Ezekiel 17:20, commentary and pictures

The verse pronounces God's judgment on Zedekiah, the last king in David's line to sit on the throne of the Lord over the earthly kingdom of God. He had been made subject to the king of Babylon and had entered into a solemn covenant before God to render loyal allegiance to him, but he broke that covenant, and that trespass brought the net and snare upon him. For that trespass God declared the diadem removed and the crown taken off, subjected the kingdom to Babylon, and ended the theocracy on earth. The kingdom would be overturned through successive world powers and be no more until He come whose right it is, when the throne of David will be given to Jesus Christ at the end of this world.

God allowed His people to be taken captive to Babylon because of their sins, yet made their affliction a means of salvation. His bringing them to Babylon and pleading with them there for their trespass reveals His desire to save the transgressor even by calamity and to make those who once named His name a praise in the earth to His glory. In tender pity He continued to plead with every suffering captive in Babylon. Those who chose to listen and learn and repented with full purpose of heart found salvation in the midst of affliction and were given opportunity to form part of the remnant that would return.

The snare also warns of perilous times when the end of all things is near at hand and the signs are rapidly fulfilling. The day of the Lord is coming swiftly and silently as a thief in the night, so all who profess to be children of God must watch and wait for their Lord. Many who say peace and safety and do not realize the time will be taken as in a snare.