A King After God's Own Heart (Ez 17)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.620 And let's turn our attention to Ezekiel, chapter seventeen. So to prepare you 2 00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:34.380 a little bit to hear what we're about to hear, what I'm about to 3 00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:40.969 read, I will start with what is Ekiel says in verse two. Son 4 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:45.090 Of man propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel. 5 00:00:46.250 --> 00:00:50.880 So this tells us right away that what we're about to hear is going to 6 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:55.240 be obscured a little bit. Right. This is what riddles do. They 7 00:00:55.560 --> 00:01:00.560 obscure. They have the meaning. It's contained in the riddle, the thing 8 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.150 that is said, but it's hidden, right. It's it's unclear in a 9 00:01:04.269 --> 00:01:11.549 way. A parables a little bit different a parable. Sometimes Jesus uses them 10 00:01:11.629 --> 00:01:18.549 to confound, but here the emphasis is not so much on the the hiddenness 11 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:23.819 of it perhaps, but on the use of imagery and other natural things to 12 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:27.739 teach something, to tell something. All that to say, as we listen 13 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:34.530 here, you're going to want to really listen in a way that allows you 14 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:40.890 to hear the whole thing before you try to make sense of everything. It's 15 00:01:40.969 --> 00:01:45.090 this dance we always do when reading, both paying attention to the parts and 16 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:47.879 the whole. You kind of have to do it all at once, but 17 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:52.439 I just want to encourage you to to to listen and not get to bog 18 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:57.200 down right away, or else you're going to find yourself confused for a while. 19 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:00.549 The Lord does explain the meaning of these things and I will do my 20 00:02:00.670 --> 00:02:06.230 best to expound them and explain them as well, but do what you can 21 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:08.590 to hear and to remember what you hear, and it'll be helpful as we 22 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:15.189 as we go on. So let's hear Ezek. You'll seventeen now. The 23 00:02:15.270 --> 00:02:17.900 word of the Lord came to me, son of man, propound a riddle 24 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:23.819 and speak a parable to the house of Israel. Say. Thus says the 25 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:29.900 Lord God, a Great Eagle with great wings and long Pinions, rich and 26 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:34.849 plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the Cedar. 27 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.930 He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a 28 00:02:39.009 --> 00:02:45.280 land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. Then he took 29 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:50.280 the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it 30 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:54.039 beside abundant waters. He said it like a willow twig, and it's sprouted 31 00:02:54.199 --> 00:03:00.030 and became a low spreading vine and its branches turned toward him and its roots 32 00:03:00.110 --> 00:03:05.229 remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put 33 00:03:05.270 --> 00:03:09.469 out boughs. And there was another Great Eagle, Eagle with great wings and 34 00:03:09.550 --> 00:03:15.099 much plumage. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot 35 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:20.219 forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was planted that he might 36 00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:23.939 water it. It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that 37 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:30.930 it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble line. Say, 38 00:03:30.330 --> 00:03:36.289 thus says the Lord God. Will it thrive? Will he not pull up 39 00:03:36.289 --> 00:03:38.849 its roots and cut off its fruit so that it withers, so that all 40 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:44.759 its fresh sprouting leaves whither? It will not take a strong arm or many 41 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.479 people to pull it from its roots. Behold, it is planted. Will 42 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:52.919 it thrive? Will it not utterly Whit or whither when the east wind strikes 43 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.990 it, whither away on the bed where it is sprouted? Then the word 44 00:03:57.030 --> 00:04:00.949 of the Lord came to me. Say Now to the rebellious house, do 45 00:04:00.030 --> 00:04:04.349 you not know what these things mean? Tell them. Behold, the king 46 00:04:04.469 --> 00:04:10.020 of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and her princes and brought them 47 00:04:10.139 --> 00:04:14.219 to him, to Babylon, and he took one of the Royal Offspring and 48 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:17.779 made a covenant with him, putting him under oath the chief men of the 49 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:23.699 land he had taken away, that the kingdom might be humble and not lift 50 00:04:23.740 --> 00:04:29.050 itself up and keep his covenant, that it might stand. But he rebelled 51 00:04:29.089 --> 00:04:32.569 against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt that they might give him horses and 52 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:38.639 a large army. Will he thrive? Can One escape who does such things? 