THE RESTORATION OF DAVID’S HOUSE (Ezekiel 17:22-24)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—The dire judgments of God which had been foretold will do their awful work. But beyond them, the prophet sees God’s merciful purpose to restore the fallen House of David, in the person of His Messiah. The true twig of the stem of David will spring up and flourish, under whose shadow the whole family of man may dwell in safety.
Ezekiel 17:22. “I also will take of the highest branch of the highest cedar, and will set it.” The cedar, as before, is the House of David. That sprout of the House of David, Zedekiah, on account of his rebellion, would lose his sovereignty and bring destruction upon the kingdom of Judah, but God’s kingdom would still be secure. He would fulfil the promise which He had made to the seed of David. “I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent.” “As the highest branch was the furthest from the roots, the reference is to the remote descendants of the royal family, and the tender one beautifully symbolizes the Messiah as the shoot and the sprout, predicted (Isaiah 11:1). The “high and eminent mountain” was Zion (Psalms 2:6). It is here described as the mountain of the height of Israel, as at chap. Ezekiel 20:40, in reference to Jerusalem, which at the time of the Messiah’s advent was to be what it had been, the centre of all the tribes, who, restored to their land, would go up again to the festivals, as they had done before the revolt. It derived its chief glory, however, from its being destined to become the spot where the spiritual kingdom was to be established, and whence it was to extend its blessings throughout the whole world.”—(Henderson).
Ezekiel 17:23. “In the mountain of the height of Israel.” This was Mount Zion regarded as to its spiritual significance. In actual height, it was far behind Lebanon; but it was a symbol of the kingdom of God, the centre from which salvation should go forth (Psalms 48:3; Psalms 68:17). This prophecy reaches it complete fulfilment in the times of the Messiah (Isaiah 2:2). The kingdom of God is to be raised to a supremacy above all the kingdoms of the world. “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” “The Messiah grows into a cedar in the kingdom founded by Him, in which all the inhabitants of the earth will find both food (from the fruits of the tree) and protection (under its shadow). For this figure, compare Daniel 4:8-9. Birds of every kind of plumage is derived from Genesis 7:14, where birds of every kind find shelter in Noah’s ark. The allusion is to men from every kind of people and tribe.”—(Keil)
Ezekiel 17:24. “I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree.” “By this all the trees of the field learn that God lowers the lofty and lifts up the lowly. As the cedar represents the royal house of David, the trees of the field can only be the other kings or royal families of the earth, not the nations outside the limits of the covenant. At the same time, the nations are not to be entirely excluded because the figure of the cedars embraces the idea of the kingdom, so that the trees of the field denote the kingdoms of the earth together with their kings.”—(Keil.) “And have made the dry tree to flourish.” The stem of Judah was dry as regards spiritual promise. The genealogy of the Messiah is traced through such names as Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. “How despicable soever the kingdom of Christ may appear to a worldly mind, and however small it was at its commencement, it is truly prolific; and while all the glory of earthly kingdoms fades and perishes, it affords refuge and nourishment to man of every colour and every clime.”—(Henderson.)
HOMILETICS
THE GLORY OF MESSIAH’S KINGDOM
I. It is to be erected upon the ruin of the world’s hopes. The prophet had hitherto spoken only of judgments which were to fall upon nations for their sins, and chiefly against Israel for her sin against greater light and privilege. David’s crown is cast to the ground, the kingdom of Judah is undone, all human hope gone. But the prophet now has a brighter vision. He sees the storm-cloud of judgment pass away, and the rainbow of mercy shows itself. From the ruins of the kingdom the family of David is to be revived in the person of the Messiah. It was necessary that there should be a long time of chastisement, affliction, and sorrow, in order to prepare the chosen nation for the purpose of God. And the same preparation for the coming of Messiah’s kingdom was equally necessary for the rest of mankind. Christ was to come in “the fulness of time,” when events were ripe for His coming. It was necessary that the world should have sufficient time to make experiments in order to discover whether men could find all help in themselves. The world’s pride and confidence had to be broken, so that, in the end, it might humble itself under the Cross of Christ, and therein behold the power and the wisdom of God. Two great experiments had to be carried out. The Jew had to find out whether righteousness could come by the law, whether the law could give life, sanctify, and save; or, whether there was not some intractable perversity in man’s nature which would baffle all such attempts. The same kind of process had to be carried on in the Jewish nation, which was accomplished in the life of the individual when Saul, the persecutor, was transformed into Paul, the Apostle. He had tried all that the law could do for him, and from his failure, from the wreck of all his hopes he passed into the kingdom of the grace of God. The Gentile had to make his experiment in order to discover, whether man could unfold his own blessedness out of himself; whether art, or philosophy, or political institutions could completely satisfy all the yearnings of his spiritual nature. The heathen world had time enough, and opportunity allowed for this experiment. God had raised up among them men of great parts, and gifts; and strength of will who could attempt this problem, and solve it, had they been able. If the world could have been redeemed by such means, these men could have accomplished its redemption. But all had failed. The histories of the great nations of old furnish a sad illustration of the truth, that “the paths of glory lead but to the grave”—the grave of political, intellectual, moral conquests and hopes. The prodigal child, far away from his true home, had come to the husks. The soul of man was still hungry. All had failed to satisfy. This was that emptiness of which Christ’s kingdom of grace was the answering fulness. Out of the wrecks and fragments of the old world was to be built up the new.
