May 8th - Chapter Seventeen

The chapter's main message is the fact that God curses those who are disobedient to His will, especially under oath.
Nevertheless, the last two verses still portrays God's faithfulness - He always kept His part of the covenant.

The first great eagle resembles Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the parable states that He took the seed of Jerusalem to plant it in fertile soil so that it could grow in abundance.
The second eagle resembles Egypt and how Jerusalem turned to pharaoh as an ally.
Basically, through the explanation of verses 12-15, Jehoiachin disobeyed God and Babylon through breaking the oath that Jerusalem had made.
This transplantation through different roots was destructive for Israel, as it was supposed to take root with Babylon, not Egypt.
Because of Jehoiachin's disobedience, him and his nobles were taken back to Babylon to be destroyed so that the kingdom of Israel would be crippled.
Egypt would be of no help, its armies and hordes will be of no use to Jerusalem because Jehoiachin"despised the oath by breaking the covenant".

Jehoiachin went against God's will and the consequences were great for his disobedience to God and to Babylon - the nation that was called to be over Jerusalem.
However, verse 22 states that God would take a vine and it would be planted on the mountain heights of Israel.
It would produce branches and bear fruit - all the trees would acknowledge its existence.
Also it also says that God would bring the tall tree down and the small tree grow.
This kind of goes with the idea that the humble will be exalted, and the exalted will be humbled.
This prophesy of Christ is shown even in Jerusalem's disobedience.
To see how faithful God is through chapter seventeen is extraordinary.

In our sins and our disobedience, God is able to deliver us from darkness into co-heirs in Christ.
In our identity in Christ, how have we allowed Him to rule in our lives?
I find myself trusting in other things than God, primarily my own strength.
My "Egypt" is my own strength, when God has called me to follow Him.
Just like Jehoiachin took an oath to build a treaty with Babylon, we ourselves are in the same position where we disobey God.
Yet, in our disobedience, He is faithful.

Ezekiel 17

Been pretty inconsistent with my devotionals whenever I go back to Toronto but back at it. This chapter was pretty difficult for me.

God speaks through Ezekiel in a parable. He uses this imagery of eagles and vines to depict the sinful actions of the Israelites. From verse 7 and 8, the vine sees another vine that is planted in good soil and bears fruit and is a “splendid vine”. We see that the first vine reaches out wanting to be like this splendid vine. It makes me think about desire, in which we want to desire to be more like Jesus, yet our foundation is laid out wrong or we’re simply rooted wrongly, preventing us from even doing so.

The Lord says that this type of vine will never thrive in any situation and is simply weak, it does not take much strength or effort to uproot this plant. It is very easy to be swayed by the things of this world when our foundation is weak.

Starting from verse 11, this parable is explained in the context of the Israelites. That the kings and nobles of Jerusalem were taken by Babylon and because they were bounded by this oath/treaty to Babylon, the kingdom of Jerusalem was brought low and weak. The King of Jerusalem reached out for Egypt yet there would be no help. Obviously Jerusalem would not strive or grow when all of its rulers/protection are gone. Bounded to Babylon, how can a kingdom grow if it’s dependent on another?

Verses 18 and 19 confuse me. The king of Jerusalem is punished for breaking his oath to Babylon yet God punishes him for this. I’m guessing that the king broke his oath to Babylon yet can not even hold God’s oath and covenant and God is angered. He will punish the king.

Verse 22 is interesting as it is like a new promise and the proper way in which God will do things in His plan. “I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and loft mountain.” This foundation of the mountain is solid and strong. This vine will bear fruit and “become a splendid cedar”.

I like verse 24; the Lord brings down the tall trees and makes the low trees grow. He dry’s up the green tree and makes the dry tree flourish. He does what He wants and it is good.