What is the meaning of Ezekiel 17:20? I will spread My net over him God pictures Himself as the hunter who throws a net that never misses. Zedekiah thought political maneuvering with Egypt would free him from Babylon’s grip, but the Lord was the One controlling events (Ezekiel 17:15-18). • Cross references show this same divine net imagery: “I will spread My net for him, and he will be caught in My snare” (Ezekiel 12:13); “If God has trapped me in His net…” (Job 19:6). • The point is simple: no human scheme can outrun God’s purposes (Psalm 33:10-11). and catch him in My snare. The second phrase drives the certainty home—capture is inevitable. • When Zedekiah fled Jerusalem at night, Babylonian troops “overtook the king in the plains of Jericho” (Jeremiah 52:8; 2 Kings 25:5). • Lamentations 4:19-20 recalls how quickly the pursuit swallowed him. • The snare also conveys moral accountability: sinful choices eventually tighten like a trap (Proverbs 5:22). I will bring him to Babylon God—not Nebuchadnezzar—ultimately escorts the king eastward. • Zedekiah “was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah… then the king of Babylon bound him in bronze shackles and took him to Babylon” (Jeremiah 39:5-7). • This fulfilled earlier warnings given through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 32:5) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 12:13). • The exile underscores that God rules nations and relocates kings at will (Daniel 2:21). and execute judgment upon him there Judgment is not random suffering; it is God’s measured response to covenant violation. • In Babylon Zedekiah’s eyes were put out, and he remained imprisoned “until the day of his death” (Jeremiah 52:11). • Ezekiel 17:19 adds, “Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I swear that I am going to bring Down on his head My oath that he despised.” • Even far from Jerusalem, God’s court convenes. Geography never limits divine justice (Psalm 139:7-10). for the treason he committed against Me. The core crime was spiritual, not merely political. • Zedekiah “rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD” (2 Chronicles 36:13). • Breaking an oath invoked God’s own name, so the revolt against Babylon became rebellion against the Lord Himself (Ezekiel 17:18). • Covenant faithlessness always brings consequence (Deuteronomy 29:25-28). summary Ezekiel 17:20 reveals a sovereign God who tracks, traps, transports, and tries the unfaithful king. Every line shows that human rebellion cannot escape divine control, that exile and judgment are deliberate acts of covenant justice, and that when people break faith with God, He will vindicate His holy name—even by using foreign powers and distant prisons to fulfill His word. |
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