Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest? Will wood be taken of it to make anything? Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and the middle of it is burned. Is it profitable for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was suitable for no work. How much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it has been burned, will it yet be suitable for any work?”
Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set my face against them. They will go out from the fire, but the fire will devour them. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them. I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass,” says the Lord Yahweh.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 7 The Prophet’s intention is to humble the foolish confidence…
The Prophet’s intention is to humble the foolish confidence of the people, who boasted of the gratuitous kindness of God, as if they were naturally excellent: hence, also, their obstinacy against his threats was so great. For when the prophets reprove them sharply, they boasted against them the remarkable gifts by which they were divinely adorned: as if they had been so armed by God’s benefits to resist his power, for we know that they were so blinded. Since, then, that disease had attacked the people, it is not surprising that the prophets in many places refute such folly. But the Prophet here uses a simile to show the Jews that they were not intrinsically but only accidentally excellent, since God had treated them as worthy of remarkable benefits. Since it is so, their arrogance is easily refuted, when they oppose their superiority to God, as if it were peculiar to them, and not God’s special gift. But we must understand the simile which Ezekiel uses: what is the vine more than other trees of the woods? It is certain that the vine produces very good fruit, and therefore is preferred to other trees: the very flower of the vine has a most, delicious scent; but the fruit which it produces proves its excellence. For the wood of the vine is without elegance and shapeless: it does not attain to any thickness; it is slender, pliable, and twisted. In looking at a vine, it. seems scarcely worth numbering among shrubs: if compared with trees, it clearly has no value; but in the excellency of trees something is easily acknowledged which surpasses all vines. For when we cast our eyes upon a branching tree, we are struck with admiration, while the vine lies at, our feet. If, therefore, a tree is compared with the wood of the vine, it will be praised for its beauty, while the vine will be despised as a low and insignificant wood. Hence God collects that the Jews were in no respect more excellent than others, unless because they are planted by himself, as he says in many places in Isaiah, O my vine, I have planted thee. (Isaiah 5.) Then in the 80th Psalm: he brought his vine out of Egypt, and planted and propagated it even to the sea, (Psalm 80:9-12; Jeremiah 2:21.)
Now we understand the Prophet’s meaning, namely, that the Jews excelled, indeed, in privileges, but not in nature, nor yet by themselves, but by the gratuitous kindness of God: and if other nations were compared with them, they had greater dignity than the Jews. And we know that other nations flourished in arts and wealth, in population, in warlike valor, and in other respects: the profane nations were like lofty trees which grow up and attract all eyes to themselves. But the Jews were like a vine which, being planted by God’s hand, deserved more praise than the trees of the wood which were fruitless. Ezekiel now carries on the comparison at, greater length: if the vine is torn up, can its wood, says he, be fitted to any use? it will not make beams or tables, or any vessels; it will not make a peg or a hook on which to hang a hat or cloak, or anything of the kind. Since, then, the wood of the vine is useless when torn from the soil, and is of no use but for burning, hence the Jews are made acquainted with their condition since their excellence and worthiness depend on the mere good pleasure of God: since, as he planted them, he can pluck them up in a moment; and when they have been torn up, they will be altogether useless, and will be cast into the fire, while trees are of some use. But, the Prophet proceeds another step: if a bundle of twigs were cast into the fire, and the two extreme parts were burnt up, and the middle made dry, that scorched part would be much less useful. For since fire penetrates to the very marrow, wood, which is half consumed, is reduced to powder by the touch alone: He afterwards accommodates what he had said about the vine to the city of Jerusalem; therefore let us go on to the rest of the context.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 7 Which brings forth no fruit, no more than the…
Which brings forth no fruit, no more than the other trees of the forest do: meaning that if Jerusalem, which bore the name of his Church, did not bring forth fruit it would be utterly destroyed.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–8 Eze 15:1 And the word of the LORD came…
Eze 15:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ver. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me.] This shortest chapter is added to all the foregoing as a corollary. It consisteth of a type or simile, and the application thereof. It is God’s usual way, and should be ours, to teach by similitudes. See Hos 12:10. {See Trapp on "Hos 12:10"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 The house of Israel is often compared to a…
The house of Israel is often compared to a vine, which when barren or fruitless is very contemptible and unprofitable. This the prophet minds them of to humble them, and awaken them to fruitfulness; Will you boast yourselves of this?
