Ezekiel 15
1 “And the
word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, what is
the vine tree more than any tree, or than a
branch which is among the trees
of the forest?” What is the vine tree, etc.? The prophet’s mind had apparently
been dwelling, after the close of his previous utterance, on the imagery of
earlier writers, in which
(Genesis 49:22; Psalm 80:9; Hosea 10:1; Isaiah 5:1:1-7;
Deuteronomy 32:32;
Jeremiah 2:21), and to which he himself refers again in ch. 19:10. He saw
how
men might pervert that image to their own destruction. And he expands
the
parable, as our Lord does in John 15. Men might dwell, perhaps were
actually dwelling, on the thought that they were branches of the
true vine,
and
therefore could not perish. He exposes the
groundlessness of that hope
in tones
of scornful sarcasm. If the vine did
not bear fruit, or if it only
brought forth wild grapes, then its special excellence was gone,
and it
challenged comparison with other trees only as a timber tree, and
what
was
its worth as such? If
and weaker
than the heathen nations round it. So far the general thought
is
clear. In dealing with details, we note that the words in italics, “or
than,”
should disappear, and that the words should stand as in the
Revised Version,
What is the
vine more than any tree, the vine
branch which is among the
trees of the
forest?
3
“Shall wood be taken thereof to do 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 devoureth
both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it
meet for any work? 5 Behold,
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? 6 Therefore
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
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.
8 And I will make the land desolate,
because they have
committed a trespass, saith
the Lord GOD.” Shall wood be taken
thereof, etc.?
As a timber tree, then, the vine was confessedly valueless. No
carpenter would use it,
even for the peg upon which men hang their cups, and which had become, as in
Isaiah 22:23, the symbol of political stability (compare also
Zechariah 10:4). For
the
unfruitful vine branch these remained the doom of being cast into the
fire (John 15:6). What was its worth when it was half burned at either
end
and in the middle? What would
low
by the
“fire” of God’s judgment? Probably the
vivid picture of the
charred branch points to the successive judgments which had fallen
first on
the
ten tribes, then on
“trespass” may refer either to the general guilt of the people, or to
the last
crowning crime of Zedekiah’s rebellion. I rather incline to the
latter, the
noun being in the singular.
The Worthless Vine (vs. 1-8)
The vine represents
fallen, corrupt nation.
Our Lord has taken up the image already familiar to
us
from Psalm 80 and Isaiah 5, as well as from this passage in Ezekiel, so
that His Church, now regarded as the spiritual
old
analogies of the vine (John 15).
vine tree more than any tree?” It is usually regarded as of supreme
excellence. While fig trees grow by the wayside, vines are carefully walled
in and the vineyard protected by watchmen (Isaiah 5:2). Much
labor is
spent upon the vine in tilling the soil, cleansing and pruning
the branches,
and so preparing for the vintage. All this points to a special
value in the
vine above ordinary plants. It is not difficult to see the
ground of this
valuation. The vine is prized simply for its grapes. The abundance
and
quality of the fruit give it its sole worth. “And he looked that it should
bring forth grapes” (Ibid.). Christ values His people just according
to their fruitfulness (John 15:8).
can no longer sustain its proud pre-eminence. On the contrary,
regarded as
a tree, it must he taken for one of the poorest of
its class. The forester can
set no price upon its limp and straggling boughs. If it
bears no fruit, and is
therefore to be considered on its own account and not for the sake
of its
product, it is of less value than other trees. Regarded as
timber it is
worthless. Degenerate
Jews were then far inferior to
the Greeks and Romans at the height of their
greatness. The
noxious institution; political clubs,
scientific societies, chambers of
commerce, — these so called secular institutions are superior to a
degenerate Church. The fallen Christian is lower than the “man of the
world,” and of less use to society, as the fruitless vine is of
less account
than the forest tree.
failed in fruit bearing; it is useless as timber; there remains only
one
possible use for it. Flung into the oven it may serve as firewood. Indeed,
this is necessary. Similarly, the fruitless fig tree cannot be
allowed to stand,
occupying space, absorbing nutriment from the soil, casting shade
where
healthy sunshine would develop more profitable vegetable growth. “Cut it
down; why cumbereth it the ground?” (Luke 13:7). A fruitless Church
stands in the place of a useful one, and therefore it is
positively injurious.
There is but one good that can
come of it. The very destruction of it may
be a warning to others. Unfaithful souls are preparing for
themselves a fate
of destruction. Negative fruitlessness is enough to doom them
(Matthew 25:30).
REGARDED. It
was of no use before it was burnt. What, then, will be its
value afterwards (see v. 5)? Chastisement, which corresponds to
pruning,
is sent in order to improve its subject. But destruction
cannot benefit the
thing destroyed. If “the wages of sin is death” (Romans
6:23), such wages
cannot be turned to any good account. We may submit to wholesome
correction, but we should “flee from the wrath to come”
(Matthew 3:7)
when that wrath is the consuming fire of destruction, the awful
consequences
of persistent sin.
