Ezekiel
17 reminds me of relocating to a new city. It can be a great
maturing step because it forces us to change our whole support
system. We must adapt, we need to stretch, but always we must be
able to find a means of support to survive and thrive. In today’s
chapter Ezekiel is asked to “set
forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable“.
A parable is a story that teaches a spiritual lesson using
situations familiar to the reader. Ezekiel is told to say, “A
great eagle with powerful wings… came to Lebanon”
where it landed on a cedar tree. He continues, “He
broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of
merchants, where he planted it“.
Not many of us are botanists, but we know plants require good soil,
water and sun to grow. Most plants also need other plants to
cross-pollinate in order to bear fruit. The parable adds, “He
took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil…
it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine“.
Whenever we move or make a big life change, it is important to be
aware the folks surrounding us. They will allow us to stand tall or
cause us to stall and crawl.
Next
the parable relates “another
great eagle with powerful wings“.
It says, “The vine…
stretched out its branches to him for water… so that it would
produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine“.
The Lord asked, “Will it
thrive?” Plants naturally
grow toward the light, but we humans are easily fooled into following
anything that sparkles. Then He adds, it will be “uprooted
and stripped of its fruit so that it withers“.
New situations teach us that people are not always what they appear.
“It will not take a strong arm
or many people to pull it up by the roots“.
I’ve heard many people say, “I was raised better than this”.
“Will it not wither completely
when the east wind strikes it?”
Do you have shallow roots?
Ezekiel
explains the allegory, “The
king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her
nobles… so that the kingdom would be brought low“.
Instead of turning to God, the king turned toward Egypt for help.
“Pharaoh…
will be of no help to him in
war“. Some friends disappear
in times of struggle. God points out the real source of the problem,
“he was unfaithful to Me“.
Very complex problems sometimes begin with that simple core. God
has a solution, He will begin again. “I
myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it…
On the mountain heights of Israel… it will produce branches and
bear fruit and become a splendid cedar“.
When God plants us and we follow His instruction, He promises, “I
will do it“. The apostle Paul
gives important instruction for those of us that came to salvation
after we were mature. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, he does not teach
to abandon your situation when others will be hurt. Instead he
instructs, “Nevertheless, each
person should live as a believer in whatever situation…just
as God has called them“. In
your location and relationships, “Keeping
God’s commands is what counts“.
He repeats it to make it clear, “each
person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they
were in when God called them“.
The people around us will see the change and may also come to a
place of repentance because, “the
Lord’s mercy is trustworthy“.
Are you in a new situation?
Struggles will come, please be rooted and grounded in God’s Word
from the start.