DYING ON THE VINE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.’”

“‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs.’”

“‘But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water. It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’”

“Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?’”

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?’”

“‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.’”

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.’”

Ezekiel 17:1-21

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever witnessed someone who tried to hatch a plan but didn’t take the time to think it through before they started?

What you usually find is that the plan is destined for failure right out of the gate and might be referred to as “dying on the vine” because it never really had a chance to grow into something significant. Maybe this has happened to you in your own life.

This concept is central to our scripture passage for today as we look at much of Ezekiel 17 and a parable that God gave His prophet Ezekiel to share with the Israelites, a parable intended to teach them an important lesson from events that were very fresh in their minds.

The parable was centered on two eagles which symbolized major empires in Ezekiel’s time. The first eagle represented the Babylonians, the second the Egyptians.

It’s important to note why the eagle was used in the parable. Eagles were powerful and majestic, soaring high over the earth below but showing a propensity to swoop down and go after prey when identified.  

Such was what happened when King Nebuchadnezzar came upon God’s divine kingdom of Judah. We read that the great eagle took a hold of the top of the cedar and broke off its topmost shoot, taking it away and planting it in a land of merchants and traders. This was symbolic of the first group of Israelites being taken away into Babylon, a group which included the Jehoiachin, King of Judah. Note that the Israelites did not grow into a cedar while in Babylon but were likened to a vine which was placed near “abundant water” where it “sprouted and became a low, spreading vine”, a vine that “produced branches and put out leafy boughs”. In other words, the vine, transplanted in another land, lived and thrived.

At this point, we find the Lord bring a second eagle into the scene. Note that although the eagle had “powerful wings and full plumage”, it wasn’t painted the same way as the first. This is because the second eagle represented the Egyptians, who although mighty, were nowhere as strong as the Babylonians.

Why the second eagle?

Well, we need to backtrack for a minute and cover what happened after the first Babylonian assault on Jerusalem. For after Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin into captivity, he replaced him with a vassal king named Zedekiah, essentially a puppet king who would do his bidding. Zedekiah represented the vine discussed with the second eagle and note that the vine “sent out its roots toward” the second eagle, hoping “for water”. Actually, this was just an allegory which represented Zedekiah trying to enlist the aid of the Egyptians to fight against Nebuchadnezzar and ward off the Babylonian invasion.

There were three major issues with Zedekiah’s actions:

1. God had told him to surrender himself to Nebuchadnezzar.

Zedekiah’s actions were in direct disobedience to what God had told him to do. In fact, God told Zedekiah that He would spare the city of Jerusalem and its people, including Zedekiah’s own family, if he would just submit himself to Nebuchadnezzar. If he didn’t, then God would destroy Jerusalem and send mortal judgment on Zedekiah and his family.

Well, as we know, Zedekiah did not listen to God and everyone suffered the consequences as a result. Jerusalem was demolished and left in ruins. Event God’s temple was not spared. Many people were killed and the ones who survived were dragged away into seventy years of exile. Zedekiah had to watch his sons murdered one at a time by Nebuchadnezzar’s men before his eyes were gouged out and then he was killed.

Additionally, when the Israelites had been delivered from Egypt by God under the leadership of Moses, the Lord commanded them to never go back to Egypt, especially to get horses (Deuteronomy 17:16).

So what did Zedekiah do?

He ordered envoys to go to Egypt and get horses and a large army, a plan that was destined to fail from its onset, a plan that was going to die on the vine.

Through Zedekiah’s sinful decision making, we find that disregarding God and His plan only brings judgment.

2. Zedekiah had made a pact with Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar had allowed the Israelites in Jerusalem to continue to have a productive life under his rule. All the vassal king had to do was remain faithful to the conquering king’s wishes and life would be good. Zedekiah broke his treaty with Babylon’s king when he went to enlist the help of the Egyptians, not seeking to submit to Nebuchadnezzar but summon forces to help drive him out. Obviously, Nebuchadnezzar was not going to stand for that.

3. Zedekiah tried to execute his own plan, never seeking God to see if it was His will.

We have to capture the biggest issue at hand in this parable and that was Zedekiah choosing to go on his own program. He relied on his own understanding as if he knew what to do better than God. He came up with an ill-conceived plan and as we know, it died on the vine since Zedekiah was represented that way in God’s parable.

What will happen when we do this, when we decide to do what we want to do against God’s will?

Look again at what God had to say about Zedekiah’s vine:

“Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?”

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.’”

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.’”

As covered earlier, Zedekiah’s story was going to have a tragic ending but it was all of his own doing. He deserved everything he got because God had told him what to expect if he crossed Him and disobeyed what He told Him to do. Relying on his own wisdom, Zedekiah’s plan was destined to fail before he even put it into action. So will ours if we follow his lead.

With this, I pray we are paying close attention to this parable and what God is trying to convey to all of us today. For it is only when we execute His plans with absolute obedience that success is attained because the Lord never brings us to anything He isn’t going to bring us through. When we choose to go against Him or fail to even consult Him at all, then our plans, like Zedekiah’s, will only die on the vine.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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