“Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and plant it upon a high mountain and eminent; 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; and all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, and 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 I have done it.”—Ezekiel xvii. 22–24.
You perceive that our text abounds in the beautiful language of allegory. In the context is portrayed the captivity of the children of Israel, and especially the carrying away of the royal family by the king of Babylon. Here God promises to restore them to their own land, in greater prosperity than ever; and to raise up Messiah, the Branch, out of the house of David, to be their king. All this is presented in a glowing figurative style, dressed out in all the wealth of poetic imagery so peculiar to the Orientals. Nebuchadnezzar, the great eagle—the long-winged, full-feathered, embroidered eagle—is represented as coming to Lebanon, and taking the highest branch of the tallest cedar, bearing it off as the crow bears the acorn in its beak, and planting it in the land of traffic. The Lord God, in His turn, takes the highest branch of the same cedar, and plants it on the high mountain of Israel, where it flourishes and bears fruit, and the fowls of the air dwell under the shadow of its branches.
We will make a few general remarks on the character of the promise, and then pass to a more particular consideration of its import.
I. This is an evangelical promise. It relates to the coming and kingdom of Messiah. Not one of the kings of Judah since the captivity, as Boothroyd well observes, answers to the description here given. Not one of them was a cedar whose branches could afford shadow, and shelter for all the fowls of heaven. But the prophecy receives its fulfilment in Christ, the Desire of all nations, to whom the ends of the earth shall come for salvation.
This prophecy bears a striking resemblance, in several particulars, to the parable of the mustard-seed, delivered by our Lord. “The mustard-seed,” said Jesus, “is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” So the delicate twig of the young, and tender branch, becomes a goodly cedar, and under its shadow dwell all fowl, of every wing. The prophecy, and the parable are alike intended to represent the growth, and prosperity of Messiah’s kingdom, and the gracious protection, and spiritual refreshment afforded to its subjects. Christ is the mustard plant, and cedar of God; and to Him shall the gathering of all the people be; and multitudes of pardoned sinners shall sit under His shadow, with great delight, and His fruit shall be sweet to their taste.
This prophecy is a promise of the true, and faithful, and immutable God. It begins with—“Thus saith the Lord God, I will do thus and so;” and concludes with—“I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it.” There is no peradventure with God. His Word is for ever settled in heaven, and cannot fail of its fulfilment. When He says, “I promise to pay,” there is no failure, whatever the sum. The Bank of grace cannot break. It is the oldest and best in the universe. Its capital is infinite; its credit is infallible. The mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, is able to fulfil, to the utmost, all His engagements. He can do anything that does not imply a contradiction, or a moral absurdity. He could take upon Himself the form of a servant, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; but we can never forget, or disregard, His promise, any more than He can cease to exist. His nature renders both impossible. Heaven, and earth shall pass away, but His word shall not pass away. Every jot, and tittle shall be fulfilled. This is the consolation of the Church. Here rested the patriarchs, and prophets. Here reposes the faith of the saints, to the end of time. God abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself. Our text is already partially verified in the advent of Christ, and the establishment of His Church; the continuous growth of the gospel kingdom indicates its progressive fulfilment; and we anticipate the time, as not far distant, when the whole earth shall be overshadowed by the branches of the cedar of God.
II. We proceed to consider, with a little more particularity, the import of this evangelical prophecy. It describes the character, and mediatorial kingdom of Christ, and the blessings which He confers upon His people.
1. His character and mediatorial kingdom.—“I will take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and plant it upon a high mountain and eminent; in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it.”
Christ, as concerning the flesh, is of the seed of Abraham—a rod issuing from the stem of Jesse, and a branch growing out of his root. As the new vine is found in the cluster, and one saith, “Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it,” so the children of Israel were spared, notwithstanding their perverseness, and their backslidings, because they were the cluster from which should be expressed in due time the new wine of the kingdom—because from them was to come forth the blessing, the promised seed, in whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed. The Word that was in the beginning with God, one with God, in essence, and in attributes, in the fulness of time assumed our nature, and tabernacled, and dwelt among us. Here is the union of God, and man. Here is the great mystery of godliness—God manifest in the flesh. But I have only time now to take off my shoes, and draw near the burning bush, and gaze a moment upon this great sight.
The Father is represented as preparing a body, for His Son. He goes to the quarry to seek a stone, a foundation-stone, for Zion. The angel said to Mary:—“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” The Eternal lays hold on that nature which is hastening downward, on the flood of sin, to the gulf of death, and destruction, and binds it to Himself. Though made in the likeness of sinful flesh, He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. The rod out of the stem of Jesse is also Jehovah, our righteousness. The Child born in Bethlehem is the mighty God. The Son given to Israel is the Everlasting Father. He is of the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh; but he is also the true God, and eternal life. Two natures, and three offices meet mysteriously in His Person. He is at once the bleeding sacrifice, the sanctifying altar, the officiating priest, the prophet of Israel, and the Prince of Peace. All this was necessary that He might become “the Author of eternal salvation, to all them that obey Him.”