THE VINE AND THE TWO EAGLES In this chapter, captivity is described through a special riddle of the vine and the two eagles: 1- The riddle of the vine and the two eagles 1-10. 2- Interpretation of the riddle 11-21. 3- A promise of the new kingdom 22-24. 1- THE RIDDLE OF THE VINE AND THE TWO EAGLES The Lord commanded the prophet Ezekiel to pose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel, that carried a living and accurate portrait of what has been realized in the first captivation of Judah; and of the events and situations that followed: “A great eagle with large wings, spreading them out very far, with many claws, which has the design of entering into Libanus” (Ez 17:3 LXX). As Origen says, the description of the eagle therein, differs from any other eagle, as far as its great size, huge wings, and powerful claws. It is also destined to come to Lebanon; to crop off selected cedar branches, and to carry them to the land of Canaan, the land of trade, surrounded by walls... It carries the branches outside, to plant them in a field by running (abundant) water1. The Lord clarified that that eagle is the king of Babylon (Ez 17:11); whose wings are great, and its claws are numerous - a symbol of the power of his weapons and the enormity of his army2. The dense feathers of various colors, refer to the several kingdoms that were under his authority. This king put in his heart to take over Lebanon that refers to the kingdom of Judah. Origen says about Nebuchadnezzar: [He was the eagle, with the great size and the large claws; who dared to proclaim: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; Also I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasuries. So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people. And as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth” (Is 10 13, 14). This great eagle had no authority to enter Lebanon... Yet, as they sinned against the Lord, this eagle came to uproot them. He cropped off all the branches of that tree, and carried them to Canaan, (said to be the land of the cursed) as Noah said: “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren” (Gen 9:25).] It was in about the year 597 B C, that Nebuchadnezzar entered the holy city, the capital of Judah (symbolically Lebanon), after a siege that lasted 18 months. What did the king do? a- He took the highest branch of the cedar (Ez 17:3); or, according to the Septuagint version, the choice branches of cedar. If the cedar tree here refers to the royal house of David; its highest elect branch would be King Jehoiachin together with his family, who were carried to Babylon. b- He cropped off its topmost young twigs (Ez 17:4), and carried them to the land of traders; referring to cropping off the elect young people of high abilities, the children 1 In Ezek. hom. 11:1. 2 St. Chrysostom : Conc. Statues 19 :9. 5 of priests and the aristocrats, gathering them together in his net, and carrying them to Babylon. There, giving them complete freedom to work, they carried out vast commercial enterprises during their captivity. c- He took some of the seed of the land, planted them in a fertile field, by abundant waters; to grow and become like a willow tree (Ez 17:5); under whose shade many took refuge. Although it grew and became a spreading vine, yet of low stature. Its branches turned toward the eagle to embrace him; but its roots were under him (Ez 17:6). What are those seeds but king Zedekiah, nephew of Jehoiachin, whom Nebuchadnezzar set a king on Judah in place of his uncle Jehoiachin. Nebuchadnezzar did not destroy neither the city nor the Temple, but only took away some of the young men and the utensils of the house of the Lord. He left Zedekiah to take care of the fertile field by the abundant waters, and of his people, after making a covenant with him, in which the king gave an oath of loyalty. Actually the seeds started to grow to become a spreading vine, although of low stature, having been under the authority of the king of Babylon. Its branches turned to embrace the eagle; namely it entered into a covenant with him; but its roots were under him, a sign of his authority on them. It is short-stemmed; and as Origen says: [It was not possible to be otherwise; having been planted in Babylon; how could it maintain its old strength, having turned into a Babylonian vine?! The great eagle moved it, as it produced no fruits in the holy city. There it settles down in Canaan, to become fragile and short-stemmed. In the holy land, it has been a great vine; yet, being moved to the land of sinners, it became weak and fragile. And now, O vine that hear my words! If you want to be great, do not go outside the boundaries of the Church. Settle down in the holy land, in Jerusalem; lest, because of your sins, you would become in a bad state. You would be moved to another land; and become a weak and fragile vine. Your fruits would fall, and your roots would dry up; to make you yearn for comfort close to the other eagle1.] [Those who have been princes in the Church, because of their sin, they were moved from the summit of Lebanon, and were carried away to Babylon... Let us pray, that no one would be moved from Jerusalem to Canaan, and that we would not be deviated away from His will, lest the branch would be corrupted, and both the fruits and the roots would dry up. The plant of Jerusalem would not be able to produce fruits or seeds on a strange land, but would dry up, unless it abides in the will of God, and in His Church, namely in His works and commandments, and in the comprehension of the true nature of the Lord Jesus Christ2.] The other eagle is the Pharaoh of Egypt; the one with great wings, a sign of the might of his army; and with dense feathers (with many claws LXX), a sign of its great number. Yet, not of various colors; as, unlike Babylon, he did not have authority on several nations - He, toward whom the vine turned with its roots and branches to seek watering to grow (LXX). This vine refers to king Zedekiah, who, together with the majority of his people, sought the help of the Pharaoh of Egypt against Nebuchadnezzar, betraying the covenant, and breaking the oath as he thought of rebelling against the king of Babylon. Here, the prophet Ezekiel warned the king against two mistakes: The first is breaking his oath, even though it was with a pagan king; and the second is leaning upon a human arm (the Pharaoh of Egypt), instead of repenting and returning to God with all his 1 In Ezek. hom. 11:4. 