53 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:43.839 Can he break the Covenant and yet escape? As I live, declares 54 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:46.879 the Lord God. Surely, in the place where the king dwells, who 55 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:50.199 made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant with him he broke 56 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:56.949 in Babylon, he shall die. Pharaoh, with his mighty army and great 57 00:04:56.990 --> 00:05:00.470 company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege 58 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:05.709 walls are built to cut off many lives. He despised the oath in breaking 59 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:09.860 the Covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things. 60 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:15.100 He shall not escape. Therefore, thus says the Lord God. As 61 00:05:15.220 --> 00:05:19.139 I live, surely it is my oath that he despised and my covenant that 62 00:05:19.259 --> 00:05:23.529 he broke, I will return it upon his head. I will spread my 63 00:05:23.649 --> 00:05:27.089 net over him and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring 64 00:05:27.129 --> 00:05:30.449 him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he is 65 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:34.920 committed against me, and all the pick of his troops shall fall by the 66 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:40.120 sword and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know 67 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:45.360 that I am the Lord. I have spoken thus as the Lord God, 68 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:49.069 I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the Cedar and will 69 00:05:49.110 --> 00:05:54.949 set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs, 70 00:05:55.029 --> 00:05:58.990 a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and 71 00:05:59.189 --> 00:06:01.949 lofty mountain, on the mountain height of Israel. Will I plant it that 72 00:06:02.029 --> 00:06:08.779 I it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble Cedar, and 73 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:13.540 under it will dwell every kind of bird. In the shade of its branches, 74 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:16.620 birds of every sort will nest, and all the trees of the field 75 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:21.730 shall know that I am the Lord. I bring the low I bring low 76 00:06:23.089 --> 00:06:28.050 the high tree, and I make high the low tree, dry up the 77 00:06:28.170 --> 00:06:32.720 green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I I'm the Lord, I 78 00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:42.680 have spoken and I will do it. Amen. So here we have a 79 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:48.550 parable, a riddle story that teaches a lesson, predicts a future and also 80 00:06:49.350 --> 00:06:55.949 gives us great hope. The surprising ending, this great way in which God 81 00:06:56.069 --> 00:07:02.060 promises to take all this rebellion and covenant breaking and disobedience and take from this 82 00:07:02.339 --> 00:07:09.420 tree and turn it into this magnificent mountain, high tree over all the earth, 83 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:14.779 is a promise and ultimately beloved. It teaches us about Jesu is us. 84 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:18.850 It teaches us about his kingdom. Here we begin to understand more of 85 00:07:19.209 --> 00:07:25.529 the promises that God makes for us in Christ and it should cause us to 86 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:30.920 give praise to him and honor to him, to fear him and to trust 87 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:36.639 and hope in our king. To explain the parable, let me remind you 88 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:43.879 of the I can't think of a different word than characters, but I'll say 89 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:47.870 characters. From the moment we have two eagles, right too, Eagles, 90 00:07:48.470 --> 00:07:55.470 a cedar and a vine. The First Eagle that is spoken of beginning in 91 00:07:55.589 --> 00:08:01.939 Verse Three Represents Babylon. The First Eagle represents Babylon and it is described as 92 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:07.060 very great, great wings a long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors. 93 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:15.009 The Eagle is often a single a symbol of kingship, of nobility, 94 00:08:15.209 --> 00:08:18.850 of power and strength. Even in our own country on the Eagle is used 95 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:24.050 in this way. And here the Eagle represents Babylon, this great, powerful, 96 00:08:24.529 --> 00:08:28.839 beautiful, strong kingdom. And what does it do? It comes and 97 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:35.200 it takes the top off of a Cedar, these Great Cedars that Lebanon was 98 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:39.879 known. Perhaps you remember this phrase from the Scriptures. The Great Cedars, 99 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.549 of the great trees of Lebanon comes and it takes the top off and it 100 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:48.950 plants it in its own place. And this represents Babylon coming and