SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/1/2015
11:34 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: The
Two Eagles and Three Shoots PT-2-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ezekiel 17:3-4, 11-12, 5-10, 13-21
Message of the
verses: We begin the New Year with
our second look at the interesting 17th chapter of Ezekiel.
King Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 17:3-4, 11-12): “1 Now the word of the LORD came to me
saying, 2 “Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of
Israel, 3 saying, ’Thus says the Lord GOD, "A great eagle with great
wings, long pinions and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took
away the top of the cedar. 4 “He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and
brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders. 11 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me,
saying, 12 “Say now to the rebellious house, ’Do you not know what these things
mean?’ Say, ’Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and
princes and brought them to him in Babylon.”
I added the first two verses in order to better understand the rest of
the verses.
I see no other way for all of us who read this to
understand it than to quote what Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote on this section: “When Nebuchadnezzar swooped down on Judah in
597 BC, he deposed King Jehoiachin and took him and his family and staff to
Babylon. He also took the temple
treasures and 10,000 officers, artisans, and soldiers (2 Kings 24:8-17). (“I just put on my SD for this section from 2
Kings 24:8-17 today.”) “This fulfilled
the prophecy Isaiah had spoken to King Hezekiah after the king had shown all
his wealth to the Babylonian visitors (Isa. 39; 2 Kings 20:17). Jehoiachin was the highest shoot or branch in
David’s family tree and he was ‘planted’ in Babylon. Jehoiachin had reigned only three months and
then days (2Chron 36:9). He’s the king
that Jeremiah called ‘Coniah’ (Jeremiah 22:24, 28; 37:1) and Jeconiah in
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:11-12).
In Ezekiel 19:5-9, Jehoiachin is compared to a lion who would be caught
and taken to Babylon. During hes three
months on the throne, instead of leading the people back to faith in the Lord,
Jehoiachin did evil in the sight of the Lord.
He died in Babylon.”
I think that it is amazing that I am putting the
Spiritual Diaries that I did in 2011 on my second blog as they seem to be going
along with what Ezekiel is writing about and telling the people who were in
exile with him. Daniel went into
captivity in 605 BC, while I believe Ezekiel actually went in 597 BC.
Since I missed doing a Spiritual Diary yesterday I will
take the time to do one more sub-point, leaving one more for tomorrow.
King Zedekiah (Ezekiel 17:5-10, 13-21): “5 “He also took some of the seed of the land
and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters; he set it
like a willow. 6 “Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its
branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a
vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches. 7 "But there was another great eagle with
great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him
and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, that
he might water it. 8 “It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that
it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine."’ 9 “Say,
’Thus says the Lord GOD, "Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots
and cut off its fruit, so that it withers-so that all its sprouting leaves
wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from
its roots again. 10 “Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not
completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it-wither on the beds where
it grew?"’" 13 ’He took one of the royal family and made a
covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the
land, 14 that the kingdom might be in subjection, not exalting itself, but
keeping his covenant that it might continue. 15 ’But he rebelled against him by
sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops.
Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the
covenant and escape? 16 ’As I live,’
declares the Lord GOD, ’Surely in the country of the king who put him on the
throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die.
17 ’Pharaoh with his mighty army and
great company will not help him in the war, when they cast up ramps and build
siege walls to cut off many lives. 18 ’Now he despised the oath by breaking the
covenant, and behold, he pledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he
shall not escape.’" 19 Therefore,
thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely My oath which he despised and
My covenant which he broke, I will inflict on his head. 20 “I will spread My
net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. Then I will bring him to
Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act
which he has committed against Me. 21 “All the choice men in all his troops
will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and
you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken."”
All of the things that Ezekiel is speaking to the people
in this parable will come true, and the things he is talking about had been prophesied
in the past by Judah’s prophets. God
will keep His Word that He spoke through His prophets.
When Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon he made
his uncle who was another of the son’s of Josiah king. Mattaniah was his name and Nebuchadnezzar
renamed him Zedekiah and so Nebuchadnezzar planted him as the new king of
Judah. Dr. Wiersbe writes “It was
Zedekiah who asked Jeremiah to pray for him and the people and who hid him and
cared for him (Jer. 37-38).” We have
already gone over these chapters in Jeremiah when we studied that book last
year.
Nebuchadnezzar was kind to Zedekiah and if he would have
kept his treaty with him then Jerusalem and the temple would not have been
destroyed, however Zedekiah went to the king of Egypt to receive help from him
to defeat the Babylonians. We have went
over this ground before and learned that Nebuchadnezzar soundly defeated the
Egyptians and therefore they were of no help to Zedekiah or Judah. Dr. Wiersbe writes “The second eagle
represents Pharaoh who tried to rescue the kingdom of Judah but failed. This foolish decision on the part of Zedekiah
resulted in the uprooting and withering of the vine, and this was the end of
the kingdom of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar
would no tolerate his treachery in seeking Egypt as an ally, so he captured
Zedekiah, killed his sons before his eyes, blinded him, and took him captive to
Babylon, where he died.”
Ezekiel makes it clear that Zedekiah not only broke his
covenant with Nebuchadnezzar, but also with God and this was much more
serious. “11 Zedekiah was twenty-one
years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He
did evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he did not humble himself before
Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD. 13 He also rebelled against King
Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his
neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. 14
Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very
unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the
house of the LORD which He had sanctified in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:11-14).” These verses were also covered in the SD that
I posted today too.
God had warned the people of Judah by His prophets that
this day would come, and it did come and the kingdom of Judah was put to an end
because of the sinfulness of the people of Judah, but as we will learn this did
not stop the Messiah from coming as God would continue to care for His people
and Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ would be born just as the prophets had
written that He would.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: God made it clear
through various prophets in His Word, and them speaking to the people what was
going to happen to Israel if they sinned.
You can go all the way back to Moses and his writings in the book of
Deuteronomy where the “Palestinian Covenant” is seen in chapter 28, and then
look at the other prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and some of the minor
prophets to see that God would punish His people if they continued to sin. God is faithful to His Word, and so I, too
must be faithful to His Word and obey it.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
In 2015 I desire to love the Lord with
all of my heart, soul, and strength better than I have in the past.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Peter 1:5-7.
5 Now for this very reason
also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in
your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your moral excellence, self-control,
and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7
and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness,
love.
Answer to our last SD’s
Bible question: “Tentmaking” (Acts
18:1-3).
Today’s Bible question: “What did the disciples do when Jesus called
Peter?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/1/2015 12:40 PM
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