Reading for January 19th

Read Ezekiel 17.1-10. In 17.1-24: The allegory of the eagles, the vines, and the cedar. The allegory describes Jehoiachin's exile to Babylon, the installation of Zedekiah as king and Zedekiah's demise when he revolted against Babylon. In verses 1-2: God instructs Ezekiel to speak a riddle and an allegory. In verses 3-10: The allegory proceeds in three stages. The first describes an eagle, later identified as Nebuchadnezzar, who breaks off the top shoot of the cedar and carries it to a land of trade and a city of merchants. Lebanon was known for "the cedars of Lebanon"(Ps 104.16), but the Davidic palace in Jerusalem, since it was built with cedar, is caled the "Hose of the Forest of Lebanaon" (1 Kings 7.2; Isa 22.9). The top most shoot there fore symbolizes the Davidic monarch Jehoiachin (isa 11.1); and the land of of trade is Babylon (16.2). The seed that becomes a vine is Zedekiah. The great eeagle is the Egyptian Pharaoh Psammetichus II, to whom Zedekiah turned for support in his revolt against Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 27). The rehtorical questions portray the destruction of the vine. Comments or Questions..