taking the 101 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:56.539 top off of Jerusalem. I'm not it's physical top, but it's a social 102 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:03.940 top. The king whose name is Joya Chen Ezekiel, and before them Daniel 103 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:07.820 and his friends. We read in First Kings, the end of our sorry 104 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:13.370 second kings, that not only was Jooyahchen Chake and taken, but also, 105 00:09:13.450 --> 00:09:20.129 as mother I'm high officials, palace officials, craftsmen of every kind. Tenzero, 106 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:26.000 the number tenzero is given of different people, mighty men of Valor, 107 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.080 the whole top of society, the leaders, the officials, the wealth, 108 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:37.600 the important people, all of it just taken to Babylon, planted in this 109 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:45.549 city of merchants, and they're they were supposed to be. Now, jarge, 110 00:09:46.190 --> 00:09:50.269 I'm Jeremiah. We read in the Scriptures, had advised Johoyachen, I'm 111 00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:56.299 to submit to this situation, to submit to Babylon. He did not obey, 112 00:09:56.460 --> 00:10:03.740 and that's why he and these people were taken away. Next we see 113 00:10:03.740 --> 00:10:11.450 the Eagle doing a second action. He we read to inverse in verse. 114 00:10:11.649 --> 00:10:16.210 Let's see verse five. He takes the seed of the landing, he plants 115 00:10:16.250 --> 00:10:20.559 it in fertile soil and he plants this vine. So what happens in the 116 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:24.799 history of God's people is after a king, Johoyachen, for his disobedience and 117 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:30.519 is breaking of covenant with Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, takes 118 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:35.440 Johoyochen and the top off Israel. It takes the to Babylon, but he 119 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:41.190 doesn't destroy the city yet. He places instead on Zee Kiah. Zedekiah is 120 00:10:41.230 --> 00:10:50.539 Johoyachen's uncle, related and he is there to rule in Jerusalem, but under 121 00:10:50.860 --> 00:11:00.620 the King of Babylon. Now zedekiah according to this parable and the history of 122 00:11:00.700 --> 00:11:05.490 all of these things, was given every chance for success. He is this 123 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:11.769 vine, placed by Nebuchadnezzar, by abundant waters. Right this Great Eagle, 124 00:11:11.850 --> 00:11:16.889 this great power, plants this vine. And what happens? The vine bent 125 00:11:16.090 --> 00:11:20.480 its roots and toward the Eagle, shoots forth it's branches toward him, the 126 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:26.000 bed where it was planted and it was watered, it had been planted in 127 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:31.720 good soil, by abundant waters, and that it might produce branches and bear 128 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:37.710 fruit and become a noble vine. God, even in his punishment over is 129 00:11:37.070 --> 00:11:41.590 in Israel, is providing a chance for the people to live, the people 130 00:11:41.669 --> 00:11:46.830 to survive. So what Ad Zeekaiah do? Did he turn away from the 131 00:11:46.870 --> 00:11:52.299 sins of his father's did he turn away from trusting in false powers, trusting 132 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:58.500 in idols murdering innocent people? Well, no, he didn't. Instead, 133 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:05.610 what he does is he breaks covenant with Babylon and goes to Egypt and says, 134 00:12:05.769 --> 00:12:09.929 Egypt, will you help me out now? This is, of course, 135 00:12:09.889 --> 00:12:15.409 full of irony, because it's from Egypt that the people were first rescued. 136 00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:20.279 It was from Egypt that God said don't return there don't trust this nation. 137 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.320 And yet Zedekiah not only does he break covenant with the Babylonian King, 138 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:31.629 Nebuchadnezzar, to whom he owed obedience, and he then goes to Egypt. 139 00:12:31.710 --> 00:12:37.309 And we see this described here as this Second Eagle, another Great Eagle, 140 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:41.029 we read in verse seven, with Great Wings and much plumage. But we 141 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:45.340 notice the description isn't quite as grand, it isn't quite as great as that 142 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:50.700 First Eagle. It's like the First Eagle, but not as Nice. Well, 143 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:54.460 this is predictive of what is about to happen. We have the great 144 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:58.220 power of this First Eagle, this one that plants the vine, the one 145 00:12:58.299 --> 00:13:01.450 that establishes it, and then the vine goes. Hmm, what about that 146 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:07.730 Eagle and what happens? Well, as it looks at this other Eagle, 147 00:13:07.889 --> 00:13:13.399 as as Zeta Chiah and and Jerusalem begin to look to Egypt, for help, 148 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.120 what? How? What happens? Well, the description is in verse 149 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:22.919 nine. Will it thrive? Will he, that is the first Great Eagle, 150 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.960 not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit so that it withers, 151 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.350 so that it's fresh spouting leaves whither? It will not take a strong 152 00:13:31.389 --> 00:13:35.350 arm or many people to pull it from its roots. Behold it is planted. 