Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.
As Ezekiel has before pronounced that there was no need of great forces when God wished to punish Zedekiah by means of the king of Babylon; so he now teaches, on the other hand, how great and powerful an army Pharaoh would collect, and yet it would profit nothing, since Nebuchadnezzar would be victorious.
God uses riddles and parables not to obscure His mind but to command attention and stay in memory; what He hides in a familiar dress insinuates itself deeper into careless minds. Ministers must study acceptable words and find varied methods, lest the pulpit and life speak two different languages.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 17:1-21
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, as I live,.... A repetition of the oath of God as before, expressing his indignation at the king of Judah, and the certainty of his ruin: surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken; the Lord calls it his oath, because it was made and taken in his name, Ch2 36:13; and his...