Ezekiel 15

Jerusalem Is Like a Useless Vine

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

2 "Son of man, is the wood of a vine better than the wood of any of the trees in the forest?

3 Can its wood ever be made into anything useful? Can pegs be made from it to hang things on?

4 "Suppose it is thrown in the fire to be burned. And the fire burns both ends and blackens the middle. Then is it useful for anything?

5 It was not useful when it was whole. So how can it be made into something useful now? The fire has burned it and blackened it."

6 The LORD and King says, "Instead of the wood of any tree in the forest, I have given the vine to burn in the fire. I will treat the people who live in Jerusalem the same way.

7 I will turn against them. They might have come out of the fire. But the fire will destroy them anyway. I will turn against them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

8 I will make the land a dry and empty desert. My people have not been faithful to me," announces the LORD and King.

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.