Son
of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest? Will wood be taken of it to make anything? Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and the middle of it is burned: is it profitable for any work?
Ezekiel 15:2-4
Ezekiel 14 [20.] though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal! Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried out, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come out to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it. They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 15 [1.] Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest? Will wood be taken of it to make anything? Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and the middle of it is burned: is it profitable for any work?
Ezekiel 15 [5.] Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work! Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set my face against them; they shall go out from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them. I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, says the Lord Yahweh.
Meaning:
Ezekiel prophesied to the Jewish exiles in Babylon in the years before and after Jerusalem fell in 586 BC. Many believed Jerusalem could not fall. In chapter 15 God gave Ezekiel a short parable about vine wood to show how wrong that was.
- “What is the vine tree more than any tree...?”
Israel was often pictured as God’s vine. Isaiah sang of a vineyard God planted, from which he “looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes” (Isaiah 5:2). A vine has value only because of its fruit. As timber it is worse than the trees of the forest: crooked, soft and thin.
- “Will wood be taken of it to make anything?”
Vine wood is too weak to make furniture or tools; it cannot even serve as a peg to hang a pot on. The point is sharp: if Israel failed to bear the fruit of faithfulness, its special status gave it no other worth.
- “Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel”
The only use for useless vine wood is fuel. Ezekiel pictures a branch already burned at both ends, probably describing Jerusalem after the earlier Babylonian attacks. If the vine was useless when whole, it was even more useless half burned. The next verses explain: “so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem” to the fire, because they had been unfaithful (see the Context above).
- Jesus, the true vine
Jesus took up this picture on the night before his death. He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer” (John 15:1). Where Israel had failed, Jesus is the faithful vine who bears the fruit God desires. His disciples bear fruit by remaining in him: “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He also echoed Ezekiel’s warning about branches thrown into the fire (John 15:6).
The Significance of Ezekiel 15:2-4
- Fruit, not status
Belonging to God’s people is a great privilege, but it is not a guarantee. God looks for the fruit of faith and faithfulness.
- Life from Christ
Like vine wood, we have no value apart from the life that flows into us. Joined to Jesus, believers become fruitful.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 5:2: "He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes." Israel as God's disappointing vineyard.
John 15:1: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer." Jesus is the faithful vine.
John 15:6: "If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered;" Jesus echoes Ezekiel's warning.
Conclusion: Through the parable of the vine wood, God told Ezekiel that a vine which bears no fruit is good for nothing but the fire, and that unfaithful Jerusalem would face judgment. Jesus later presented himself as the true vine, in whom alone his people can bear fruit.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible