Wed.’s Devo - An Allegory

Read: Ezekiel 16:43-17:24; Hebrews 8:1-13; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 27:7-9
Israel constantly lived for the moment. They forgot their rich heritage of God’s deliverance through the Red Sea and all the wonderful miracles God did for them to show them his great love for them. They added lewdness to their idolatry which in the Hebrew means heinous crimes. He described them as being like their mother who hated her husband and her own children. God was their husband and their children were the ones they were teaching. Ezekiel told them that their mother was a Hittite. Esau had married Hittite women which were so evil it made Rebecca send Jacob off to marry women from his own family. He said that their father was an Amorite which were from the incest relationship between Lot and his daughter. Their sister was Sodom who were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned. They neglected helping the poor and needy. Their sins made their enemy’s sins look good.
God gave them an allegory of two eagles. The first eagle represented Assyria’s god, Nisroch which symbolized a bird with wings. It came to Lebanon which was another name for the temple in Jerusalem, since the temple was built from the cedars of Lebanon. The highest branch that the eagle took represented King Jehoiachin who was taken to Babylon.
The second eagle was the god of Egypt. King Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle and successor became ambitious and tried to rid himself of Babylonian rule to find help in Egypt. This was rebellion against what God had decreed for him so he would be caught and brought back to Babylon where he would pay for his rebellion.
In the end, God would plant a branch in Zion, Jesus, who would bring forth his Church. God will bring down the kingdoms of the world to exalt his kingdom in the earth.
In Hebrews we learn that Jesus was never to be a high priest on earth according to the old covenant. The old priesthood was only a copy of God’s priesthood in heaven. Jesus was to be the high priest in heaven after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus’ blood was the only sacrifice needed to cleanse us forever of sin.