The Worthless Vineyard (vs. 1-8)
The prophet was inspired to point the reproach of the
Hebrew people, by
reference to their ingratitude, their unfaithfulness, and their
failure to fulfill
the
special purpose for which they were exalted to a position of peculiar
privilege. In this passage, as in a similar passage in Isaiah 5, the
similitude of the
vine is employed to set forth:
o
on the one hand, Divine care, culture, and forbearance; and,
o
on the other hand, national
barrenness and uselessness.
Plain truths are uttered which serve to justify before
every rightly judging mind the
action of the Lord in this time of
ACCOUNT OF NO EXCELLENCE OR MERIT OF HER OWN. So
far as its wood is concerned, the vine has no advantage above
other trees; in
fact, it “is meet for no work,” and compares
unfavorably with other and
serviceable timber. Similarly, although in the progenitors of the
Hebrew
race there were remarkable gifts and remarkable moral
qualities, and
although in the course of Jewish history many great men arose,
still it is not
to be denied that the nation, as such, was a rebellious,
disobedient, stiff-
necked people. God had
a purpose in selecting Israel, but His selection was
one to prove His independence of human agencies and
instrumentalities.
The people were wont to boast of
their ancestors, but in themselves there
was nothing of which to boast.
PRODUCTION OF PRECIOUS AND ACCEPTABLE FRUIT. If the
wood of the vine is of little use, its fruit is wholesome and
delicious, and
the juice of the grape, though too often, like other gifts of
God, abused,
“maketh glad the heart of man” (Psalm
104:15). But
if the vine yields no
clusters of grapes, what is its use?
that the Law given might be reverently obeyed, in order that
Jehovah, revealed
in temple worship, might be purely and devoutly worshipped.
God looked that
His vine should bring forth
fruit, valuable, wholesome, and acceptable to
Himself.
after year, seeking fruit, but found none.
Ø
He looked for progress,
and there was deterioration.
Ø
He looked for obedience, and
there was rebellion.
Ø
He looked for spirituality,
and there was formality and hypocrisy.
Ø
He looked for sincere and cordial worship, and there was idolatry.
Opportunities of devotion and of
service were neglected and abused.
Temptations, instead of being
resisted, were succumbed to. The long
suffering of God led not to
repentance.
PROFITABLE AND DIVINE END. It was this which especially
oppressed the mind of the prophet; it was this which aroused the
displeasure of the great Lord and Judge. “They have committed a trespass”
was the complaint and reproach of Jehovah against His people. Because
THEY WERE BARREN, they were
unprofitable.
ISRAEL. There is
something truly terrible in the declaration of Jehovah: “I
will set nay face against them.” It is very important to have a view of the
Divine justice and retributive
government which it is most important that
every reader of Scripture should take, and that habitually.
DISASTER. The
worthless wood of the unfruitful vine was cast into the
fire for fuel. And of the inhabitants of
shalt go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them.” The history
of the nation informs us how exactly such predictions were
fulfilled. The
calamities which came in rapid succession upon
REPEATED CASTINGS
INTO THE FURNACE OF RIGHTEOUS
RETRIBUTION and idolatrous people were:
Ø
chastened,
Ø
humiliated,
Ø
decimated,
Ø
exiled,
Ø
despised, and
Ø
all but consumed.
Their land was made desolate, and
their national life seemed all but
extinguished. But a remnant was spared. The fires through which they
passed purified, but were not suffered to consume them. IN THE
MIDST OF WRATH
GOD REMEMBERED MERCY! There was a
witness for
and He who first chose the
nation DID NOT NOW ABANDON IT!
Useless if Fruitless (vs. 1-8)
The nation of the Hebrews is often represented under the
image of a vine.
This, with the olive, was its staple production. It may be that
ever since the
visit of the spies, who brought back the gigantic cluster of
grapes from
Eshcol (Numbers 13:23-24), the vine had served as a standing
emblem of the
empire. In the Psalms of David, and in the poetical utterances of
Isaiah, frequent
mention is made of
ancient buildings in
architrave, may still be seen.
every part of some trees is serviceable to man. The bark is used
for
cordage or for tanning. The root is often a valuable medicine. The
juice
which exudes is a precious gum. The fruit is wholesome food. And
when
cut down, the wood is devoted to house building or forms
implements of
husbandry. Which fact is a parable. For
some nations serve many good
purposes. A nation may produce a superior literature which shall
serve for
the education of other lands. It may bring to perfection the
decorative arts
— painting
and architecture and sculpture. It may invent a useful system of
jurisprudence. It may be famous for legislation, for commerce, for
manufactures. If it should fail in one respect, it might yet excel in
others.
things. These taught the world; they molded humanity. By their
literature
and art and systems of government they are teaching mankind
still. “Being
dead, they yet speak.” (Hebrews 11:4)
is the most prolific in bearing fruit. Under proper culture,
its fruitfulness is
certain, regular, copious. All the life and vigor of the tree are
poured into
its clusters. But failing this, it renders no other
service to man. Its cells are
not stored with any known medicinal qualities. Its wood is too
brittle to
bear any strain or burden. Hence, unless fruitful, it is
worthless. In this
respect the vine is an apt figure of the Hebrew nation.
