The Vine and the Cedar

Ezekiel is an equal opportunity prophet! Everyone comes under the sledgehammer of judgment: the temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed – the remnant of Jerusalem will be worthless – and while Jerusalem in exile will eventually be the means God uses to restore worship in Jerusalem, at the moment, they are just as bad as everyone else!

There is a remnant. But there is no faithful remnant!

As we saw in Ezekiel 16, God himself will have to atone for all that Jerusalem has done – and today in Ezekiel 17, God himself will have to make the cedar tree flourish.

Jerusalem cannot save herself.
Only God can save.