Ezekiel 15:1 - Meaning and Application

The prophet was likely thinking about how glorious Jerusalem was, greater than any other city in the world. It was the crown and joy of the whole earth, a noble city, the city of God, and the city where Israel held its sacred feasts. Yet if those were the thoughts on his heart, God answers by comparing Jerusalem to a vine.

A vine, when it is fruitful, is one of the most valuable plants. It was even one of the trees that people wanted to rule over, and its fruit brings joy to God and man (Judges 9:12-13). It gladdens the heart (Psalm 104:15). In that way, Jerusalem had been planted as a choice and noble vine, a right seed (Jeremiah 2:21). If it had borne fruit that matched its calling as a holy city, it would have brought glory to both God and Israel. It was a vine that God’s right hand had planted, a branch from dry ground, and though its beginning was low and unimpressive, God had made it strong for himself, so it would be for his honor and praise (Psalm 80:15).

But if a vine does not bear fruit, it is good for nothing. It is as useless as thorns and briers, and even less useful, because thorns can at least help make a hedge. What is a vine by itself, apart from its fruit? Why should so much care and expense be given to it? What is a vine branch worth, even if it spreads farther than a branch from a forest tree? Or, as some read it, what is the vine better than any other tree if its branch is like the trees of the forest, that is, if it bears no fruit, as forest trees usually do, since they are meant for timber rather than fruit?

Some fruit trees are still useful even when they do not bear fruit, because their wood can be used well. The vine is not like that. If it does not serve as a fruit tree, it is worth nothing as timber. The wild vine among the trees of the forest, or the empty vine that bears no more fruit than a forest tree, is useless. It is like a brier, and in one way even worse, because a brier can at least add sharpness to a hedge, while a vine branch cannot. Its wood is fit for no work at all. You cannot even make a peg from it to hang a vessel on (Ezekiel 15:3).

This shows how richly God gives different gifts in creation for human use. Among plants, some are useful for their roots, some for their seeds or fruit, some for their leaves, and some for their stalks. Among trees, some are strong but not fruitful, like oaks and cedars, while others are weak but very fruitful, like the vine. It is low, unsightly, and dependent, yet very useful. Rachel was beautiful but barren, while Leah was plain but fruitful.

Because the vine is useless for any other work, it is used for fuel. It serves to heat the oven with. Since it is not fit for any work, it is cast into the fire (Ezekiel 15:4). When it is good for nothing else, it is still useful in this way, and that serves a real need. Fuel is necessary, but it would be wasteful to burn something that could be used for better work. What purpose does that kind of waste serve? The unfruitful vine is treated like briers and thorns, which are rejected and whose end is to be burned (Hebrews 6:8). And who tries to save it then? If a solid piece of timber catches fire, someone may pull it out and say, “It is a pity to burn this, because it could still be useful.” But if a vine branch is on fire, and both ends and the middle catch at once, no one tries to save it. When it was whole, it was fit for no work, and once fire has consumed it, it is still less useful (Ezekiel 15:5). Even its ashes are not worth keeping.

This picture is applied to Jerusalem. That holy city had become unprofitable and good for nothing. It had once been like the vine among the trees of the vineyard, full of the fruits of righteousness for God’s glory. When true religion flourished there, and pure worship was kept up, many joyful harvests were gathered from it. While it stayed that way, God had made a hedge around it. It was his pleasant plant (Isaiah 5:7). He watered it continually and guarded it day and night (Isaiah 27:3). But now it had become a degenerate plant, like a strange vine and a wild vine, like those we read about in 2 Kings 4:39. It was a vine among wild grapes (Isaiah 5:4), fruit that is not only useless but bitter and harmful (Deuteronomy 32:32). Their grapes were grapes of gall, and their clusters were bitter.

The meaning is explained in Ezekiel 15:8. “They have committed a trespass,” that is, they have acted treacherously against God and turned away from him in faithlessness. People who claim religion, if they do not live up to it but go against it, if they drift away from it and become unlike it, are among the most useless people in the world. They are like salt that has lost its taste and is then good for nothing (Mark 9:50). Other nations were known for military strength or for wise government, some for war and some for trade, and they kept their standing. But the Jewish nation was known as a holy people. When they lost that holiness and became wicked, they became good for nothing. They lost their honor and usefulness, and became the most base and despised people on earth, trampled underfoot by the Gentiles. Daniel and other godly Jews were very useful in their generation, but the idolatrous Jews of that time, and the unbelieving Jews since the gospel was preached, have not been of common service and are not fit for any work.

Since they were like that, they were given to the fire for fuel (Ezekiel 15:6). Those who are not fruitful for the glory of God’s grace will become fuel for the fire of his wrath. If they do not honor him, he will gain honor through them instead, and that honor will shine clearly in the flaming fire by which unrepentant sinners will be consumed forever. God will not be left with a loss from any of his creatures. The Lord has made all things for himself, even the wicked, who would not otherwise serve him, for the day of trouble (Proverbs 16:4). Those who refuse to glorify him as the God they owe will still glorify him as the God who judges.

The fire of God’s wrath had already consumed both ends of the Jewish nation, Samaria and the cities of Judah (Ezekiel 15:4). Now Jerusalem, which was in the middle, was also thrown into the fire to be burned. It was fit for no work, and none of the ways God had used would make it useful to him.

The people of Jerusalem were like a vine branch that had gone bad and become useless. So the Lord says, “I will turn against them” (Ezekiel 15:7), to frustrate all their plans, since they had turned against God by rejecting his word and opposing his purposes.

Their ruin was fixed. God had already decided to bring the land to complete desolation. So when they escaped one fire, another fire would consume them (Ezekiel 15:7). One judgment would only lead to the next, and one rescue would only give them a short break before more trouble came. They would go from misery in their own land to misery in Babylon.

Those who escaped the sword would die by famine or disease. When one Babylonian attack ended and they thought the worst was over, the enemy would return with even greater force until nothing was left. In this way, they would know that he is the Lord, the God of mighty power, when he sets himself against them.

God shows that he is Lord by fully judging his stubborn enemies, just as he shows it by rescuing his obedient people. Those against whom God turns his face may come through one trouble with little harm, but they will fall into another. If they escape the pit, they will be caught in the snare (Isaiah 24:18). If they escape the sword of Hazael, they will fall by the sword of Jehu (1 Kings 19:17), because evil keeps after sinners.

Even if they leave the fire of earthly punishments and seem to die in peace, there is still an everlasting fire waiting to consume them. When God judges, he will finally overcome. He makes himself known through the judgments he carries out. See (Matthew 3:10; John 15:6).