Thurs.’s Devo - The Breaking of the Covenant and the Promise of a New Covenant

Read: Ezekiel 16:43-17:24; Hebrews 8:1-13; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 27:7-9
God rebuked Jerusalem for copying Israel, their older sister, to the north in their worshipping of idols. Then, they had copied their younger sister, Sodom to the south. But Jerusalem far surpassed the sins of Sodom. Sodom had become rich and arrogant, looking down on the poor and needy. Israel had fallen into idolatry, but none of these surpassed the sins of Judah in their idolatrous practices. Now God would deal with them as they deserved because they had broken the covenant.
He gave them an allegory about a great eagle which came to Lebanon. It took off the top of the tree and carried it away to a land of merchants. This referred to Babylonians coming to Jerusalem and taking King Jeconiah to Babylon.
Zedekiah, Jeconiah’s uncle was made king of Judah and he revolted against Babylon and refused to pay tribute anymore. This put Jerusalem and all of Judah in a very vulnerable spot leading to her downfall. Zedekiah broke his covenant with Babylon as a picture of Judah breaking their covenant with God. Now they were exposed and open for attack from earth and heaven.
The second eagle was Egypt who had horses. They had stalls from Thebes to Memphis that housed 40,000 horses and 20,000 chariots. Zedekiah had sent a message to Egypt to bring their horses and help them fight the Babylonians when they came. Would they be able to help them? That was the question that God answered. No, it would not help. Zedekiah could not escape breaking his covenant. He would be carried to Babylon where he would be judged. His army would die in battle and the survivors would be scattered all over the earth. When all seemed hopeless, the Messiah would come to earth and bring peace.
In their day, Zerubbabel was that savoir. “The shoot from the top of the cedar “ was the sprig that God raised up. Zerubbabel would bring the captives in Babylon back to Jerusalem, with Ezra and lay the cornerstone to the Temple. He was the picture of Jesus, who was the cornerstone. Jesus was the root out of a dry ground that would bring the kingdom of heaven down to earth. Zerubbabel was of lowly birth from the tribe of Judah just as Jesus as. He was a picture of Christ.
In Hebrews, we see that Jesus is our High Priest of a better covenant than that of Moses’. In our new covenant, the law is written in our hearts and Jesus is our High Priest.
Lord, thank you for our new covenant that is full of love and grace. We want to do your laws and they are not heavy or grievous to us. We follow out of love and not fear.