Ezekiel

Ezekiel 15:1-5

Is Israel better than all the nations around it?  We they allowed special allowance?  Did they get special mercy?  Did god give them a pass on sin?  Was God like a forcefield of protection around them so they could do anything they wanted and not be harmed? 

Israel is the vineyard of the Lord (Psalm 80:9-20).  This is depicted in several places; established in Jeremiah 12:10, Isaiah 5:1-7.  The wood of the vine was inferior to many woods in the forest.  The vine was the object of life, fruitfulness, abundance and agriculture in general as long as it was alive.  The dead vine was useless.  The wood worth nothing but burning in the fire.  Could something as simple as a peg to hang things on be made?  No, not easily, there were far better woods for such a thing.  A dead vine was good to give heat, to keep the fire burning.  If a dead vine is useless, how much more useless will it be after it is burned?  This is the 'If X, then Y' logic used in the bible.  It is a type of argument known in Jewish tradition as wa-chomer. 

Ezekiel 15:6-8

Because X was true, then Y is even more so, therefore the inhabitants of Jerusalem are like the wood of the vine.  They are given to the fire for fuel.  They had become a dead and fruitless vine.  Their lifeblood was the Lord and they polluted that lifeblood with other gods.  The vine died from lack of the Lord.  They perished in unfaithfulness. 

Setting His face against them was the posture of judgment.  When the fires of judgment came, they would know He was the Lord.  Even in their unfaithfulness, the Lord would be glorified.  Though once thriving, blessed and abundant, the land would then become desolate. 

See also Matthew 21:33; John 15.

©2019 Doug Ford