It was raised up by
God for a single purpose, viz.
to exhibit to the world righteousness, loyalty
to the will of the invisible God. Israel’s
message was to be addressed to the
conscience of mankind. Israel was designed to be a lighthouse, to diffuse
on every side the rays of MORAL
AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH! If it failed
in this, it failed altogether. It may as well not have
been. For
exerting a moral influence upon the Gentile nations was a loss
incalculable to
humanity. It was a check upon the development of manhood. (And to think
that the
LIKE ISRAEL, WHEN WE FAIL TO CARRY OUT OUR PURPOSE,
WE TO WILL GO INTO DEMISE! - CY – 2014)
trees, when felled, are yet valuable to man. They exude a
fragrance. They
possess qualities suited for dyeing or tanning. They are useful
for edifices
of all kinds. They afford timber for shipbuilding. But the
vine has no such
virtues. If fruitless, it
is cut down and set apart for fuel. So was it with
that of a vine branch severed from the tree and already burnt
at both ends.
The final doom of such a branch
had already begun. ISRAEL HAD
COMMITTED A GREIVOUS
TRESPASS! The nation created to be
a witness for God
HAD BECOME A WITNESS AGAINST HIM!
The medicine had become a
poison. Hence the dunghill was its fittest place.
The doom of Israel had already
begun. Its glory was in part consumed. Fire
should succeed to fire, calamity to calamity, until the lowest
degradation
should be reached, The decree of God is written in steel, and
cannot in the
nature of things be revoked. “My
word shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the
thing whereto I sent it.”
The True Object of the Life of Man (vs. 1-8)
The principles involved here apply to ALL MEN and to EVERY
MAN! We are
designed and created by God to produce THE FRUITS OF HOLINESS
AND FRUITFULNESS. If we do so, we honor Him, occupy an exalted
moral position, and benefit society. If we fail to do so, we
dishonor God,
sink
in moral character and condition, and are worthless or injurious to society.
What is the fruit which God designs that we should bear? Personal holiness
and social usefulness. “Ye have your fruit unto holiness” (Romans 6:22).
“Bearing fruit in every good work” (Colossians 1:10). Holy character and
good works are the two great
characteristics of the fruit which God requires
of
us. They should
not be severed.
o
The holy character
must bring forth good works.
o
The good works must
ever be connected with, and
the expression of, a holy character.
This fruit will be produced in various degrees and in
various
terms, according to personal idiosyncrasies, abilities, and
opportunities.
God does not require that Christian character shall be
rigidly uniform, or
that Christian service shall all be of the same kind. What He demands is that
every one shall be faithful in the pursuit of holiness and
usefulness, and
shall endeavor to realize these things in tile best manner in
each individual
case. Our text further suggests —
THUS BEAR FRUIT.
Ø
He is formed by God for this object. Man is endowed
with faculties
fitting him for this.
o
He has mind and
soul by which he may perceive THE
REVELATION OF
GOD!
o
He has a will
which was designed to work in sweet
harmony with that of God.
o
He has a
conscience which was constituted to accord with and
respond to THE ETERNAL
RIGHTEOUSNES OF GOD!
o
He has affections and
aspirations which find their true object
in God, and their highest exercise in His worship.
Moreover, he has powers for
expressing all these things in his life;
for feeling and speaking and acting holily, and so honoring
God
by producing the fruit which He requires of us. We are also
fitted by God for usefulness in various ways. We have the power
of
sympathy, of kind and earnest speech, of loving brotherly help, of
tender and trusty support, by which to be useful to each other.
There is no one but may help
another in some form and to some extent.
Ø
Man is blessed by God with culturing agencies for this
object. What
agencies of help and culture God gave to His people
o
the moral Law,
o
religious
ordinances,
o
sacred
memorials,
o
consecrated
priests,
o
inspired prophets.
How many and influential
are the means which we possess for
promoting our mental and spiritual growth and usefulness!
o
an inspiring
history,
o
a glorious
literature,
o
the sacred
Scriptures,
o
opportunities of
religious worship,
o
divinely
instituted sacraments,
o
various Christian
ministries,
o
THE INFLUENCES OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT!
Even the very trials under
which we smart and bleed are but the
prunings of
the great Vine dresser, that we may bear more fruit.
