Step Into Faith

Chapter Reflection

The chapter takes up the image of a vine wood and asks what it is really good for: not for making a strong beam, not even for a simple peg, and now, after the fire, not for anything at all. The vine is not condemned for being a tree among trees, but for failing in the purpose of its given life; once it has been scorched, its emptiness is even more obvious. The judgment on Jerusalem is framed through this fragile, almost useless wood: the city that was meant for fruitfulness is shown as fit only for burning when it turns aside from its calling. Yet even here God’s speech is precise and searching, not arbitrary; he exposes what a life becomes when it is separated from its proper end. The fire image carries both ruin and revelation, for in the burning the truth of the vine is made plain, and the people are brought to know the Lord through the severity of what has happened.

vine woodfirefruitlessnessjudgmentdesolation
← Ezekiel

Ezekiel 15

1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

3Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

4Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?

5Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?

6Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; 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.

7And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.

8And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

Who God is

What kind of God sees through every outward form to what you are truly becoming?

The condition of man

What does it mean about you when a life meant to bear fruit has become fit for nothing but fire?