Than a branch which is among the trees of the forest; one single branch of a tree in the forest is of more use and worth than the whole vine tree is, except for its fruit.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 The prophet, we may suppose, was thinking what a…
The prophet, we may suppose, was thinking what a glorious city Jerusalem was, above any city in the world; it was the crown and joy of the whole earth; and therefore what a pity it was that it should be destroyed; it was a noble structure, the city of God, and the city of Israel's solemnities. But, if these were the thoughts of his heart, God here returns an answer to them by comparing Jerusalem to a vine. 1. It is true, if a vine be fruitful, it is a most valuable tree, none more so; it was one of those that were courted to have dominion over the trees, and the fruit of it is such as cheers God and man (Jdg 9:12, Jdg 9:13); it makes glad the heart, Psa 104:15. So Jerusalem was planted a choice and noble vine, wholly a right seed (Jer 2:21); and, if it had brought forth fruit suitable to its character as a holy city, it would have been the glory both of God and Israel. It was a vine which God's right hand had planted, a branch out of a dry ground, which, though its original was mean and despicable, God had made strong for himself (Psa 80:15), to be to him for a name and for a praise. 2. But, if it be not fruitful, it is good for nothing, it is as worthless and useless a production of the earth as even thorns and briers are: What is the vine-tree, if you take the tree by itself, without consideration of the fruit? What is it more than any tree, that it should have so much care taken of it and so much cost laid out upon it? What is a branch of the vine, though it spread more than a branch which is among the trees of the forest, where it grows neglected and exposed? Or, as some read it, What is the vine more than any tree if the branch of it be as the trees of the forest; that is, if it bear no fruit, as forest-trees seldom do, being designed for timber-trees, not fruit-trees? Now there are some fruit-trees which, if they do not bear, are nevertheless of good use, as the wood of them may be made to turn to a good account; but the vine is not of this sort: if that do not answer its end as a fruit-tree, it is worth nothing as a timber-tree. Observe,
I. How this similitude is expressed here. The wild vine, that is among the trees of the forest, or the empty vine (which Israel is compared to, Hos 10:1), that bears no more fruit than a forest-tree, is good for nothing; it is as useless as a brier, and more so, for that will add some sharpness to the thorny hedge, which the vine-branch will not do. He shows, 1. That it is fit for no use. The wood of it is not taken to do any work; one cannot so much as make a pin of it to hand a vessel upon, Eze 15:3. See how variously the gifts of nature are dispensed for the service of man. Among the plants, the roots of some, the seeds or fruits of others, the leaves of others, and of some the stalks, are most serviceable to us; so, among trees, some are strong and not fruitful, as the oaks and cedars; others are weak but very fruitful, as the vine, which is unsightly, low, and depending, yet of great use. Rachel is comely but barren, Leah homely but fruitful. 2. That therefore it is made use of for fuel; it will serve to heat the oven with. Because it is not meet for any work, it is cast into the fire, Eze 15:4. When it is good for nothing else it is useful this way, and answers a very needful intention, for fuel is a thing we must have, and to burn any thing for fuel which is good for other work is bad husbandry. To what purpose is this waste? The unfruitful vine is disposed of in the same way with the briers and thorns, which are rejected, and whose end is to be burnt, Heb 6:8. And what care is taken of it then? If a piece of solid timber be kindled, somebody perhaps may snatch it as a brand out of the burning, and say, "It is a pity to burn it, for it may be put to some better use;" but if the branch of a vine be on fire, and, as usual, both the ends of it and the middle be kindled together, nobody goes about to save it. When it was whole it was meet for no work, much less when the fire has devoured it (Eze 15:5); even the ashes of it are not worth saving.
