Ezekiel 20:45 - Meaning and Application

Here is a prophecy of wrath against Judah and Jerusalem. It would fit better at the start of the next chapter than at the end of this one, because it does not connect directly to what comes before. The explanation comes in the next chapter, when the people complain that this was a parable they did not understand.

In this parable, a forest is being judged, the forest of the southern field, which means Judah and Jerusalem. They lay south of Babylon, where Ezekiel was living, so he is told to face south (Ezekiel 20:46). This showed that God had set his face against them, was angry with them, and had decided to destroy them. Yet even with a message of judgment, Ezekiel must speak gently and calmly. He must let his words fall toward the south like rain (Deuteronomy 32:2), so hearts might be softened, as the earth is softened by the river of God that waters the dry land (Psalm 65:12), especially in a southern region that needs that kind of watering (Joshua 15:19).

Judah and Jerusalem are called a forest, not only because they had many people, like trees in a wood, but because they had no fruit. Fruit trees do not grow in a forest, and a forest stands opposite a fruitful field (Isaiah 32:15). Those who should have been like the garden of the Lord and his vineyard had become like a wild forest, covered with briars and thorns. God’s word speaks against all who live that way, bringing no fruit of righteousness.

The next picture is a fire burning in that forest (Ezekiel 20:47). This fire stands for all the judgments that would waste both the city and the land, sword, famine, disease, and exile. It is a fire God himself lights: “I will kindle a fire in you.” He had once been like a protecting fire around Jerusalem, but now he will be a consuming fire in it. Everyone will see, by the fury of this fire and the ruin it brings, especially when they compare it with the sins that fed it, that the Lord himself kindled it (Ezekiel 20:48). He does this as the righteous avenger of his own wounded honor.

The destruction will be total. People of every rank and age will be consumed, young and old, rich and poor, high and low. Even green trees, which fire does not easily catch, will be burned. Even some who are good will be drawn into these troubles. If this happens to the green trees, what will happen to the dry ones? The dry trees will be like tinder, ready to burn at once. All faces, that is, everyone in the land from south to north, from Beersheba to Dan, will be burned in it.

And the fire will not be put out. No effort to stop the collapse will succeed. When God decides to ruin a nation, who or what can save it?

Now notice the people’s response to the prophet. They said, “Does he not speak in parables?” This came either from their ignorance or their unbelief, since even the clearest truths were like parables to them. It may also show their hatred and bad feeling toward the prophet. It is common for those who will not be changed by God’s word to find fault with it instead. To them, it is either too plain or too hidden, too polished or too simple, too common or too unusual. Something always seems wrong with it.

Notice also the prophet’s response to God: “Ah, Lord God! they say this and that about me.” It is a comfort when people speak badly of us without cause that we have a God to bring our complaint to.