Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxiv:17). The other great
eagle, whom Ezekiel mentions in his parable, is Hophra, the King of
Egypt. To this king Zedekiah turned for help: "This vine bent her roots
towards him." Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 8
describes the opportunity which had been given to Zedekiah and verses
9-10 announces his judgment. The sin and treacherous dealings of
Zedekiah is shown in the next verses.