What does such a
constitution as ours mean? What do all these
agencies mean? What is their mission? That we may
bring forth fruit, even holiness
and usefulness.
“Heaven
doth with us, as we with torches do;
Not light
them for themselves: for if our virtues
Did not go
forth of us, ‘twere all alike
As if we had
them not. Spirits are not finely touch’d,
But to
fine issues: nor nature never lends
The
smallest scruple of her excellence,
But, like
a thrifty goddess, she determines
Herself
the glory of a creditor,
Both
thanks and use.”
(Shakespeare, ‘Measure
for Measure,’ act 1. sc. 1.)
tree does not produce grapes, it fails of the one object of its
existence, and
is worthless. If man does not
produce the fruit of excellence in himself and
serviceableness to others, he misses the end of his being. Other objects for
which men live are unsatisfactory. The:
Ø
pursuit of
pleasure,
Ø
the race for
riches,
Ø
the struggle for
power,
Ø
the toil for
knowledge, or
the possession of any of these things or all of them, cannot
be the chief object of
human life. I assign only one reason in proof of this assertion,
but that is a
sufficient one, viz. because they secure only a partial development
of our nature.
God has endowed us with no
superfluous powers. He would have us
exercise and develop every faculty of our being. He is ever opposed
to
waste. But any one of the objects mentioned, or all
of them combined,
involve the neglect of certain great faculties of our being, the
wasting of
important powers. He whose supreme aim is the attainment of pleasure
generally develops only his sensuous tastes and appetites, to the
grave
neglect or injury of his
mental and moral powers. He who lives for riches
develops his acquisitive faculties, to the detriment of his
communicative
powers; he grows in commercial sagacity and keenness, to the great risk of
his tenderness, uprightness, and reverence; he becomes rich in his purse,
but poor in his soul (Psalm 106:15). He whose
great object is to obtain power,
if he pursue it wisely will develop several faculties of his
nature; e.g. his powers
of observation and analysis, of self-control and control of
others; he will
acquire knowledge of men and of times; but he is likely
to lose conscience,
to become unscrupulous, overbearing, tyrannical. And he whose chief
purpose is to acquire knowledge will develop his mental faculties,
become
more clear in intellectual perception, more comprehensive in
mental grasp;
but he will lose sensitiveness and strength of sympathy,
tenderness of
feeling, reverence of spirit. We see, then, that, taken singly, these things are
not satisfactory as the chief object of human life. But
supposing one could,
combine all four — knowledge, power, riches, pleasure — as his
object in
life, and attain them, what then? Still he has not the true
object of life, and
for the reason already assigned; for in all:
Ø
the acquisitive
faculties are developed at the expense of the
communicative;
Ø
man’s relationship
to God is ignored;
Ø
man’s highest nature is neglected. Tenderness, sympathy,
adoration,
service, are overlooked.
Turn now to the object suggested
by our text — holiness or
heart and life,
and usefulness of influence and action.
Ø
It affords scope for the
harmonious development of every faculty of
our nature.
Ø
That development is beneficial, not only to the individual, but
to
SOCIETY in general also. This, indeed, is part of the object or
purpose itself
Ø
That development
is acceptable to God. It includes reverent worship
of Him, loyal obedience to His will, etc. Hence we conclude that THIS,
AND THIS ALONE,
IS THE TRUE OBJECT OF LIFE!
ONLY FOR DESTRUCTION. Of what use is a hopelessly fruitless vine?
“What is the vine
tree more than any tree, the vine branch which is among
the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to make
any work?”
etc. If the vine does not produce fruit, it is not fit for
timber; it is fit only
for fuel. The Jews at this
time had signally and completely failed as to the
end of their existence as a nation, and THEY WERE DOOMED
TO
NATIONAL DESTRUCTION! So with the life of men. If we do not
answer God’s design we are doing harm rather than good, our life is
a bane
instead of a blessing; and if there be no hope of thorough change in
this
respect, WE ARE FIT ONLY FOR DESTRUCTION! Of the fruitless
vineyard the Lord saith, “I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall
be eaten up; I will break down the fence thereof, and it
shall be trodden
down; and I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned nor
hoed; but there
shall come up briars and thorns: I will also command the clouds
that they
rain no rain upon it” (Isaiah 5:5-6). “The axe is laid unto the root of the
trees: every tree therefore that bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). “He said unto the vine dresser,
Behold, these
three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find
none: cut it down; why doth it also cumber the ground?” (Luke 13:7).
PERSISTENT
FRUITLESSNESS means RUIN, DESTRUCTION!
Ø
Have we our fruit
unto holiness? Are we bearing fruit in
good works? Then let us seek after increased fruitfulness!
Ø
But if it be
otherwise with us, let
us penitently seek to amend
our ways, lest our barrenness LEADS
TO RUIN!
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