“Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I will pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a stately cedar. And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it’” (Ezek 17:22-24).
Ezekiel 17 predicts the final tragic days of the Davidic monarchy, followed by exile to Babylon (see Ezek 17:11-21). From a glorious kingdom that was the envy of all nations, David’s city, throne, and crown were reduced to rubble, and any hope for a future kingdom seemed lost (see Psalm 89). Yet the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, for it is impossible for God to lie. The final verses of a chapter about the death of David’s son therefore follow a familiar pattern: the seed of David will be planted again in the fields plowed by the Babylonian armies, and from the stem of Jesse (Isa 11:1) and the root in dry ground (Isa 53:2), a majestic tree will sprout, becoming a tree of life for all nations.
…God’s promises are like seeds that, by their divine nature, must flourish into lush green forests…
We must constantly remind ourselves that we live by faith and not by sight. No matter how great the destruction around us, no matter how overwhelming the odds, no matter who declares that hope is gone, God’s promises are like seeds that, by their divine nature, must flourish into lush green forests, even when planted in soil that seems completely and thoroughly, and in the opinion of many, irreversibly destroyed.
“Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things, and secured; for all my salvation and all my desire, will He not indeed make it grow?” (2 Sam 23:5).
