1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? 4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is it profitable for any work? 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! 6 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. 7 I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them. 8 I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, says the Lord Yahweh.
The Jewish nation, about to be destroyed by the Chaldeans, compared to a barren vine which is fit for nothing but to be cast into the fire, Ezekiel 15:1-8.
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 Ezekiel 15:1; the application of it in Ezekiel 15:6.
Jerusalem like an unfruitful vine.
Jerusalem, the Useless Wood of a Wild Vine
As certainly as God will not spare Jerusalem for the sake of the righteousness of the few righteous men therein, so certain is it that Israel has no superiority over other nations, which could secure Jerusalem against destruction. As the previous word of God overthrows false confidence in the righteousness of the godly, what follows in this chapter is directed against the fancy that Israel cannot be rejected and punished by the overthrow of the kingdom, because of its election to be the people of God.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.