153 00:13:35.830 --> 00:13:39.629 Will it thrive? Will it not utterly whither when the East Wind, 154 00:13:39.909 --> 00:13:45.059 another reference there to Babbel on, strikes? It whither away on the bed 155 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:50.220 where it's sprouted? As Egypt, or, I'm sorry, as Jerusalem, 156 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:52.980 sort of as a vine looks towards this eagle, towards this great power, 157 00:13:54.460 --> 00:13:58.490 it's like she's pulling herself from the waters where SPICI's planted. Her her roots 158 00:13:58.570 --> 00:14:05.690 get exposed, she becomes tender and vulnerable and exposed. In all these things, 159 00:14:05.889 --> 00:14:11.039 the word of the Lord as it comes to the people of Israel. 160 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.200 It's warning them, saying, do you not see what is about to happen? 161 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.480 All of this, all of your planning, all of your kniving, 162 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:26.190 all of your covenant breaking, is about to fall apart. We can begin 163 00:14:26.350 --> 00:14:31.149 to see the end before it comes. And odd promises. He says he 164 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:35.830 will cause these things to happen. No one will escape. Notice what he 165 00:14:35.909 --> 00:14:41.980 says in Verse Fifteen. But he rebelled against him, that is, is 166 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:48.100 that a chai rebelled against a nebuchadnezzar by sending his ambassadors to Egypt that might 167 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:50.659 they might give him horses in a large army. Will he thrive? Can 168 00:14:50.779 --> 00:14:54.649 One escape who does such things? Can he break the Covenant and yet escape? 169 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:00.610 Remember, when people take on covenants they make promise. These are what 170 00:15:00.649 --> 00:15:03.649 they are, their solemn promises. They say, I will do this thing 171 00:15:03.730 --> 00:15:07.600 and if I don't do it, may all these bad things happen to me. 172 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:13.159 Can you make a promise like that and escape? God says, surely, 173 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:20.509 surely not. Well, as we know from reading the history of these 174 00:15:20.629 --> 00:15:24.990 things, and second kings and another places, we read that this is exactly 175 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:31.269 what happened. EGYPT DID NOT RISE UP A mighty power to rescue Jerusalem from 176 00:15:31.269 --> 00:15:41.019 Babylon. No, Babylon came in and put down this rebellion. Nebuchadnezzar took 177 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:50.769 Zet ACHAIA and brought him to Babylon. Is that he also murdered all of 178 00:15:50.889 --> 00:15:56.049 his sons in front of him and then gouged out his eye. US. 179 00:15:56.250 --> 00:16:07.080 That's what Nebuchadnezzar did to Zeekiah for breaking the covenant. A question we have 180 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:14.000 to ask here is why does God care about the Israelite Kings, these kings 181 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:19.629 and Jerusalem, these sons of David, breaking covenant with Nebuchadnezzar. Right, 182 00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:25.470 why does God carry a care about a covenant breaking with this Great King of 183 00:16:25.629 --> 00:16:30.389 Babylon? Babylon is not God's holy city, it's not his holy empire. 184 00:16:32.590 --> 00:16:38.019 Why is he so eager to see them keep the oath to Babylon? Well, 185 00:16:38.059 --> 00:16:42.340 it's not because of his great love for Babylon, although eventually we will 186 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:49.450 see that Babylon will benefit from these things, but it's his love for Jerusalem, 187 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:53.970 for his promises to David. And what we find is here we come 188 00:16:55.129 --> 00:17:00.679 to that that yet deeper meaning here in this parable, a deeper meaning which 189 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:06.799 points us not just to their covenant breaking with Nebuchadnezzar, but you know what 190 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:11.079 I'm going to say, they're covenant breaking with God. That's ultimately what this 191 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:15.750 is about, and he shows this to them. He says, not only 192 00:17:15.789 --> 00:17:18.470 are you breaking this covenant with them, but it's you're breaking it with me. 193 00:17:19.589 --> 00:17:23.430 You have disobeyed these things. You have you have disobeyed my rules, 194 00:17:23.549 --> 00:17:27.710 my laws. You have gone after false gods, as we looked at in 195 00:17:27.750 --> 00:17:32.500 the last chapter. You've spilt him in this and blood, all of these 196 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:37.779 terrible things. And so now, as the Babyloni as the Babylonians do this 197 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:41.220 work of judgment on your city, as they build up mounds, as they 198 00:17:41.299 --> 00:17:45.009 build up seige works, as they come and they take first the top off 199 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:51.609 the people and then the whole thing, a card away, the things of 200 00:17:51.690 --> 00:17:56.369 