The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 317

Babylon. By "the seed of the land" (ver. 5) is meant Zedckiah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, whom the Chaldean monarch set upon the throne at Jerusalem, and who was to be, not as a great and stately cedar, but as a vine needing support, yet flourishing and fruitful. But another eagle, great, yet inferior to the former one, is introduced, and this represents Ei!;ypt. Babylon is the great eagle, Egypt is only a great eagle. Now, Zedekiah had taken an oath of fealty to Nebuchadnezzar, but notwithstanding that, he turned to Egypt, seeking an alliance in order that he might become independent of the Babylonian power. Such an alliance was actually formed; and by reason thereof Zedekiah was to be brought to ruin as a vine plucked up by the roots. II, THE LESSONS WHICH IT ADDRESSED TO THE JEWS OF THE PROPHET'S DAY, l, The folly of entering into alliance with Egypt. The great aim of this prophecy was to keep the Jews from forming such an alliance. It was communicated between the sixth mouth of the sixth year (eh. viii. l) and the fifth month of the seventh year (eh. xx. l) of Jehoiachin's captivity, or of Zedekiah's reign. The alliance with Egypt was not actually formed until the close of the eighth or the beginning of the ninth year of his reign (Josephus, 'Ant.,' x. 7. 3). To prevent the formation of that alliance, Ezekiel exhibits the folly thereof. Nebuchadnezzar had not treated the conquered Jews with rigour or severity. He had rather dealt with them with marked moderation. He did not attempt to destroy their nationality, but simply to keep them a subject kingdom (ver. 14). They might have grown and prospered in the conditions and circumstances in which they were placed (vers. 5, 6, 8). Prudence would have dictated the main- tenance of their fealty to the Chaldean monarch. "Jerusalem might have remained the head of the Babylouian province of Judah, and the temple of Jehovah continued standing, had Zedekiah possessed wisdom and firmness enough to remain true to his allegiance to Babylon." And no insignificant measure of strength and prosperity might have been theirs. But what real benefit could they reasonably hope for by an alliance with Egypt, which would bring down upon them the hostility of the Chaldeans ? 2. The sin of entering into allmnce with Egypt. It involved base treachery towards Nebuchadnezzu. The prophet speaks of it as despising the oath and breaking the covenant which Zedekiah had made with that monarch. Speaking in the spirit of that alliance as an accomplished thing, he says, "He hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath done all these things." Covenant-breaking is classed by St. Paul amongst the very worst of sins (Rom. i. 31); while one of the features in the inspired portrait of a saint is that "he eweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not" (Ps. xv. 4). Huw base, then, would be the treachery of Zedekiah, who had sworn to his own advantage, if he should violate that covenant I Moreover, an alliance with Egypt would involve profane disregard of God, in whose Name the oath har! been made. "Nebuchadnezzar had made him swear by God" (2 Chron. xxxvi. 13) ; and to break that oath would be to despise the Divine Being. "'It is not only that every oath," as Schroder says, " and hence also this oath, is of a reli,,.ions character, and that the despising of it necessarily compromised the God of l.sr~l in the eyes of the heathen; but still further, considering the clemency of Nebuchadnezzar in making such a covenant, as Jehovah's instrument, Jehovah's goodness was turned into lasciviousness." 3. The ruinousness of entering into alliance with Egypt. AB a consequence, the kingdom should be destroyed as a vine plucked up by the roots (vers. 9, 10). Zedekiah himself shoul? die i~ the mid~t of B~bylon (ver. 16). Egypt would prove powerless to help them m the time of their sore chstress (ver. 17). And God himself would go forth against them to avenge his oath that Zedekiab had despised, and his covenant that he bad broken _(vers. 19-21). Yet, notwithstanding these earnest remonstrances and solemn warnmgs, and those of the Prophet Jeremiah also, Zedekiah entered into the forbidden alliance with Egypt, and despised the sacred oath which he had sworn unto Nebuchadnezzar. And yet "Zedekiah," to quote the words of Mr. Aldis Wright," was a man not so much bad at heart as weak in will. He was one of those unfortunate characters, frequent in history, like our own Charles I. and Louis XVI. of France, who find themselves at the head of affairs during a great cri.;;~, without having the strength of character to enable them to do what they know to be right, and whose infirmity becomes moral guilt. 'fhe prioces uf bis court, as he himself pathetically admits in his interview with Jeremiah, ciescribed in eh. xx.x.viii., h&d him completely under their influence. 'Against them,' cu. xvn.1-24.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 317