• “I Will Raise Up One Shepherd”
    Pure Worship of Jehovah—Restored At Last!

    • 5. What is the gist of the riddle?

      5 Read Ezekiel 17:3-10. Here is the gist of the riddle: A “great eagle” plucks off the topmost shoot of a cedar tree and sets it down “in a city of traders.” The eagle then takes “some of the seed of the land” and plants it in a fertile field “by abundant waters.” The seed flourishes, growing into a “sprawling vine.” Next, a second “great eagle” appears. The roots of the vine reach “eagerly toward” the second eagle, seeking to be transplanted by it to another well-watered spot. Jehovah condemns the vine’s actions, indicating that its roots would be torn out and that it would “dry up completely.”

      An eagle carrying a shoot of a cedar tree.

      The first great eagle represented King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (See paragraph 6)

      6. Explain the meaning of the riddle.

      6 What did the riddle mean? (Read Ezekiel 17:11-15.) In 617 B.C.E., King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (the first “great eagle”) besieged Jerusalem. He plucked Judean King Jehoiachin (the “topmost shoot”) from his throne and brought him to Babylon (“a city of traders”). Nebuchadnezzar put Zedekiah (one of the royal “seed of the land”) on the throne in Jerusalem. The new Judean king was made to take an oath in God’s name, obligating him to be a loyal vassal king. (2 Chron. 36:13) But Zedekiah despised his oath; he rebelled against Babylon and turned to the Egyptian Pharaoh (the second “great eagle”) for military help, but to no avail. Jehovah condemned the disloyal actions of that oath-breaker, Zedekiah. (Ezek. 17:16-21) In the end, Zedekiah was dethroned, and he died in prison in Babylon.​—Jer. 52:6-11.