The Lord instructs Ezekiel to speak a riddle about 2 eagles. The eagles represent Babylon and Egypt. The riddle reveals that King Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon by, “Sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people.”
Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king over Jerusalem but Zedekiah despised the oath by breaking the covenant that he had with Babylon. Therefore, he would not receive any help from Egypt and he would die in the midst of Babylon.
Ezekiel confronts the complaining captives who blame their captivity on the sins of the previous generations. Ezekiel says each person is responsible for his own actions. 🤔 I know…this is a hard concept for people to accept, even today, but it is true with the Lord. “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
God makes clear that He takes no pleasure in punishing the wicked but His nature can not let sin go unpunished. His desire is for the people to repent of their sin and turn to Him. “Repent and turn from all of your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin…For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies…Therefore turn and live!”
Ezekiel then laments over the kings. He says there is a lioness, Judah, and her 2 cubs: 1) King Jehoahaz who reigned 3 months and was taken to Egypt where he died and 2) King Jehoiachin who was taken into captivity with Ezekiel. Both of these kings ignored God’s Word. Now the cowardly King Zedekiah is sitting on the throne as the last king of Judah.
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(Ezekiel 17:1-19:14)
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Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 