Ezekiel 17:8

• There was a second great eagle. It was like the first eagle, but it was not as impressive or powerful.

• The future of the vine was easy to foresee. In trying to gain more, it would lose what it already had. Its desire for more would bring loss instead of gain.

  The second eagle would not help the vine. At the same time, the first eagle would become angry. That anger would be justified because the vine had been unfaithful.

This chapter includes a riddle. A riddle is a type of metaphorical speech (language that uses pictures and comparisons). It both hides and shows the meaning at the same time.

The chapter is also a fable. A fable is a story that teaches a moral lesson. It often tells the lesson through plants or animals instead of people.

This creative setting creates distance between the story and real life. That distance helps the listener receive the message. It lowers resistance to a message that may be hard or unpleasant to hear.

This section includes eight metaphors, each showing from a different angle the certainty of Jerusalem's upcoming judgment. The images are of:

1. a worthless vine (Ezekiel 15);

2. a faithless wife (Ezekiel 16);

3. a vine and two eagles (Ezekiel 17);

4. Sour grapes (Ezekiel 18);

5. a lion and her cubs (Ezekiel 19);

6. a sword (Ezekiel 21);

7. two corrupt sisters (Ezekiel 23); and

8. a cooking pot (Ezekiel 24).