Thank you for listening to Servants for Christ. In all that we do, in all that we say, we want to give glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning us in as we get into the wonderful Word of God. For the next few minutes, let's take the beautiful Word of God and share it with each and every one of you as we have a sense of anticipation to take the word of God and to listen to its truth for each and every one. with us tonight as we continue our series on the book of Ezekiel, New Heart, New Spirit. This is the 13th in this series. You know, the name Ezekiel means God strengthens. As we look at this Sunday night, the coming judgment against Judah and Jerusalem. You know, Ezekiel's ministry was very difficult. He was the person called to serve and the discouraged Jews who had survived the war with Babylon and they had been exiled to the pagan capital. The time in which he lived were some of the most chaotic days of political and moral times of history. He prophesied between 593 and 571 BC during some of the most horrible days of Judah and Israel's history. He was exiled to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC with the second group of exiles taken from Judea. He was called to ministry in the 50th year of the captivity of King Jehoiachin when he was around 30 years of age. I had placed him in the year of 593 BC. And so, as we look at the message tonight and how God wants to show us the epitome of human history, he knows exactly what we need before we do, praise God. So go ahead with you and take your Bibles on over and turn with me. the book of Ezekiel chapter 17. The book of Ezekiel chapter 17. Boy, it ain't good to hear them pages turn, amen, as we get over into the 17th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. Now as we look at the 17th chapter of Ezekiel, we see a as Ezekiel continues his message of judgment to Israel by additional parables. Later on in Ezekiel 18, he'll deal with Proverbs. But then also there'll be a fourth and fifth parable that'll go over into the 19th chapter. But there'll be three parables in the 17th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. And so, We look and we see this great eagle. And of that great eagle, Abe, man, God used an allegory to arouse the interest and capture the attention. Jesus used parables for the same purpose in Matthew chapter 13, verses 10 through 17. The great eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, came to Jerusalem, Lebanon, and he took to Babylon the top branch of the cedar, King Jehoiachin. He left some of that seed of King Zedekiah, which grew into a low vine. Zedekiah made a covenant to be loyal to Babylon, but then he broke it, and he turned to Egypt for help, and the result The king of Babylon came back and destroyed the lowly vine of Judah. And so the cedar represents the David dynasty that would one day fulfill the messianic line of Jesus Christ and establish his glorious kingdom. But before he can enter into that glory, he must suffer the sins of the world. Oh, come let us adore him, Christ the Lord. And so he was born to die. And so we look and see the parable that Ezekiel delivered it, part history and part prophecy. Here we see the striking resemblance in several particulars to the parable of the mustard seed delivered by the Lord. And Jesus said, is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it's the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Father, as we get ready to go into the Word of God, I ask you to bless the scriptures of Ezekiel 17. Give us that that we need and the time that we need it, Father. You know, before we asked, Deliver us from our enemies. Lord, I pray God that you'd give us the ability to overcome all of the trouble in this world. May your love set an example for all of us in our marriages, in our government, in our everyday walk of life, doing our job correctly, Father. And Lord, doing a good job for our employers. Help us, Father, with this nation that's that's depleted from within because the enemy has found a way. to hinder our young children, and he's changed all of their minds. And they're no longer the majority that look at life as being precious. They don't look at it the way that you created us and give us a blessing. And now, Father, all that we do, may it glorify your name. May it build up your kingdom. And Lord, I thank you for this great opportunity in Jesus' marvelous mighty name. Amen. When we look over, we see the eagles. They're the powerful leaders of this world. And they try to offer great hope to people under their authority. But when the powerful leaders of the nations truly commit themselves to serve the people, two wonderful things can happen, amen? First, we begin to realize that they can significantly strengthen the economy. Just think what a strong economy means to the citizens of a nation. Successful businesses, employment, available products, efficient transportation, adequate housing, public and social services, health and welfare benefits. I don't see that today. Lord help us. A successful economy means prosperity for the majority of the nation's citizens. You know what? They ain't no one political party of the Republicans, and there's not one of the Democrats that can really make this nation great again. It can only be through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. And so we see that they can significantly strengthen the economy, but secondly, a powerful nation can protect and ensure peace for its citizens, both inside and outside the nation's borders. Oh God, help me with that thought. Oh, because our borders have been plowed wide open. We've let serial killers come in. We've let all kinds of abusers come across those borders. And you know what? America is no longer America. Of