Ezekiel 15

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, is the wood of the vine better than the wood of any tree in the forest?

3 Can wood be taken from the vine to make anything? Can you use it to make a peg on which to hang something?

4 If the vine is thrown into the fire for fuel, and the fire burns up both ends and starts to burn the middle, is it useful for anything?

5 When the vine was whole, it couldn't be made into anything. When the fire has burned it completely, it certainly cannot be made into anything."

6 So this is what the Lord God says: "Out of all the trees in the forest, I have given the wood of the vine as fuel for fire. In the same way I have given up the people who live in Jerusalem

7 and will turn against them. Although they came through one fire, fire will still destroy them. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord.

8 So I will make the land empty, because the people have not been loyal, says the Lord God."

Ezekiel 15 Commentary

Chapter 15

Jerusalem like an unfruitful vine.

- If a vine be fruitful, it is valuable. But if not fruitful, it is worthless and useless, it is cast into the fire. Thus man is capable of yielding a precious fruit, in living to God; this is the sole end of his existence; and if he fails in this, he is of no use but to be destroyed. What blindness then attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and of true religion! This similitude is applied to Jerusalem. Let us beware of an unfruitful profession. Let us come to Christ, and seek to abide in him, and to have his words abide in us.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 15

The destruction of Jerusalem is again prophesied of in this chapter, and is set forth under the simile of a vine tree, which, for its uselessness, is committed to the fire. The simile is in Eze 15:1-5; the application of it in Eze 15:6-8.