Ezekiel 17:22-24

V. MESSIAH: THE STATELY CEDAR 17:22-24

TRANSLATION

(22) Thus says the Lord GOD: Moreover I, even I, will take of the top of the lofty cedar, and I will set it; and I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs, a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and eminent mountain; (23) in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs and produce fruit, and it shall be a glorious cedar; and under it shall dwell every bird of every wing in the shadow of its branches shall they dwell. (24) And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought low the high tree, have exalted the low tree, and have dried up the green tree, and I have caused the withered tree to flourish; I the LORD have spoken and done it.

COMMENTS

The message of doom in the preceding parable and application is tempered by a word of hope in Ezekiel 17:22-24. God in His sovereign grace is about to act. Nebuchadnezzar had cut a twig from the cedar and had removed it to far off Babylon (cf. Ezekiel 17:3 f,). But God would now cut a twig from that same royal cedar tree and plant it upon a high mountain (Ezekiel 17:22). The basic idea is that the Davidic dynasty would be reinstated and would achieve a prominence which it had not heretofore enjoyed. The Messiah King of the house of David is in view here.[328] Jesus of Nazareth now occupies the throne of God and rules over the New Israel of God,

[328] Some interpret this as a reference to the restoration under Zerubbabel, a descendant of Jehoiachin. But Zerubbabel was never a king.

The Messianic twig would be prominent, planted in the high mountain of Israel. The cedar Messianic Jerusalem, the church of Christ would be stately, i.e., dignified. It would bear fruit. The Messiah heads a royal family of kings and priests (1 Peter 2:9). Many birds (different nations) would place themselves under the protection of this Messianic Monarch (verse 23). The high trees proud kingdoms of Ezekiel's day would be cut down or dry up. The low tree God's people would be exalted under the leadership of the Messiah. All peoples would then realize that it is by the will of God that the haughty are humbled and the debased exalted (verse 29),