January 14, 2023: Ezekiel 17:22 - I Will Take A Tender One and Plant it on A High Mountain
“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.’” - Ezekiel 17:22
In the preceding passages of Scripture in Ezekiel 17:1-21, Ezekiel had spoken a parable which God had given him. This parable refers to Judah’s last king, King Zedekiah. It is important to know what is written in Ezekiel 17:1-21 in order to understand verses 22-24. I have copied below information from gotguestions.org about King Zedekiah (see: https://www.gotquestions.org/King-Zedekiah.html).
Zedekiah was king when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Babylon and most of its people were carried into exile in Babylon. Zedekiah’s original name was Mattaniah, and he was son of Josiah. The Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar put him on the throne “to rule as a vassal king. Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king.” “In his ninth year on the throne, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and as a result, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem.” Zedekiah had put his confidence in Egypt that it would help him, but that did not happen, and Jerusalem fell to Babylon.
Zedekiah then asked the prophet Jeremiah “to intercede to the Lord so that perhaps the Lord would deliver Judah. Jeremiah returns God’s answer: He has irrevocably handed Judah over to judgment, first by plague, and those who escape that will fall to the Babylonians. The only hope that any of the people have is to surrender to the Babylonians.”
“Zedekiah heard God’s definitive answer, but he did not like it. False prophets contradicted Jeremiah and preached a more favorable message (Jeremiah 23), but God reiterated His message to Jeremiah (chapters 24-25). Yet, Zedekiah did not listen to God and rebelled. “As a result, Zedekiah lost his sons, his sight, his freedom, and his throne. Through it all God was faithful to do what He promised. He carried out the judgment He had declared, but He also brought about the restoration. Seventy years later, Cyrus, king of Persia (successor to the Babylonian Empire), declared that all of the Jewish exiles who wanted to return to Jerusalem might do so, and they could take with them all the implements of the temple.”
This explains what is described in Ezekiel 17:1-21. This is what happens when people rebel against God and do not do what He has commanded them. We want to do things our way, especially when we are suffering and want to escape from it. We don’t want to trust in the Lord and His plan for us; instead, we make our own plans and follow them, to our own peril.
Turning now to today’s Scripture verse, this is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Earthly men put earthly kings up, propping them up, and those kings fall. They fall because they do not listen to God; instead, they go their own ways - the ways of sin - and reap what they have sown. In this prophecy in Ezekiel 17:22, Almighty God said, “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs,” which many believe “the topmost” refers to the tribe of Judah, from which Jesus will come, “a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.” Below are several Scriptures that support this being a prophecy of the Messiah.
Isaiah 4:2: In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.
Isaiah 11:1-2: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
Zechariah 3:8: Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.
Isaiah 53:2-3: For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
Isaiah 2:2: Now it shall to come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
It seems to me that it is no coincidence that the United Nations was given a bronze sculpture, titled “Let Us Beat Swords Into Ploughshares” by esteemed Soviet sculptor and artist Evgeniy Vuchetich (1908 - 1974). Per the un.org’s website, “The sculpture depicts the figure of a man, holding a hammer aloft in one hand and a sword in the other hand, hammering the sword into a ploughshare, a tool to till land for crops. This action symbolizes man’s desire to put an end to war and transform tools of destruction into tools to benefit mankind.” (See: https://www.un.org/ungifts/let-us-beat-swords-ploughshares). However, what the artist, the UN, and the majority of people fail to recognize is that only God can bring about an end to all wars and bring true peace, everlasting peace, and that is through belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah, the One who was prophesied about in Ezekiel 17:22-24 and though out the entire Bible. We will read more about the Ezekiel 17 prophecy in the next two devotionals. ✝️