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II. How this similitude is applied to Jerusalem. 1. That holy city had become unprofitable and good for nothing. It had been as the vine-tree among the trees of the vineyard, abounding in the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. When religion flourished there, and the pure worship of God was kept up, many a joyful vintage was then gathered in from it; and, while it continued so, God made a hedge about it; it was his pleasant plant (Isa 5:7); he watered it every moment and kept it night and day (Isa 27:3); but it had now become the degenerate plant of a strange vine, of a wild vine (such as we read of Kg2 4:39), a vine-tree among the trees of the wild grapes (Isa 5:4), which are not only of no use, but are nauseous and noxious (Deu 32:32), their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters are bitter. It is explained (Eze 15:8): "They have trespassed a trespass, that is, they have treacherously prevaricated with God and perfidiously apostatized from him;" for so the word signifies. Note, Professors of religion, if they do not live up to their profession, but contradict it, if they degenerate and depart from it, are the most unprofitable creatures in the world, like the salt that has lost its savour and is thenceforth good for nothing, Mar 9:50. Other nations were famed for valour or politics, some for war, others for trade, and retained their credit; but the Jewish nation, being famous as a holy people, when they lost their holiness, and became wicked, were thenceforth good for nothing; with that they lost all their credit and usefulness, and became the most base and despicable people under the sun, trodden under foot of the Gentiles. Daniel, and other pious Jews, were of great use in their generation; but the idolatrous Jews then, and the unbelieving Jews now since the preaching of the gospel, have been, and are, of no common service, not fit for any work. 2. Being so, it is given to the fire for fuel, Eze 15:6. Note, Those who are not fruitful to the glory of God's grace will be fuel to the fire of his wrath; and thus, if they give not honour to him, he will get himself honour upon them, honour that will shine brightly in that flaming fire by which impenitent sinners will be for ever consumed. He will not be a loser at last by any of his creatures. The Lord has made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked, that would not otherwise be for him, for the day of evil (Pro 16:4); and in those who would not glorify him as the God to whom duty belongs he will be glorified as the God to whom vengeance belongs. The fire of God's wrath had before devoured both the ends of the Jewish nation (Eze 15:4), Samaria and the cities of Judah; and now Jerusalem, that was the midst of it, was thrown into the fire, to be burnt too, for it is meet for no work; it will not be wrought upon, by any of the methods God has taken, to be serviceable to him. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were like a vine-branch, rotten and awkward; and therefore (Eze 15:7), "I will set my face against them, to thwart all their counsels," as they set their faces against God, to contradict his word and defeat all his designs. It is decreed; the consumption is determined: I will make the land quite desolate, and therefore, when they go out from one fire, another fire shall devour them (Eze 15:7); the end of one judgment shall be the beginning of another, and their escape from one only a reprieve till another comes; they shall go from misery in their own country to misery in Babylon. Those who kept out of the way of the sword perished by famine or pestilence. When one descent of the Chaldean forces upon them was over, and they thought, Surely the bitterness of death is past, yet soon after they returned again with double violence, till they had made a full end. Thus they shall know that I am the Lord, a God of almighty power, when I set my face against them. Note, God shows himself to be the Lord, by perfecting the destruction of his implacable enemies as well as the deliverances of his obedient people. Those whom God sets his face, though they may come out of one trouble little hurt, will fall into another; though they come out of the pit, they will be taken in the snare (Isa 24:18); though they escape the sword of Hazael, they will fall by that of Jehu (Kg1 19:17); for evil pursues sinners. Nay, though they go out from the fire of temporal judgments, and seem to die in peace, yet there is an everlasting fire that will devour them; for, when God judges, first or last he will overcome, and he will be known by the judgments which he executes. See Mat 3:10; Joh 15:6.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–7 And the word of the Lord came unto me,…
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. The destruction of Jerusalem had been represented under various types and similes before, as of a siege, and a sharp razor; and here of a fruitless and useless vine, only fit for the fire; which was delivered out by a spirit of prophecy. The Targum calls it the word of prophecy, as usual.
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. The destruction of Jerusalem had been represented under various types and similes before, as of a siege, and a sharp razor; and here of a fruitless and useless vine, only fit for the fire; which was delivered out by a spirit of prophecy. The Targum calls it the word of prophecy, as usual.
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Ezekiel 15:2
eze 15:2
eze 15:2
eze 15:2Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree,.... Or, "the wood of the vine than any wood" (b); it is not better than other wood; it is not so good as any other wood; nay, it is good for nothing. The fruit of the vine tree is good, but its wood is of no use: a vine tree, if it bears fruit, is valuable; but if it does not, it is of no account. The people of the Jews are often compared to a vine, who, while they brought forth good fruit, were in esteem; but, when they became like an empty and fruitless vine, were rejected as good for nothing, Psa 80:8; they were originally no better than others; what they had were owing to the grace and goodness of God; and when they degenerated, they were the worst of all people:
or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? a vine tree that bears fruit is better than a tree of the forest, or than a branch of one that is unfruitful; but a vine tree that does not bear fruit is not so good; because the wood of the one may be useful when the other is not; though the words may be better rendered, even "the branch of a wild vine which is among the trees of the forest" (c); and so it explains what vine tree is spoken of; not a fruitful one in the vineyards, but a wild and barren one in the forest. So Jarchi paraphrases the words,
"not of the vine in the vineyards, which bears fruit, speak I unto thee; but of the branch of the vine which grows in the forests;''
and so Kimchi,
"I do not ask thee of the vine tree which beareth fruit, for that is valuable; but of the branch (of the wild vine) which is among the trees of the forest, and is as they that do not bear fruit, concerning that I ask thee; for even it is not as the trees of the forest; for the trees of the forest, though they do not bear fruit, they are fit to do work of them, to make vessels of them, and to floor houses with them; but the wood of this vine is not so.''