course, we did the same thing when we stole from the Indians all of the gold during the time of President Grant. We took every bit of the gold and the gold that we stole from all of the Indians up in the Black Hills, we turned around and paid all of our debts. And then that was when all the immigrants could come into America. And at that time, they come in through New York and everywhere. And so, we look and see the fact about leaders that must be kept in mind. Despite the good that powerful leaders, eagles of this world sometimes do, it's both limited and temporary. Right now in Devo, Switzerland, this past week, every person, I don't care if they're Republican or if they're Democrat, Governor Kemp was there. Everyone, that's all for the one world of government, They're all meeting there. They meet there every year. All the young up-and-coming, little young leaders that's going to be young leaders for the future, they're all there. Everybody that's somebody. All the rich companies in the world, they're there at Divos, Switzerland, having their meeting of how they can make the world better. There's nothing wrong with making the world better, but their objective is that they want everything for a one world government. And that's exactly what I was talking about when I was doing my Bible study on the battles of the Bible. Here, we see that these leaders, they've got to be kept in mind because despite these eagles, they're both limited, they're temporary, And no powerful leader can bring a permanent peace, a permanent security, or a permanent prosperity to this earth because economies of this earth, they cost, they fluctuate the wealth. Military power is limited against certain types of attack. Unforeseen catastrophes can weaken a nation's power and economic strength. Economic slums and catastrophic events can take and make jobs insecure. Medicine and technology can delay death only temporarily. Unavoidable circumstances that arise in every human being's life and in every business, community, and nation. Unforeseeable events that affect individuals and businesses, communities, and nations. Accidents happen. Crises arise. And so there's only one who has unlimited and permanent power, and that is God himself. Hallelujah! The only eagle or power that can soar above the trials and the hardships of this life is our Lord and Savior. Only He can permanently save us from the severe crisis and the trials of this life. Therefore, we act foolishly unless we place our first trust in Him. The present scripture, the Lord instructed Israel to preach a message concerning the coming judgment of Judah. The prophet was to deliver the message in the form of a prophetic parable. A prophetic parable is the prediction of some future event that is told in the form of a story. Both the exiles in Babylon and the Jews who had been left behind in Jerusalem had a serious flaw, that of unbelief. They were guilty of trusting the eagles or the powers of this world instead of God. This was the message that Ezekiel needed to convey both to the exiles and those who remained in Jerusalem. we see the story of the two great eagles, the nations, and a vine that represents Israel, a warning against trusting worldly power instead of God in verses 1 through 21. Then, on down in verses 22 through 24, we'll talk about the story of the special branch to be planted by God. points everything to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords through the line of David. And so, the Bible says, and the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable unto the house of Israel. And say, thus says the Lord, God, a great eagle with great wings, long wing, full of feathers, which had diverse colors, came unto Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar. He cropped off the top of this young twig and carried it into the land of traffic. He set it in the city of merchants. He took also the seed of the land, planted it in a fruitful field. He placed it by the great waters and set it as a willow tree. Boy, I tell you, And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him. So it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs." Here you see the prosperity under Zedekiah for just a short time. But when we look at this, we begin to realize that out of this all, Amen, we see that first parable of information that that great eagle plucks off the top of that tall cedar tree. He replants it elsewhere in fertile soil. Now, I'm telling you, when we see this, this scripture that the Lord instructed his equal to preach concerning the coming judgment of Judah. The prophet was to deliver the message in the form of that prophetic parable, amen. And so, when we look, we see out of all of this, they were guilty of trusting the eagles and the powers of the world instead of God, amen. The story concerned two great eagles and the vine, amen. And so, here we see this eagle plucked off the top of the branch of the cedar tree, the house of Israel. That was king of Nebanon, Nebuchadnezzar. And so, Nebuchadnezzar had conquered the king of Judah, Jehoiachin, exiled him, and 10,000 of the nation's leaders. Nebuchadnezzar broke off the top branch of that cedar tree. the leadership of Judah. He took it to the land of merchants, which was Babylon. And as that eagle left that cedar tree, a seedling fell into the fertile soil by the flowing river, in verses 5 and 6. The seedling sprouted and it began to grow into a healthy, low-spreading vine. This was that picture of Nebuchadnezzar planning a puppet government in Judah, which was to grow into a vassal state of Babylon. As the vine or the vassal state grew, it naturally turned its branches toward Babylon. But then we see the second great eagle that represented Egypt, a powerful and a wealthy nation. Although