Ezekiel 15: 1 – 8
‘Nature walk’
“1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? 4 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? 5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?6 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7 and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them. 8 Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord GOD.”
Have you ever heard or maybe even possibly said, ‘I hate myself’. Honesty is the best policy. In all truth, you do not hate yourself – everyone loves himself or herself. You usually make this statement because something displeases you. If you hated yourself and something went bad for you – you would be happy – because don’t forget – you hate yourself, right?
Chapter 15 is a short chapter. We will take a look at a very familiar passage. I would say that many people even non-believers are familiar with the passage our Lord Jesus Christ stated in the gospel of John chapter 15, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Our life source from beginning to end depends on abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the scripture states so truly, we can do absolutely nothing on our own.
In the book of Ezekiel however, we see God explain that people who go it alone as their own vine are worthless. The vine was used as a reference to the nation of Israel. God planted the Jews in His land in order to produce fruit that is the purpose of a vine. The nation of Israel had failed its mandate and as a vine that does not produce grapes is useless, so is a nation that does not produce fruit. The vine is really not even wood that could be used for fuel. So any vine which cannot produce grapes is totally useless. It just takes up space if not productive. In order to get rid of it, the vine is destroyed by fire. There is no place good to just throw it away.
“1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on?”
Do you see anything wrong here? Right from the start of this Scripture we see something incorrect. ‘What is the vine tree more than any tree?’ There is no such thing as a vine tree. The whole significance here regards unregenerate man and sinful Israel in particular. God planted Israel among the nations. It’s principal purpose was to be separate as God’s own people and nation and bear fruit worthy of Him. However, Israel ultimately drifted away from being God’s own people and wanted to be just like the other nations. Our Lord therefore compares them now as they had always wanted, to be just like other countries. He uses a forest to describe the variety of different cultures. He draws a picture of a vine trying to be just like all the other variety of trees in a forest. A vine does not become just like any other tree. It is an irregularity.
Many of you are familiar with a Hans Christian Anderson’s story, ‘The Ugly Duckling”. When you are a swan you do not fit in with ducks. So also is a Christian who tries to fit in with the world. You stand out like the Swan in the Ugly Duckling story. The world is not your home.
I invite you to take a walk in the woods sometime. Look around at all the various trees that are growing side by side. In a park near my house there is this root that grows out of the ground. This root was about ΒΌ inch thick. It attached itself to a good healthy tree. It has grown amazingly fast and has wrapped itself totally around the tree. It has gotten fat off the nourishment from the tree. It a short time it has actually grown to about 1 foot in diameter. It seems like something from outer space. It has now reached out to other trees and has spread its tentacles out and grabbed a hold of another tree. During the night I heard this great cracking. I noticed that the root has killed the tree by strangling it to death. With its roots so intertwined around the tree the tree just split but could not even fall to the ground. I see our Lord’s illustration in chapter 15 so lifelike by this example.
Unlike other real trees this false tree’s usefulness is limited to bearing fruit. As described, this wild dislocated vine does not bear fruit but seeps out the life of other trees. It is useless to be considered wood. It is unworkable. It cannot be carved or shaped for anything. You cannot make anything of it that would be useful as a support instrument. If you tried to make it into a clothes rack or a walking stick it would not support any weight.
It does not even burn well as fuel. It takes up too much space so the only way to get rid of it is to burn it up as unwanted trash. So also is Israel overflowing in sin is only fit to be destroyed in the fire of God’s Judgment.
Isaiah 22 also has something to say regarding a pin, “23 I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house. 24 ‘They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. 25 In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the LORD has spoken.’”
As a pin has something hung on it, so our Lord Jesus Christ had our sins fastened on Him. He took our place. What an awesome God. He can be relied upon to bear any of our burdens. He says in the book of 1 Peter this, “6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” Now that is a good deal.
But as our passage informs us, Israel has become like a wild vine that cannot be depended on. No one can partake of any fruit. It is therefore useless for anything else.
“4 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? 5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?”
If you have ever watched a dried up vine being burned you will see first hand our Lord’s description that He uses here. But of even more interest is the fact of the statement – ‘the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned.’ That which is burned at both ends is representative of those slain in the attack of the Babylonian army. The middle represents those who escape the initial invasion but wind up facing future devastation. It isn’t my great wisdom that comes up with this explanation. Our precious Holy Spirit points this out to us in the following verses.
6 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7 and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them. 8 Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord GOD.”
The Holy Lord Almighty had designed the people of Israel for a particular purpose and that was to bring glory to His name. He gave them a covenant, in which He would bless them and make them fruitful if they would only remain faithful. Other nations would take notice of how real and awesome Israel’s God was and is and shall be and would inspire them to seek Him as their own. Instead Israel had turned away from the ever-loving God and had failed to trust in His Power and Care. The prophet Isaiah through inspiration of The Holy Spirit describes this point so eloquently in chapter 5,
“ 1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. 3 “ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help. “
In the Gospel of John chapter 15 our Lord Jesus Christ has this to say about the vine. He uses this illustration to portray the living union between Himself and mankind, specifically the person who has placed his or her trust in Him. The Lord describes Himself as a Fruitful Healthy Vine and that those who cling to Him are its branches.
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.”
A truthful and realistic question that we need to ask ourselves is ‘What type of vine are we?’ - One that is bearing fruit worthy of Him or a dried up useless vine.
