Ezekiel 17 is a chapter of riddles and parables, two great eagles, a planted vine and a cedar sprig, followed by God’s own promise to plant a tender shoot on a high mountain. These questions suit a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study, and each set comes with a leader’s note so you can move through the chapter without a separate summary.
Ezekiel 17 at a Glance
The chapter opens with a riddle that Ezekiel is told to explain to the house of Israel. The first eagle takes the top of a cedar and replants it in a land of merchants, while the second eagle draws a vine toward itself, which the vine does by sending its roots and branches its way. The explanation follows in verses 11 to 21: the king of Babylon installed a vassal king in Jerusalem, that king broke his oath by seeking help from Egypt, and judgment followed. The chapter closes with God taking a shoot from the cedar, planting it on a high mountain, and declaring that he brings down the proud tree and raises up the low one.
Observation Questions
Use these questions at the start of the session to slow the group down and stay close to the text. Let several people answer before you add any commentary, and return to the verses on the page rather than to memory.
Ezekiel 17:3-4
3 And say, ‘Thus says the Lord the LORD: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar. 4 He cropped off the topmost of its young twigs, and carried it to a land of traffic. He planted it in a city of merchants.
(WEB)
These verses introduce the great eagle and its removal of the cedar’s top. Reading them aloud sets the image before the group so the riddle is heard before it is explained.
Ezekiel 17:7-8
7 “‘“There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. Behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot out its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it. 8 It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might produce branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a good vine.”’
(WEB)
The second eagle draws the vine’s roots and branches toward it. Hearing this passage helps the group feel the pull of a false source of life.
Ezekiel 17:15-16
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the covenant, and still escape? 16 “‘As I live,’ says the Lord the LORD, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the middle of Babylon he will die.
(WEB)
Here the rebellion is named and the oath is shown to be broken. Read it to make clear what the chapter is judging and why.
Ezekiel 17:19-21
19 “Therefore thus says the Lord the LORD: ‘As I live, I will surely bring on his own head my oath that he has despised and my covenant that he has broken. 20 I will spread my net on him, and he will be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me. 21 All his fugitives in all his bands will fall by the sword, and those who remain will be scattered toward every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken it.’
(WEB)
God declares that the broken oath is his own concern and that he will bring judgment. This passage ties the human failure to the faithfulness of the Lord.
Ezekiel 17:22-24
22 “Thus says the Lord the LORD: ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 I will plant it in the mountain of the height of Israel; and it will produce boughs, and bear fruit, and be a good cedar. Birds of every kind will dwell in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the field will know that 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 flourish. “‘I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.’”
(WEB)
The chapter ends with God planting a tender shoot and humbling the proud tree. Reading the closing verses last gives the session an ending that rests in hope.
Memory Verse for Ezekiel 17
Ezekiel 17:24
All the trees of the field will know that 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 flourish. “‘I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.’”
(WEB)
This verse sums up the chapter’s central claim: God humbles the high and lifts the low, and he does what he says. Encourage the group to repeat it together and to notice how it captures both judgment and hope.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as people who have leaned on many things besides you, and we confess that we have sometimes bent toward the wrong sources of life. Thank you that you keep your promises even when we fail to keep ours. Humble what is proud in us, lift up what has been low, and plant in us a life that bears fruit for your glory. Help us to trust your faithfulness this week, and to speak and act in ways that reflect the one who brings down the high tree and makes the dry tree flourish. Amen.
