Ezekiel 15

A parable of the unfruitful vine

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, how is the vine tree better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Will wood be taken from it to do any work? Or will men make a peg from it to hang any utensil on? 4 See, it is thrown into the fire as fuel. The fire devours both ends of it, and the middle of it is burned. Is it fit for any work? 5 See, when it was whole, it was not fit for any work; how much less will it be fit for any work, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

6 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given as fuel for the fire, so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them. They will go out of one fire, and another fire will devour them; and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have been unfaithful, says the Lord God”.

15:1-8 The nation Israel is compared to a vine also in Ps 80:8-13; Isa 5:1-7. Here the remnant of those remaining in Jerusalem is described as completely useless. They have been like wood put in the fire already and who had escaped to some extent. This was in 597 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and took away captives. Jerusalem would be in the fire again and conquered completely. This happened in 586 BC. Ezekiel has warned about it already (Ezek 5:2, 4; 10:2, 7). But why should the nation represented by Jerusalem be compared to wood from a vine? The purpose of a vine is to bear fruit. Israel had not done this. It was fit only for the fire. Compare Matt 3:10.⚜