Judah was expected to serve Babylon as a faithful vassal state, the vine began to grow towards the eagle of Egypt in search of water that its freedom would be received and get away from Babylon. As we read in verse 7 and 8, And there was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. And it was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. Boy, I'm telling you, the vine ignored the fact that it was already greatly blessed. with good soil and water, that it could bear fruit and grow by trusting the Lord and remaining a vassal state of Babylon. The Lord issued a strong warning to the vine in verses 9 and 10. Amen. Say you, thus says the Lord God, shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up the roots thereof and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? It is withered. It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring even without great power are many people to pluck it up by the roots Thereof in verse 10. Yes, behold being planted shall it prosper? Shall it not only wither when the east wind touches it it shall wither? in the furrows where it grew. Man, I'm telling you, here we see that it was uprooted, it was stripped of its fruit, Judah would be exiled and plundered of its wealth. Once the vine grew and turned towards Egypt, the east wind of Babylon would totally destroy it. Amen. And so, we see that how horrible it is because in verses 11 through 15, Ezekiel begins to explain the parable and he begins to apply it. The second parable as well, amen, because as we get into it, He explains and he applies it to Judah, give it a clear picture of the certainty of God's coming judgment, amen. The scriptures discuss the historical background, amen, because as pointed out earlier, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was the first great eagle. He was the one who plucked off the top branch of the cedar tree, which refers to the leaders of the house of Israel, in this case, to King Jehoiachin and the leaders of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and deported Judah's leadership to the land of Birchips, which was Babylon. But before Nebuchadnezzar left Judah, he placed Zedekiah on the throne as a puppet king and signed a treaty with him that made Judah a vassal state of Babylon. Zedekiah took an oath of loyalty, swearing in God's name that he would faithfully serve the Babylonian empire. And after Zedekiah took the oath of loyalty and signed the treaty, Nebuchadnezzar exiled the vast majority of Judah's political and business leaders in order to keep the nation weak and subject to Babylon. We read in verses 11 down to verse 14, Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Say now to the rebellious house, Know you not what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, has taken a king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon. In verse 13, and has taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and has taken an oath of him. He has also taken the money of the land, in verse 14, that the kingdom might be based, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant, it might stand. It refers to God's loving purpose, which was the peace, which was the prosperity of his people, and to the Gentiles. At least at this time, they would be a witness for him. But I thank God as we look and realize that all of this took place after Zedekiah took the oath of lorethy and signed the treaty of all of this. The puppet King Zedekiah seemed plotted to break the yoke of bondage to Babylon. In verse 15, instead of trusting the Lord and heeding the message of the prophets, Zedekiah sent envoys to Egypt seeking an alliance as much as military aid was possible. Sounds like some of our politicians seeking all that overseas aid. why some of these little old bitty boys, why they done got in with Russia. They done got in with China. They done sold our country out and we've got some of our land that's being bought up all over this country today. And man, what a shame and disgrace. There ain't gonna be nothing left for none of our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren to come in the future days. just like it was when I worked at Atlantic Steel and whenever one of the heads of the department would pass away out of there, why man, they would just not bring it back. Why man, they would no longer have that available, amen. I saw 109 nails that were made in America swiftly fade away. I saw the chain link fence that would fade away. I saw all of the angles and the channels and the rebar and the round fade away, amen. Oh, I tell you, when you start out at 600 people and you go down to 300 people, and then you continuously begin to go down. Man, I see a country today being sold out. What a shame and a disgrace that the eagles that have plopped the top of the tree of America today. And as a result, the Lord pronounced the certainty of his coming judgment. But let me read that in verse 15, but he rebelled against him and sending his ambassadors into Egypt that day. might give him horses and much people? Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Or shall he break the covenant and be delivered?" Zedekiah was seeking an alliance with the Egyptians which opposed to the will of God that would bring ruin to the entire nation of Judah. And so we see in verses 16, 17, and 18 that Zedekiah would be captured and exiled to Babylon. He would die there. Note why. Because he distrusted God and disgraced the Lord's name by breaking his oath of loyalty. And when he swore his loyalty to Babylon in the name of God, the oath became a sacred vow before the Lord. And although Zedekiah had placed his trust in Egypt, he would receive no help. whatsoever from Pharaoh when Babylon invaded Judah. Egypt would not help Judah at all during the coming war. And so we see verses 16, 17, and 18. And so he tells us, And verse 16, neither has oppressed any, has not withheld the pledge, neither has spoiled by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment. See, Christianity shows no love for one's fellow man despite the loud profession. that we have. And so in verse 17, who has taken off his hand from the poor, who has not received ushery nor increase, has executed my judgments, has walked in my statues. He shall not die for the iniquity of his father. He shall surely live. Other words, I thank God that every one of us, the father is not responsible, spiritually speaking, for the sins of his son, as the son, as we look, is not responsible for the sins of the father. Each person, in the eyes of God, is responsible for their own sins. And so, Egypt would not help Judah during the coming war and Ezekiel would not escape in verse 18 again the reason is Emphasized because he despised the oath of loyalty that he had sworn in God's holy name God's hand of judgment would follow upon him and the nation and no one would escape Ezekiel gives three reasons for God's coming judgment before I get into that in Let me tell you, I still remember during the pandemic, a pastor out in Kentucky that he said he saw a dream. And when he saw that dream, he saw nothing but Russians and Chinese and United Nations coming on the soil of the United States of America. I won't never forget that, but I believe that when the Christians of this nation are raptured out, that all hell is going to break loose and man this old world and the United States is going to become an underpower and it will be sold out because of all of these politicians today and all of their conniving lies and all of their ways of getting politics done and getting into office is going to catch up with this nation and they're going to pay for and suffer the consequences in the coming future days. But Ezekiel gives three reasons for God's coming judgment. First, King Zedekiah had broken the pledge of loraty that had been sworn in God's holy name. And so, we look and we begin to realize that because I thank God when we look and realize here in verse 19 that let me read verse 18 first and as for his father because he cruelly opposed spoiled his brother by violence and did that which is not good among his people lo even he shall die in his Iniquity. Hang on. Let me make sure. Oh, man. Hang on. I got turned over on another page here. Excuse me here I'm getting back where I need to be at and versus Man, that's easy. I turned that page. I thank God as he rebelled Zedekiah's rebellion and and trusted Egypt. Amen. I thank God in verse 16. And 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, even with him in the midst of Babylon, he shall die. In verse 17, neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army, great company, make for him in the war by casting up mounts and building forts to cut off any persons, amen. In verse 18, seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant with lo, he had given his hand and had done all these things, he shall not escape. And so, the first thing we see is King Zedekiah broken the pledge of loyalty here in verse 19. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, as I live, surely my oath that he has despised in my covenant that he has broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. And so, I'm glad. The second thing, King Zedekiah and the people had been unfaithful to God, and God would trap and execute judgment upon the king and the people. In verse 20, And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass, that he has trespassed against me. And the third thing, God's word, which predicted his coming judgment, had to be fulfilled and vindicated. Amen. And so, I'm glad that each and every one of us, when we look at this, we begin to realize that this story exposes the Israelites' failure to trust God. Today, there's a nation called America that they're failing to trust God in the areas of our life. There's families, there's husbands and fathers that are failing to trust God. They're trusting everything that the world offers, but they're not trusting God. Instead of trusting the Lord, the leaders and the people place their trust in the worldly power and the help of the Egyptians of the world. The Israelites did what so many of us do when we face the trials and the hardships of life. Instead of turning to the Lord for help, we turn to the world. Far too many of us ignore the Lord until worldly power fails. God wants us to give Him first place in our lives when we need help, when we seek Him first, whether we face a problem at home, whether we face a problem at work, or in any part of our life. We're first to turn to the Lord and acknowledge Him in these areas of our life that we need Him. And even the difficulty we face, it might be minor, we need to first turn to the Lord for whatever additional strength that we need. If we're facing a medical problem, we need to seek the Lord first, amen? And then, when we turn to the medical profession for help, we know that we have God's presence with us no matter what. Doesn't mean that you might receive a healing, but God will still be with you no matter what you go through. But true believers can face any trial or hardship when they know that they have God's presence with them. Because for this reason, we must always turn to the Lord first, acknowledging that our trust is primarily in Him and our primary of our trust, praise God, that is always to be in the Lord and not in the technology, not in the wealth, not in the power of this world. But I thank God, the Bible tells us out of Luke chapter 12, and I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy ease, and eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool this night, thy soul shall be required of thee. And then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Boy, there's people working their bones off, and you know what? They're not going to be able to pull a U-Haul behind the hearse. Oh God, help them. Lord, help them. Man, I tell you, these folks are working themselves into a frenzy out there today. Paul said, wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Boy, I'm telling you, Job said, if I have made gold my hope, or have said to be the fine gold, they are my confidence. If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge. For I should have denied the God that is above. Boy, I tell you, every one of us, as the Psalmist said, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. Oh, I tell you, Isaiah said, Hey, cease ye from trusting in man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of. I'm glad each and every one of us as we look and we realize that we move on to the last part of this in verses 22 down to verse 24 and we see that Ezekiel now tells another story, amen, a parable about a special branch that God himself will plant. Neither the eagle of Babylon nor the eagle of Egypt could deliver the Israelites from the oppression and the suffering of this world. Amen. Lasting peace and economic prosperity were beyond the reach of any of the world's nations. I tell you, peace and prosperity were not to be found in the military power or the economies, but the day was coming when God himself would meet the needs his people and of the world amen and so God himself would pluck a tender branch for the very top of a cedar and it represented Israel and the loyal descendants of David from whom the Messiah was to come look with me on down in verse twenty-two, amen. Thus says the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it, and I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain, and eminent Verse 23, In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar, and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing. In the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. Oh, I like that. In the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. The kingdom of the Messiah will have no end because all the nations of the world will look to Christ for all prosperity and they will not be disappointed, praise God. Here, he would plant that tender branch on the nation mountain heights of Israel and I'm glad that it's referenced to Mount Zion or Jerusalem to the tender branch. The fact that the Messiah would come through the line of David's descendants, praise his holy name, and I thank God this tender branch would be exalted on the mountain heights. I'm glad he'll make sure that it produces branches and many witnesses. Christ's kingdom will bear fruit that many believers and all the birds or the people will nest. They will find shelter in the branches of that kingdom. Hallelujah. And so I'm glad in that glorious day every nation and person living in the kingdom will experience the peace and the prosperity for which the human heart belongs. Amen. And so I'm glad the statement that closes this parable that God himself will fulfill his purpose for earth by planting that special branch, the Messiah. Amen. He says, listen, and all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it, praise God. The high tree, the green tree, man's proud dominion, which will be brought down and dried up. The low tree and the dry tree, that of Israel, will then be made to flourish. The most powerful nation in the world, hallelujah. And I'm glad that it will be the coming age and the future. The exaltation of Christ on earth will prove the existence, the power, the love when He comes again and reigns and establishes His kingdom, amen, even as He will be exalted on earth. So He will exalt all who have truly trusted Him as their Savior and Lord. Jesus Christ is that promised Messiah time and again. Hallelujah. I'm glad that we know exactly. what it is that we need, the Lord will provide us, amen. God will give us the very thing in the time that we need it, amen. It was a dark day for the people of Israel, but when the day is the darkest, the Lord's promises will shine the brightest. And God's people today need to take heed to the prophetic word, which is a light that shines in our dark world, amen. Boy, I thank the Lord. As each and every one of us, just as Jesus fulfilled prophecy and came the first time to die for the sins of the world, so he will come the second time and reign over his righteous kingdom. Amen. That tender shoot. David will be the mighty monarch, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Amen. Boy, I thank God. Heavenly Father, we praise you. We thank you, Father, for these parables that speak of the great eagle of Nebuchadnezzar. that you use to punish the nation of Israel. Lord, you'll punish America in the coming days as well. Lord, I pray God that that part of the cedar tree that was snatched up by the other as well, but then a little sprout fell off of the seedlings. And Lord, you begin to let it regrow, that tender sprout from that tall cedar, and you plant it atop Israel's highest mountain, where it becomes the ultimate and universal tree, Father. The original tree seems to be the reference, that of the house of David. Father, I pray, Lord, as you have already come, and you have already hung on the cross of Calvary. I pray God that in the shadow of the branches thereof shall we dwell. In all of this, Lord, I'm glad that we look to you as Peter began to tell us. We have also a more sure word of prophecy wherein we do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place under the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Amen. so so