Ezekiel 15 Study Notes: Jerusalem the Useless Vine
God compares Jerusalem to the wood of a grapevine, which is worthless for building and fit only to burn, and even less useful once scorched. Because the people have been faithless, He will hand them over to the fire and leave the land a wasteland.
General
True or False: The LORD said that those in Jerusalem who had escaped one fire would be safe from any further judgment (Ezekiel 15:6-7).
Answer: False
This is false. God said that as vine wood is handed over to be burned, so He would hand over Jerusalem’s inhabitants. He would set His face against them, meaning He would turn against them in judgment, and though they had come out of one fire, another fire would consume them (15:6-7). Coming through one disaster did not mean they had escaped for good. Ezekiel had earlier acted out a sign in which fire spread from a few burned hairs to all of Israel (5:4). The law had warned long before that God would set His face against His people if they broke His covenant (Leviticus 26:17). A later lament in the book pictures the vine uprooted and its branches burned (19:12). When He set His face against them, Ezekiel’s hearers would know that He is the LORD (15:7).
- Ezekiel 15:6-7 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.”The LORD gives up Jerusalem’s people like vine wood to the fire; those who escape one fire will be consumed by another.
- Ezekiel 5:4 (BSB)“Again, take a few of these, throw them into the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.”In an earlier sign, a fire spreads from a few burned hairs to the whole house of Israel.
- Leviticus 26:17 (BSB)“And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.”The covenant warnings said God would set His face against His people so that their enemies would defeat them.
- Ezekiel 19:12 (BSB)“But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.”In a later lament, the vine is uprooted and its branches are consumed by fire.
Theological
True or False: The LORD promised that those in Jerusalem who had come through one fire would be spared from further judgment (Ezekiel 15:6-7).
Answer: False
This is false. The parable’s application is direct: as vine wood is consigned to the fire, so the LORD gives up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He sets His face against them, and though they have come out of one fire, another will devour them (15:6-7). Surviving an earlier blow was no sign of immunity; the city that had already been scorched would be consumed. The sign-act of 5:4, where fire spreads from a few burned hairs to all Israel, makes the same point, and the covenant sanctions had warned that God would set His face against a rebellious people (Leviticus 26:17). The later lament for the princes of Israel likewise pictures the vine stripped and its branches burned (19:12). The judgment, as always in Ezekiel, issues in the knowledge that He is the LORD (15:7).
- Ezekiel 15:6-7 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.”The LORD gives up Jerusalem’s people like vine wood to the fire; those who escape one fire will be consumed by another.
- Ezekiel 5:4 (BSB)“Again, take a few of these, throw them into the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.”In an earlier sign, a fire spreads from a few burned hairs to the whole house of Israel.
- Leviticus 26:17 (BSB)“And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.”The covenant warnings said God would set His face against His people so that their enemies would defeat them.
- Ezekiel 19:12 (BSB)“But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.”In a later lament, the vine is uprooted and its branches are consumed by fire.
General
What reason did the LORD give for making the land desolate (Ezekiel 15:8)?
Answer: Because they had acted unfaithfully toward Him
The chapter ends by stating the cause plainly: God would lay the land waste because the people had broken faith with Him (15:8). The vine’s uselessness is not bad luck or the result of outside forces; it is the result of Israel breaking faith with the God who planted it. Isaiah sang a similar song about God’s vineyard: after it produced bad fruit, God removed its hedge and broke down its wall (Isaiah 5:4-5). God’s judgment is never unfair; everything He does is just, and He is faithful and without injustice (Deuteronomy 32:4). Jesus later uses a related picture for His followers: He is the vine, and a branch that does not stay joined to Him is discarded and burned, while a branch that stays joined to Him bears much fruit (John 15:5-6).
- Ezekiel 15:8 (BSB)“Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.””The LORD lays the land waste because the people broke faith with Him.
- Isaiah 5:4-5 (BSB)“What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit? Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.”In Isaiah’s song, God removes the hedge and wall of His vineyard after it produced bad fruit.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 (BSB)“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.”Everything God does is right; He is faithful and never unjust.
- John 15:5-6 (BSB)“I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.”Jesus uses a related image: a branch that does not stay joined to Him is discarded and burned.