the temple, the furniture, the gold pillars and all these things of the 201 00:17:56.450 --> 00:18:02.119 Lord, and take everything to Babylon. Know that it is my doing, 202 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.160 says the Lord. This is not just reaping the benefits of your own bad 203 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:15.750 politics, but it's more than that. This is reaping the consequences of your 204 00:18:15.789 --> 00:18:22.029 own bad politics. This is the Lord at work, the Lord Judging and 205 00:18:22.309 --> 00:18:30.420 prosecuting his covenant with them. They are covenant breakers from top to bottom, 206 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:37.500 bottom to top, and Jahwe wants them to realize this. He wants them 207 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:42.410 and us to understand that he is behind it all. Just as they broke 208 00:18:42.529 --> 00:18:48.369 covenant with Nebuchadnezzar and would be judged, just as this king on first Jehoiachen 209 00:18:48.569 --> 00:18:52.089 and then Zeta Kai a broke covenant with Babylon and would be judged. So, 210 00:18:52.250 --> 00:19:00.920 to excuse me, they would be judged by God. Well, what 211 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.559 do we learn from these things? Well, one thing is that we learn 212 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:11.710 is that these sins of these kings and of Jerusalem. We're significant. We've 213 00:19:11.750 --> 00:19:17.029 seen this impressed on our hearts and many ways it's are not minor things. 214 00:19:17.150 --> 00:19:22.750 These were great sins done over and over and over. We ought never to 215 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:26.099 look at the judgment that Jerusalem face and say, was that a little bit 216 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:32.900 too much? If Anything, God was merciful and spared them even within the 217 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:38.490 midst of so much great destruction. Another thing I think we need to pay 218 00:19:38.529 --> 00:19:42.730 attention to and realize when we see the judgment of God in these kinds of 219 00:19:42.809 --> 00:19:49.650 situations and we recognize the sins which led to this kind of judgment, is 220 00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:56.240 to take note of the sins and consider our own. One of the things 221 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:00.359 that the Lord is teaching us in these stories and in this history and all 222 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:07.119 these things is the consequence of sin. How often do we take sin kind 223 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:10.869 of lightly? We think of it as no big deal. These passages impressed 224 00:20:10.869 --> 00:20:14.910 on us that it is a big deal. It is important. We can't 225 00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:19.349 play around, we can't mess around with sin. When we look at God's 226 00:20:19.349 --> 00:20:26.059 judgment, we see sin and it should humble us. And this includes even 227 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:30.180 the Cross of Christ, especially the Cross of Christ, where the judgments and 228 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:37.170 the wrath of God was poured down upon the sun. Why? Jesus didn't 229 00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:41.970 do anything wrong. Jesus never sinned. Jesus wasn't some sort of covenant breaking 230 00:20:42.049 --> 00:20:47.410 King, snatching the people of Israel and carting them off to Egypt or trying 231 00:20:47.450 --> 00:20:53.799 to make alliances with other nations or anything like that. Jesus didn't die as 232 00:20:53.839 --> 00:21:00.960 a murderer or as a thief for as a false king. Jesus was perfectly 233 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:10.710 righteous. Jesus died to take judgment for sin for us. Jesus took on 234 00:21:10.829 --> 00:21:14.750 judgment for us because of our sins and the things that we have done. 235 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:18.660 When we look at the cross, when we look at God's judgment there, 236 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:22.380 we have to shut her a little bit and see the power of the law, 237 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:30.259 the consequences of sin. But the cross also reveals to us the hope 238 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:36.890 of the Gospel in a way that the judgment here of Israel does not. 239 00:21:37.930 --> 00:21:42.650 The judgment on Jesus, the judgments and the cross, we see that it 240 00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:47.279 wasn't just Jesus paying a Jesus wasn't paying for his own sins, as I 241 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:51.640 said, but he was paying for ours, and this is good news for 242 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:55.720 us, that Jesus was a sacrifice of sins, means that we have hope 243 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:00.000 of living another day, and not just another day, but an eternal day 244 00:22:00.710 --> 00:22:06.750 and eternal life. We have a hope in Christ, in the judgments of 245 00:22:06.829 --> 00:22:11.950 God on him, that we can be forgiven of our covenant breaking, that 246 00:22:12.150 --> 00:22:17.500 we can be forgiven of our sins. Where the wrath of Babylon comes down 247 00:22:17.500 --> 00:22:21.859 on the people, where the wrath of God comes down on Jerusalem, the 248 00:22:21.980 --> 00:22:26.940 wrath of God came down on Jesus once and for all, so that all 249 00:22:27.099 --> 00:22:32.009 who would be under him would know that justice, as he said and is 250 00:22:32.130 --> 00:22:34.730 Ecyel Lat in the last chapter, in his Ecil Sixteen, Justice would be 251 00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:42.089 satisfied, it would be over and we would have peace with God. When 252 00:22:42.130 --> 00:22:47.599 we look to Jesus as the true King of his people, as the Covenant 253 00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:53.279 Keeper, we can have real hope for the future, and that hope for 254 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:56.480 the future, knowing that our sins are forgiven, knowing that we can now 255 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:02.470 live in him, is predicted for us right here in is echyl seventeen. 