I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. Ezekiel 17:24
Picture a mighty oak tree that’s small enough to fit on a kitchen table. That’s what a bonsai looks like—a beautiful ornamental tree that’s a miniature version of what you find wild in nature. There’s no genetic difference between a bonsai and its full-size counterpart. It’s simply that a shallow pot, pruning, and root trimming restrict growth, so the plant remains small.
While bonsai trees make for wonderful decorative plants, they also illustrate the power of control. It’s true that we can manipulate their growth as the trees respond to their environment, but God is ultimately the One who makes things grow.
God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel this way: “I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall” (Ezekiel 17:24). God was foreshadowing future events when he would “uproot” the nation of Israel by allowing the Babylonians to invade. In the future, however, God would plant a new tree in Israel that would bear fruit, with “birds of every kind” finding shelter in the shade of its branches (v. 23). God said that no matter how much upcoming events seemed out of control, He was still in charge.
The world tells us to try to control our circumstances by manipulation and through our own hard work. But true peace and thriving are found by relinquishing control to the only One who can make the trees grow.
19 “ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.s 20 I will spread my nett for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgmentu on him there because he was unfaithfulv to me. 21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword,w and the survivorsx will be scattered to the winds.y Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.z
22 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoota from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.b 23 On the mountain heightsc of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruitd and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.e 24 All the trees of the forestf will know that I the Lord bring downg the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.h
“ ‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.i’ ”
INSIGHT
- How are you tempted to try to control your life?
- How does trusting in God’s control bring peace?
The powerful Babylonians had been attacking Judah and besieging Jerusalem (605–597 bc). They’d already sent the royalty, aristocrats, and Jewish upper classes into exile (2 Kings 24:10–16; Daniel 1:1–5), including the prophet Ezekiel, who was a priest (Ezekiel 1:1–3). From Babylon (593 bc), Ezekiel ministered to the Jews already in exile (3:11) and to those still residing in Judah (12:10). He pleaded with his countrymen to repent and turn to God and warned them that if they continued in their sinfulness, Jerusalem would be destroyed and the nation exiled. The Jews remained unrepentant, however, and only pretended to be interested in following God (33:31–32). Within seven years (586 bc), Jerusalem was burned to the ground and the entire nation exiled (2 Kings 24:18–25:21) as prophesied by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 12:10–16).
PRAYER
We praise You, loving God, as the all-powerful King. Help me acknowledge Your lordship in my life. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Ezekiel 17:19-24 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Psalm 70-71 ; Romans 8:22-39
