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The Prophecy Project:
Session 7
WELCOME… To session number SEVEN of the prophecy project. Last session I covered Revelation chapter 18 the judgment of the great whore. We looked and saw the whore of “Babylon” Mega Babylon! Judged by fire, every possible aspect of life in Babylon was mentioned and totally destroyed. The term “no more at all” was used over and over to show us the complete destruction of a nation. In modern terms that we can all relate to, it would mean: no more NFL football, no more super bowls, no more internet, no more text messages, no more electric lighting, microwave ovens, only darkness, no TV, no more reality shows., no more advertisements telling us how unlimited our potential is and how bright our future will be. No more Politian’s telling us that their policies will bring prosperity and safety. no one to tell us that sin is an antiquated concept from a bygone time.
Babylon has fallen has fallen never to rise or be inhabited again. The merchants of the earth will weep and wail because no one buys our merchandise any more. Only those who have come out of her, by refusing to be a part of her sins will be delivered from her. We are told that those who survive the initial attack and the destruction of the cities will face an army of Iranian (medes) which will slaughter everyone they find, they will have no mercy. I think that the Army is on a suicide mission because of the battle will surely be nuclear in scope, the bright arrows will destroy cities…… I apologize for being so graphic with my description, but if you’ve ever seen pictures of Dresden Germany during and after the allied bombing raids of world war 2 you know how horrific being destroyed by fire can be. The Daughter of Babylon will be much worse, it states that the earth will be shaken at the fall of Babylon. And we were told that God would have healed her,…..but she would not,…..she partied like Sodom and Gomorrah to the bitter end.

in this session we move on to Ezekiel chapter 17,
This is where we find the Riddle. I want to define what a riddle is before we read the account.
Riddle: is a mystery which is to be solved. by the reader, you are invited to solve it. In this case the subject of the parable is the House of Israel, the nation of Israel.
The term, Parable is also used in this account,
A parable is: a story which assists in solving a mystery, It is usually done through symbols and double meanings.
I will read the first 10 verses which will define the Riddle and then come back and comment on them.
Ezekiel 17:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; (3) And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged , full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: (4) He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffik; he set it in a city of merchants. (5) He took also the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. (6) And It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. (7) There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him , and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. (8) It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. (9) Say thou , thus saith the Lord GOD; shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. (10) Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
This is the full parable, it ends with the withering of the goodly vine in the furrows of the second great eagle.
I want to expound on these 10 verses and diagram what we are told, I diagram scripture to help keep things straight.
(1) And the word of the Lord came onto me , saying, (2) Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
This riddle (Mystery) is given from God it is not to be taken lightly, if God speaks something, then we should listen and take it seriously. The riddle is addressed to the house of Israel. this riddle is presented in parable form.
(3) And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers , which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
We are introduced to the great eagle, and that it is a very special eagle, from its feathers and their colors to the length of its wings, it has the ability to take the highest branches of the cedar, it is militarily superior to the cedar.
(4) He (the eagle) cropped of the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick (business); he set it in a city of merchants. (5) He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
This city is not a bad place to be planted, it could have been a dry uninhabited wilderness, but it’s actually a fruitful field and a city full of opportunities and people, “great waters”. We are also told that not just the top young twigs were taken but also the people, the general population “seed of the land”. It was still to be a tree. although not a cedar, but still a tree. The willow speaks of submission, humility and weeping.
(6) And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
As it grew it became a vine of low stature it was within the eagle, and yet it grew and brought forth branches and shoots, it appears that the cedar was in the eagle for quite some time (not just a vacation)
(7) There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. (8) It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might be a goodly vine.
This second great eagle is not the first eagle, it says that the vine chooses to bend towards him, not cropped and taken like the first eagle. but plants itself in furrows within the second eagle. This is a good place with great waters (lot of peoples from other nation) The second eagle is similar to the first with its description of wings, feathers and colors. this a displacement for the vine. The vine of low stature is transformed in the second eagle, to become a goodly vine. Goodly means “great in stature” and the word for vine also means a tree. she will be a great tree.
(9) Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. (10) Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
The Lord asks, shall their prosperity continue unabated? he says no, they are going to wither right in the furrows that she is planted. It won’t happen because a great and powerful people comes and uproots them, but rather because the east wind touches her. The east wind is symbolic of the hand of God, and specifically with judgment.
review the riddle slide to give pictorial view of the riddle.
We know a lot about the riddle, but very little about the meanings and definitions. But God does not leave the matter at this point, he continues and begins to define much of the symbolism and identities.
(11) Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me (Ezekiel), saying, (12)Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king (of Israel) thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; (13) And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land: (14) That the kingdom (Israel) might be base, that it might not lift itself, but by keeping of his covenant it might stand (continue).
We now know more that we did, we now know that Israel’s rebellion is the cause for event (captivity), and that Lebanon is Jerusalem. This an example of how God calls one location by another locations name, as seen in revelation chapter 11. I believe that God uses the cedar to represent Israel because the cedars of Lebanon are renowned for their strength and beauty and reflects how God desires Israel to be.
We also know that the land of traffic is the land of Babylon, the 1st great eagle is Babylon. The king of Israel was required to make an oath to the king of Babylon (Nebuchnezzar) that he would submit him and not rebel, and that Israel as a nation would be allowed to continue, although as base nation (willow tree).
(15) But he rebelled against him sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall it prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered? (16) As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
these two verses tell us that the king of Israel will not uphold his oath, and God says there is no deliverance for a man who does such things, and that he will die in Babylon.
The next four verses describe the events pertaining to the breaking of the oath and how serious God sees the situation, but no direct information for the riddle is seen, but in verse 22 God begins to speak to the final events concerning the cedar (Israel) and how the events will sequence.
(22) Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar (Israel), and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: (23) 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.
We’re told that God will cause the goodly tree to wither by blowing an east wind on it, But he also crops off the highest branch a tender twig and plants it back in the high mountain of Israel (the land of Israel), there it will prosper and become a great tree again. Remember they (Israel) were in the furrows where they were planted, which is the 2nd great eagle not the first, a land which they emigrated to by their own desire from which they will go back to the land of Israel.
(24) And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree (historic Israel) exalted the low tree (allowed the low vine to become a great tree in the 2nd eagle), have dried up the green tree (the east wind in the 2nd eagle), and made the dry tree to flourish (back in the land of Israel): I the LORD have brought down the high tree, 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 have done it.
God repeats the sequence twice in one verse, because it is key to placing the 2nd great eagle.
(review diagram with definitions added) then (review last diagram, contemporary times
God has shown us everything of the riddle, except, the identity of the 2nd great eagle. The identity of the second great eagle is the MYSTERY , all else is explained. We do know that the 1st eagle was Babylon, and that the 2nd eagle has the same attributes as the first, but is not the same geographic location, but in every other way is just like Babylon.
so, we are looking for a nation which is symbolized by a great eagle which is a land of merchants and great waters (peoples) and will be home to large numbers of immigrant Jews which have or are prospering. This eagle will exist at the time that Israel becomes a nation back in their land. Israel was reestablished in 1948. I believe that America fits this description perfectly. when Revelation 17 says MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, it is tying itself directly to Ezekiel’s Mystery riddle, Babylon the eagle.
I want to close this session at this point, but we will go to American symbolism and history in the next session and assemble a complete list for end time Babylon.
Thank you.