256 00:23:03.549 --> 00:23:07.470 This is why I said at the beginning all these things eventually they point us 257 00:23:07.509 --> 00:23:10.950 to Christ and they remind us of what we have in him and what do 258 00:23:11.069 --> 00:23:17.660 we have in him? Well, we have the completion of our judgment and 259 00:23:17.859 --> 00:23:22.619 we have this. I'll read from verse twenty two. He says, I 260 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:27.650 myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the Cedar and will set 261 00:23:27.690 --> 00:23:34.009 it out. So this Cedar, this top that had been carted off to 262 00:23:34.130 --> 00:23:41.000 Babylon, this this remnant of people that had been preserved from this judgment, 263 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:49.160 God would take something humble, a a little sprig from the lofty top of 264 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.559 the seater, will set it out. He says, I will break off 265 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.950 from the topmost of its young twigs, a tender one, and I myself 266 00:23:55.990 --> 00:24:00.150 will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. So God takes this, 267 00:24:02.029 --> 00:24:04.069 this sprig of a tree, of this little thing, and he transplants it 268 00:24:04.630 --> 00:24:10.420 on a very high mountain. And in theological terms, this is the highest 269 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:15.819 mountain, the most important one, the most grander one, the mountain height 270 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:21.460 of Israel. We could say safely that this is Mount Zion, the city 271 00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:26.490 of God, and he places this this tree, this royal, noble one, 272 00:24:26.609 --> 00:24:30.329 this one of Israel, the son of David, this little sprig, 273 00:24:30.009 --> 00:24:33.890 and he places it on top of a mountain. He lifts it up from 274 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:42.079 a very low place. And what happens next under it? Under this one 275 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:48.559 tree will dwell every kind of bird in the shade of its branches, every 276 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:55.150 branches, birds of every sort will nest, and all the trees of the 277 00:24:55.190 --> 00:25:02.390 field, all those trees down below other kings and empires and people, they 278 00:25:02.470 --> 00:25:08.819 will know that I am the Lord. So this imagery of the Eagle and 279 00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:15.019 the tree and the vine, all these things Um our our and our images 280 00:25:15.059 --> 00:25:21.420 of judgment. But God says that he himself, not in Ebuchados or not 281 00:25:21.529 --> 00:25:26.609 Babylon, but he himself, will, out of this judgment, create something 282 00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:30.809 new and something that was better than even before. This is not a mighty 283 00:25:30.970 --> 00:25:37.920 tree, it's not a lowly vine like Zeedechiah was. This is a high 284 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:45.039 tree on the highest mountain, a great tree in which will provide shade and 285 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:49.430 rest, and all the trees of the field will know that he is the 286 00:25:49.589 --> 00:25:56.630 Lord, in Jesus Christ, in the Work of God, in all of 287 00:25:56.789 --> 00:26:04.980 these things we receive this surprising grace, an unexpected end in which, despite 288 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:11.220 all of the things that Israel is done to deserve God's wrath, despite all 289 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:15.539 the things that you and I have done to deserve his wrath and be under 290 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:19.930 the punishment, righteous judgment for our sins. God promises that in Christ he 291 00:26:21.089 --> 00:26:27.049 is going to create something new, something wonderful, which provides provision and rest 292 00:26:27.970 --> 00:26:33.920 for all. When we think of Jesus, this, of course, supplies 293 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:38.160 so well of him who is born v Lowly stature, the son of David, 294 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:45.240 and yet and yet, and born in Bethlehem, but yet so low, 295 00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:52.069 often despised, often rejected, often unimportant, often I'm not believed in. 296 00:26:52.029 --> 00:27:02.099 But ultimately he is the king of the world. So let's not break 297 00:27:02.180 --> 00:27:10.059 covenant with God, but instead put our faith in him, who has established 298 00:27:10.099 --> 00:27:15.140 a new covenant and who is promised that he will not judge us according to 299 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:22.450 our own righteousness or our sins, but according to Christ's righteousness and his perfect 300 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:26.329 life. When we put our faith in him, we can know that we 301 00:27:26.369 --> 00:27:30.559 are secure and no longer under judgment.