2 In Ezek. hom. 11:4. 6 heart. He proclaimed that the destiny of Zedekiah would be like his two predecessors, ’Jehoahaz,’ who was taken captive to Egypt, 607 B C (Ez 19:4)); and Jehoiachin who was taken captive to Babylon (Ez 19:9). As king Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, he sent his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people (Ez 17:15); God asked him. “Will you prosper?” to be instantly followed by the answer: “Will he not pull up its roots, Cuts off its fruit, and leave it to wither? All of its spring leaves will wither, and no great power or many people will be needed to pluck it up by its roots. Behold, it is planted, Will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew” (Ez 17:9, 10). So He confirms more than once that the vine would dry up, roots, fruits, branches, and leaves; dry up completely on all levels! Origen wonders why both Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh were called ‘eagle’ - a hateful kind of bird (Lev 11:13); when the righteous and the good people, are called by the same name. In the proverbs it came: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (Prov 23:4, 5). (A righteous man will get rich, not through his wisdom; but he would make for himself two wings of an eagle: faith and work; namely, the love of God and the love of men; by which he would fly up to heaven, to settle down, by God’s grace, in the divine bosom). It is also said: “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles; They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint” (Is 40:31). Origen says: [If the eagle is hated and cursed, it would not be fitting for us, as righteous men, to acquire wings like his wings. And when the wealth of the rich increase, they should not make for themselves wings like those of eagles1.] Why then, was the eagle used as analogous to the righteous? He gives the answer, saying: [In the Holy Scripture there are names of certain animals that are considered both good and evil at the same time... For example the lion has two sides: A good side: “Judah is a lion’s whelp. From a prey my son, you have gone up; He lies down as a lion, who shall rouse him?” (Gen 49:9). And an evil side: “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring line, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8, 9). Moreover, that crafty and deceptive enemy, wishing for our fall, “He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor” (Ps 10:9). Therefore, as the lion could be considered either good or evil, so is the eagle... The righteous is not an eagle, but like an eagle, and competing with it. Likewise, the ‘bronze serpent’ (Num 21:8) was a symbol for the Savior; having been, not a true serpent, but an image of it. It refers to the Savior: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14)... And in another situation, a righteous man is commanded to be wise like a serpent (Mat 1I:16); not to become himself a serpent. That is of course to avoid being as deceptive as the real serpent.... Both the eagle and the lion are among the clean animals; as we find the cherubim, “Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle” (Ez 1:10)... They are clean; as nothing unclean would be in the presence of God. 1 In Ezek. hom. 11:3. 7 Now you, O believer, you have become clean; and as said to the apostle Peter: “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean” (Acts 10:15). Thus the cleanliness of the lion and the eagle were thus proclaimed, having appeared with the cherubim. Moreover prophesying the advent of the Lord Christ, the prophet Isaiah says, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat... And the lion shall eat straw like the ox” (Is 11:6). This will be realized by the faith in Christ, when the different natures come together. The lion, forgetting its ferocity, is no longer hateful. And all beasts, that were said to be hateful according to God’s statutes, will once more receive their original nature, that was at the beginning of creation. This transformation has already begun; and will be realized on the second advent... Therefore, do not marvel that both Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh were said to be like eagles1.] 2- THE INTERPRETATION OF THE RIDDLE God did not leave the riddle vague, but presented to the rebellious house its interpretation, so as to give them no excuse to hasten to lean upon the Pharaoh of Egypt and his armies. In His interpretation, He concentrates on the seriousness of breaking the convention, and despising the oath, even though it is with a pagan king; that which made the Lord Himself intervene to chasten them through defeat. He confirms that desolation will not occur by human power, but God Himself will chasten them: “Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered? ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘Surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke - with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, when they heap up a siege mound and build a wall to cut off many persons. Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant and in fact gave his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ Therefore thus says the Lord; ‘As I live, Surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head. I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and try him there for the treason which he committed against Me. All his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered to every wind; And you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken” (Ez 17:15-21). God considers the oath as His own, and despising it as an insult to Him personally. Pharaoh with all his armies, will not be able to deliver him from the hand of God, not just from that of Nebuchadnezzar. Who catches him in his net is the Lord. He will carry him to Babylon, there to die, for his betrayal of the covenant. He will fall, together with his counselors and army by the sword; and the rest of his people will be captivated, and scattered in every wind. That is why the Lord Christ warned us against swearing altogether; saying: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, ‘Do not swear at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ For whatever is more 1 In Ezek. hom. 11:3. 8 than these is from the evil one’” (Mat 5:33-37). St. John Chrysostom often warned against using oath. Of his words: [I am ready today, not to demonstrate, just the destruction of one house, or two, or even three, because of an oath, but of a whole city and a people beloved by God, who always used to enjoy the divine care, and a race that was delivered from many dangers - of Jerusalem itself, the city of God, that embraced the holy Temple and all the divine service; where there were the prophets, the grace of the Spirit, the ark of the covenant, the two tablets, and the golden vessel; that which angels often visited... She perished because of an oath1.] [It is not the oath that makes man trustworthy, but the testimony of his life, his straightforward words, and his good reputation. There are many who utter loud oaths, yet convince no one of their honesty; while others, when they just proclaim their acceptance of something, would be believed more than those who use many oaths2.] [Indeed, the troubles of giving an oath are great... Realizing that, we should avoid it; Let our mouth be always trained on saying ‘believe me;’ to turn this into a fountain of every pious behavior; as the tongue that is trained to use only this expression, would be shy and ashamed to utter any evil word3.] [When we completely refrain from swearing, we close the entrance before the devil altogether. While if we utter just one oath, we give him the chance to cause us troubles without limits4.] St. John Chrysostom not only demands from us to refrain from swearing, but not to ask others to swear; saying: [When in doubt about certain financial affairs, do not kill your brother’s soul by asking him to swear! If you believe that he is honest, you do not need to ask him to swear. And if you know for sure that he is a liar, do not push him to swear falsely5.] 3- A PROMISE OF A NEW KINGDOM If entering into a covenant with the king of Babylon had helped Judah for a certain time; to become like a willow tree, and a spreading vine, though of low stature (Ez 17:5, 6), and if resorting to the Pharaoh of Egypt ended in its complete destruction; therefore, there is no salvation for man by a human arm. It is imperative that God Himself intervenes and plants His vine by His own hands; plants it in Him - the haughty high Mountain near which the enemy cannot approach. “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” (Ez 17:22). He takes a branch of the house of David (the cedar); from which the Lord Christ, the Son of David, incarnates, and plants the Church in it! He is the topmost of the young twigs; that is planted, not by a human arm, nor from human seed; but He is the Word of God, born before all ages, incarnated on the Mountain height of Israel; who appears as a fruitful bough, and becomes a majestic cedar, under which believers of all colors, of every tribe and nation, will dwell; will fly to Him by the Holy Spirit; and in the shadows of its branches they will settle down (Ez 17:23). 1 Conc. Statues, 19 :8. 2 Conc. Statues, 7:10. 3 Conc. Statues, 8 :6. 4 Conc. Statues, 14 :5. 5 Conc. Statues, 15 :15. 9 Thus, amid all those dark prophecies, and harsh chastisements, the Lord will shine on them with hope of salvation by a divine arm through the Messiah, the true King, from the seed of David, who embraces in His body, members from all nations! God who allowed for them to be chastened by the two eagles: the king of Babylon and the Pharaoh of Egypt; will carry them as though by the wings of an eagle, not just to bring them over to the Promised Land, but to carry humanity of all nations to the bosom of God the Father, in the higher Jerusalem, where eagles cannot snatch! 10 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 17 CARRY ME AS THOUGH ON THE WINGS OF AN EAGLE In the old days, You carried Your people away from the bondage of Pharaoh; As though on the wings of an eagle; You brought them to You; And brought them into the Promised Land! Yet, as they forsook You, they became the prey of eagles! Were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, As an eagle he devoured them; When they resorted to the Pharaoh of Egypt; As an eagle he snatched them! Now, You came to our world; To have all mankind believe in You; To carry them as though on the wings of an eagle, Into the bosom of Your Father! O, My God... How much I need You! My sins have aroused the eagles over me! When I fled away from Your hand, I became a cheap prey. Come, You, amazing in Your love; Carry me in You. Hide me, and cover me! Give me the wings of a dove, To fly to heaven! Grant me Your Holy Spirit, to work in it! To carry me into the bosom of Your Father, O Holy One! How much I long for You, O the Rock of my soul!
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