II. It is to be an omnipotent kingdom. “Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it.” I, who am mightier than the royal eagle of Babylon; I, who bore Israel from Egypt as upon eagle’s wings. I will lay hold of the seed of David, and raise up my Messiah from thence and establish His kingdom. That kingdom should, indeed, advance from weak beginnings, “I will crop off from the top of his young twigs, a tender one.” But the tree was the planting of the Lord, His omnipotence would uphold it, and it must stand for ever. Christ is to “fill all things.” And His Church is to be “the fulness of Him who filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:23).
III. Its rule is to be marked by tenderness.” “The high cedar.” “A tender one.” The glory of Lebanon is to be added to the lowly but fruitful vine. Majesty wedded to meekness; a kingdom of immortal strength, but founded upon patience (Revelation 1:9). Its victories were to be the victories of the Lamb. The omnipotence and the love of God were to join hands in the religion of mercy which was to be founded upon Calvary (Matthew 12:19-21).
IV. It is to be a wide kingdom. A large fellowship. Under the shadow of this goodly cedar shall dwell all fowl of every wing. None are to be left out. It is written of Zion’s King that “He shall be favourable to the simple and needy, and preserve the souls of the poor.” His kingdom shall embrace heaven and earth, reconciling all things. Christianity alone has the proper qualities of an universal religion.
V. It is to be an eternal kingdom. Being planted by God Himself, this kingdom could have in it no seeds of decay. It can never be moved, but must stand as long as the sun and moon endure, and of the increase of it there shall be no end.
VI. It is to bring abasement to all human pride. “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.” Such has ever been the process and the end of the Lord in His dealings with men (1 Samuel 2:7-8). The rich tree, boasting and promising so much, is withered (Psalms 37:35-36). The sapless stem shall be revived (Isaiah 61:3). It was one of the praises by which the world’s salvation was greeted. “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and hath exalted the humble and meek.” The conquests of David, and the magnificence of Solomon ended in the humiliation and shame of Zedekiah’s reign. But that royal family was raised up again in Christ; and from it sprang Messiah, the King, whose kingdom was destined to put an end to all those of the world which were founded upon force, error, and fraud. The kingdom founded upon love would exalt the good and the true, though in lowly condition; and debase the proud, though surrounded by all the glory which the world could give.
THE TREE CHRIST, WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR US
1. As to its nature.
2. As to its destiny. Summer and winter the cedar is green, and never loses its leaves or its verdure. The everlastingly green Tree of Life is Christ. No wood is more durable; so Christ is the indestructible foundation for our hopes, etc. We are the branches in the cedar of God. Our fruits are Christ’s, who produces them in us and by us. John and Peter, Paul and James, what boughs in that Cedar! and the fathers and the Reformers, and all believers since. What a Tree! What a green, flourishing, fruit-laden array of branches that which sways around it! What a mighty, densely-foliaged far-shadowing-crown! and in the crown what gales, and zephyrs, and rustlings of holy life and divine love! Here there is promised to Christ and His cause nothing less than final triumph over the whole world—the pompous glory of Babylon, Egypt, Rome, and Athens, where is it to be found?—(Krummacher.)
1. After grievous judgments threatened, God comforts His people. When God should root out Zedekiah and his people the kingdom would be laid waste; the faithful should suffer much, lose estates, friends, liberty, country, temple, ordinances, and worship of God. Now for comfort against all these evils, he tells them of the Messiah. The stem of Jesse seemed to be cut down, and the root of Jesse to be pulled up; but the Lord preserved the root and stem, out of which he brought a rod and a branch for the comfort of the faithful, suffering Jews. This promise of the Branch is often mentioned for the purpose of comfort (Jeremiah 23:5-6; Jeremiah 33:15-16; Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:12-13).
2. The Lord Christ descended from the highest. “I will take of the highest branch,” etc. He came from the loins of Jeconiah, who was King of Judah, and from fourteen kings before him (Matthew 1). He was the son of nobles, and born a king (Matthew 2:12). He was the first-born of the kings of Judah, the right heir to the kingdom which Herod at that time usurped.
3. The beginnings of Christ were mean and low. “I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one.” Christ, at first, was as a little tender shoot of a tree set in the earth; and how weak, mean, low, and inconsiderable is such a thing. Such were the beginnings of Christ. He took flesh of a poor virgin, the wife of a carpenter. He was born in a poor village (Micah 5:2); in a stable, laid in a manger (Luke 2:7). He was subject to his parents (Luke 2:51). He lay in the dark till thirty years of age (Luke 3:23); and then He began with two or three poor fishermen (Matthew 4:18-22); then some others to the number of twelve; and even now, when He seemed to be somebody, He had not a house or bed for Himself or for them (Luke 9:58). And for His maintenance, it was at the good will of others (Luke 8:3).
4. The Lord Christ is planted in the Church, and becomes a fruitful and goodly cedar therein. “I will plant it upon a high mountain,” etc. Christ was planted in Zion, there He grew, there He brought forth fruit. With the timber of this cedar was the Church built, with the fruit of this cedar it is maintained (Isaiah 4:2). The branch was Christ, and He should be for beauty and glory to the Church, and the fruit that should come from Him should be excellent. The Church saith, “His fruit was sweet to my taste.” Wisdom, righteousness, redemption, and sanctification are the fruits of this cedar (1 Corinthians 1:30); the life of the world (John 6:33); the ordinances of the Gospel (Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 1:23); “exceeding great and precious promises;” reconciliation (Colossians 1:20); the gift of the comforter (John 16:7); revelation of the counsels of God (John 15:15); fellowship with the Father and the Son (John 14:9; 1 John 1:3); “eternal life” (John 10:28). Such was the fruit this cedar bore. In the midst of the Church He was planted, fruitful, and sang praise to God (Hebrews 2:12). And so high is this cedar grown, that it is now in heaven at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20-21). The mountain of the Lord is on the top of all mountains, and this cedar on the top of that mountain.
5. There is safety under Christ, He will protect His people from all harms. “Under it shall they dwell.” Men will not dwell where there is no safety. Those who come under Christ’s shadow, His power and government, shall dwell there in safety. He will protect His Church, and tread down the enemies thereof, whatever their power, politics, and pretences are. He is a cedar in wisdom (Colossians 2:3); a cedar in power (Matthew 28:18); a cedar in His providence and vigilance (Isaiah 28:3); hence saith the Church, “I sat under His shadow with great delight” (Song of Solomon 2:3). It is Christ secures from sin, from the wisdom of the flesh, the storms of the world, temptations of hell, and whatever is dangerous Isaiah 25:4). If you be under the shadow of this cedar, though the winds blow hard, the floods beat sore, and rain fall with strength, yet you shall be as safe as the house built upon the rock (Matthew 7:24-25).
6. Princes that are haughty and proud, God will bring them down though they be in flourishing conditions. “I have brought down the high tree,” etc. Zedekiah was a high tree; the king of Judah, and his spirit was high; he hearkened not to the God of Israel, nor to His prophets; he would not keep covenant and promise with the king of Babylon. But God laid the axe to the root of this tree and hewed it down. No trees are so high, but the Lord who is higher than they, can lay them low. Let them be green with boughs, branches, leaves; let them have many soldiers, many counsellors, many kingdoms, all cannot preserve them from ruin. Nebuchadnezzar was a high tree, his top reached to heaven (Daniel 4:11); but, “A watcher and a holy one came down from heaven, cried aloud and said, Hew down the tree, cut off his branches,” etc. Daniel 4:13-14). There is a watcher who observes the plots and practices of kings, and hews them down at His pleasure. Pharaoh was a high tree, the highest in all Egypt; he said, “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.” Here was pride and cruelty, which usually go together; and what followed hereupon? “Thou did’st blow with thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters (Exodus 15:9-10.) Saul was a goodly man, a high tree in Israel; he was proud, cruel, false, disobedient to God; and He rejected him, and cut him down by the Philistines and his own sword (1 Samuel 31). So Ahab (1 Kings 22); Herod (Acts 12:23); Belshazzar (Daniel 5:5; Daniel 5:22-23; Daniel 5:30). The Lord hath days and times to reckon with the high and haughty ones (Isaiah 10:33-34; Isaiah 2:12-17).
7. How low soever the conditions of kingdoms, families, or persons are, God is able to raise them. “I have exalted the low tree,” etc. The kingdom of Judah, the house of David, the person of Jeconiah, were very low in Babylon, like low shrubs, dry trees. But God exalted them, and brought a glorious kingdom and a church out of those low beginnings. Was not Christ like a low and dry tree, when He lay in the loins of Jeconiah, a prisoner, a captive; when He lay in the womb of the Virgin; hewed timber, made houses for His living; especially when He was cut down and laid in the heart of the earth? Was He not a dry tree then? But God exalted Him, set Him at His right hand; and Peter proclaimed it (Acts 2:33; Acts 2:36).
8. God will do all these things so eminently that the world shall take notice, and be filled with the glory thereof. “And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord,” etc. Not only the orchard trees, but the field trees, not domestic alone, but wild ones. Men shall fear and hide themselves, “for the glory of His Majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth” (Isaiah 2:19)—(Greenhill.)