Theological
To what cause does the LORD attribute the land’s coming desolation (Ezekiel 15:8)?
Answer: Because they had acted unfaithfully toward Him
The closing verse grounds the sentence explicitly: the LORD will lay the land waste because the people have acted faithlessly (15:8). The disaster is neither chance nor the mere strength of Babylon but the just response of the covenant Lord to a faithless people. Isaiah’s vineyard song reaches the same verdict, with God removing the hedge and wall of a vineyard that yielded bad fruit (Isaiah 5:4-5), and the God who judges is the Rock whose ways are all just (Deuteronomy 32:4). Jesus takes up a related image in John 15: the branch that does not stay in Him is discarded and burned, while the one who stays in Him bears much fruit because apart from Him nothing can be done (John 15:5-6). Fruitfulness flows from union with the true Vine, not from anything in the wood itself.
- Ezekiel 15:8 (BSB)“Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.””The LORD lays the land waste because the people broke faith with Him.
- Isaiah 5:4-5 (BSB)“What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit? Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.”In Isaiah’s song, God removes the hedge and wall of His vineyard after it produced bad fruit.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 (BSB)“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.”Everything God does is right; He is faithful and never unjust.
- John 15:5-6 (BSB)“I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.”Jesus uses a related image: a branch that does not stay joined to Him is discarded and burned.
General
In the LORD’s picture of the vine, what is true of the wood of a grapevine (Ezekiel 15:2-5)?
Answer: Its wood is good for nothing but burning
God asked Ezekiel a set of questions about the vine. Is its wood any better than branches from the forest? Can anyone make something useful from it, even a peg to hang pots on? No; it is only good to burn as fuel (15:2-4). After the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, it is useful for even less. It was useless whole, and it is more useless burned (15:4-5). A grapevine is valued only for its fruit; its wood has no other use. Scripture often pictures Israel as a vine God planted (Psalm 80:8). But Israel had turned into a wild, rotten vine (Jeremiah 2:21) and had used its blessings to multiply altars to idols (Hosea 10:1). A vine that does not do what it was planted for has nothing else to offer.
- Ezekiel 15:2-3 (BSB)““Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?”The LORD asks whether vine wood is better than forest wood or useful even for a peg.
- Ezekiel 15:4-5 (BSB)“No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it!”Vine wood is only fuel, and once it is burned at both ends and charred in the middle it is useful for even less.
- Psalm 80:8 (BSB)“You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.”The psalmist pictures Israel as a vine God brought out of Egypt and planted in the land.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (BSB)“I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?”God planted Israel as a choice vine, yet it turned into a wild, rotten vine.
- Hosea 10:1 (BSB)“Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.”Hosea pictures Israel as a vine that used its fruitfulness to multiply idol altars.
Theological
What does the LORD’s parable establish about vine wood (Ezekiel 15:2-5)?
Answer: Its wood is good for nothing but burning
The parable proceeds by rhetorical questions: does vine wood surpass forest timber, can it be fashioned into anything, even a peg for hanging vessels? It cannot; it is fit only for fuel (15:2-4). Once flames have eaten both ends and scorched the middle, it is more worthless still, for it was useless even when whole (15:4-5). The vine has value only as a fruit-bearer; apart from that purpose, its wood is fit for nothing. The image draws on Israel’s identity as the vine God transplanted (Psalm 80:8), now degenerated into a wild vine (Jeremiah 2:21) whose prosperity fed its idolatry (Hosea 10:1). A covenant people who abandon the purpose for which God planted them have no independent worth to plead before Him.
- Ezekiel 15:2-3 (BSB)““Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?”The LORD asks whether vine wood is better than forest wood or useful even for a peg.
- Ezekiel 15:4-5 (BSB)“No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it!”Vine wood is only fuel, and once it is burned at both ends and charred in the middle it is useful for even less.
- Psalm 80:8 (BSB)“You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.”The psalmist pictures Israel as a vine God brought out of Egypt and planted in the land.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (BSB)“I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?”God planted Israel as a choice vine, yet it turned into a wild, rotten vine.
- Hosea 10:1 (BSB)“Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.”Hosea pictures Israel as a vine that used its fruitfulness to multiply idol altars.