Reading for March 7th

Read Ezekiel 17.1-24 The allegory of the eagles, the vine, and the cedar.
The allegory describes Jehoiachin's exile to Babylon, the installation of Zedikiah as king, and Zedikiah'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 called the "House of the Forest of Lebanon" (1 Kings 7.2; Isa 22.9).
The topmost shoot therefore symbolizes the Davidic monarch Jehoiachin (Isa 11.1); and the land of trade is Babylon (16.29).
The seed that becomes a vine is Zedekiah.
The great eagle is the Egyptian Pharaoh Psammetichus 11, to whom Zedikiah turned for support in his revolt against Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 27).
The rhetorical questions portray the destruction of the vine.
Comments or Questions...

Reading for March 6th

Read Ezekiel 16.59-63
The everlasting covenant with Jerusalem alludes to God's eternal protection for Jerusalem and the house of David (2 Sam 7; Isa 55.3) which may be compared to Jeremiah's new covenant
(Jer 31.31-34).
God remembers the covenant; only Judah is charged with breaking (literally, "transgressing") it.
Jerusalem, not God, is charged with violating the "eternal covenant,"
according to which Jerusalem is destroyed.
Samaria and Sodom were sisters, but they will become Jerusalem's daughters,
indicating Jerusalem's premier status.
I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD restates the covenant formula (compare Hos 2.20).
Comments or Questions...

Reading for March 5th

Read Ezekiel 16.53-58
God intends to restore the fortunes of both Sodom and Samaria and their daughters,
a reference to cities allied with each.
In addition, God will restore Jerusalem.
God intends to punish or cleanse Israel from sins much like sacrifice at the altar.
Jerusalem has become a mockery to Aram (some manuscripts read "Edom")
and Philistia, Judah's surviving neighbors.
Comments or Questions...

Reading for March 4th

Read Ezekiel 16.44-52
In charging that Jerusalem is like her mother who loathed her husband and her children,
God points to the sexual abominations of the nations who possessed the land before Israel
(Lev 18.24-30; 20.23; Gen 15.16).
God compares Jerusalem to Samaria, the elder sister to the north, and Sodom,
the younger sister to the south.
According to biblical tradition (2 Kings 17; Gen 18-19), both cities were destroyed for their sins,
but God states that Jerusalem's sins are even worse.
Comments or Questions...

Reading for March 3rd

Read Ezekiel 16.35-43
God states that all of Jerusalem's lovers, the nations with whom she was allied,
will come to punish her.
Comments or Questions...

Reading for March 2nd

Read Ezekiel 16.15-34
God's charge that Jerusalem used the gifts to become a whore is a way to describe religious unfaithfulness.
The metaphor then shifts to political alliances with foreign nations.
Israel allied itself with Egypt during the reigns of Solomon (1 Kings 3.1) and later Hoshea
(2 Kings 17.4).
Following Israel's destruction in 722/1 BCE, Assyria granted Philistia control of Israelite and Judean territory in the coastal plain.
Israel made an alliance with Assyria during the reign of Menahem (2 Kings 15.17-22), and Judah turned to Assyria during the reign of Ahaz (2 Kings 20; Isa 39).
In verses 30-34 Ezekiel charges that Jerusalem pays her lovers.
Ahaz's "bribe" to Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 16.8) would be a case in point.
When Nebuchadnezzar fist conquered Jerusalem, he stripped the Temple of its wealth
(2 Kings 24.10-17).
Comments or Questions....

Reading for March 1st

Read Ezekiel 16.6-14
God commands the abandoned infant to live but does nothing to care for her.
She grows up like a plant but remains naked.
I spread the edge of my cloak over you, and covered your nakedness indicates God's
intent to marry the young woman (Ruth 3.9).
Only after taking Jerusalem in marriage does God wash the blood from her and clothe her.
The description of fine clothing, jewelry, and food (see Isa 3.18-23) demonstrates God's
generosity to the unwanted Jerusalem.
Comments or Questions...