(b) "lignum vitis prae omni ligno", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius. (c) "surculus", Cocceius; "surculus vitis", Starckius; "vitis sylvestris", Munster. So Ben Melech interprets the branch, of a vine.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 God by the similitude of a vine, foreshews the…
God by the similitude of a vine, foreshews the utter destruction of Jerusalem, ver. 1-8.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8 The Jewish nation, about to be destroyed by the…
CHAPTER XV
The Jewish nation, about to be destroyed by the Chaldeans,
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compared to a barren vine which is fit for nothing but to be
cast into the fire, 1-8.
NOTES ON CHAP. XV
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 Eze 15:1-5. What is the vine more than any…
Eze 15:1-5. What is the vine more than any tree? — The house of Israel is often compared to a vine, which when fruitful is very profitable and valuable, but when barren is very worthless and contemptible. Of this the prophet reminds the Jews to humble them, and awaken them to a sense of the importance of bringing forth the fruits of righteousness. Or, than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? — One single branch of a tree in the forest is of more use and value than the whole vine-tree is, except for its fruit. Some, however, render this latter clause, If its branch is as the trees of the forest; that is, if it brings forth no fruit. Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? — There are some fruit-trees, the wood of which, if they do not bear fruit, is of much use, and may be made to turn to a good account; but the vine is not one of these; its wood is of no use in building, or in making any piece of furniture or domestic utensil; nor indeed is it fit for any of the purposes for which the wood of other trees is used. It will not afford even a pin to drive into a wall or post, on which you may safely hang any weight: and, therefore, if the vine do not bring forth grapes it is good for nothing. Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel — When, for its barrenness, it is cut down, it is only fit to be burned. The fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it, &c. — “A very apt representation of the state of Judea, when both its extremities were consumed by the ravages of the destroyer, and the middle of it, where the capital city stood, was threatened every moment with destruction from the enemy.” Is it meet for any work? — Is it worth any body’s while to save it from being burned for any use! If a piece of solid timber be kindled, somebody, perhaps, may snatch it out of the fire, and say it is a pity to burn it, for it may be put to some better use; but if the branch of a vine be on fire, and, as usual, both the ends of it and the middle are kindled together, nobody goes about to save it: for when it was whole it was meet for no work, much less when the fire has almost devoured it. Just so, the parable implies, it was of no use or consequence to save the Jewish nation from destruction, were it possible to do it, which had so little answered the design of God, in making them his people, and had been of so little use in promoting his glory among the surrounding nations.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 7 The vine ... - The image is grounded on…
The vine ... - The image is grounded on a well-known figure Psa 80:8; Isa. 5. The comparison is not between the vine and other trees, but between the wood of the vine and the wood of other trees.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 7 Wood. Small branches or tendrils. The vines of that…
Wood. Small branches or tendrils. The vines of that country were probably small. (Calmet) --- The wild vine (Sanctius) grows very large, and the wood is durable, so that statues, pillars, and ladders were formed of it. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xiv. 1.) --- Strabo (ii., and xi.) mentions the trunk of a vine which two men could hardly clasp, and the bunch of grapes was two cubits high. But the prophet speaks of the small branches, which are fit only for the fire. (Calmet) --- God’s Church is often compared to a vine on account of its fruit, and the branches separated form her resemble the useless cuttings. (St. Augustine, tr. lxxxi. in John) (Worthington) --- See Ward’s Tree of Life, where this is set in a very striking light. In every age the Church makes fresh conquests, while heretics leave and persecute her. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 4. The Parable of the Vine Tree for the…
4. The Parable of the Vine Tree for the Burning (Ezekiel 15.)
1And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, what shall the wood of the vine be more than any wood? the vine-branch which was 3among the trees of the forest! Is wood taken thereof to do any work? Or do they take a peg of it to hang any vessel thereon? 4Behold, it is [was] given to the fire for fuel [food]; its two ends the fire consumed, and its middle 5is scorched; is it fit for any work? Behold, in its uninjured state, it will not do for any work; how much less, when the fire hath devoured it, and it Isaiah 6 scorched, will it still do for any work? Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, As the wood of the vine among the wood of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7And I have set My face against them; from the fire they went out, and the fire shall consume them; and ye know that I am Jehovah, when I set My 8face against them. And I have made the land a desolation [a wilderness], because they have committed treachery: sentence of the Lord Jehovah.
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Eze_15:2. Sept.: ... τι ἀν γενοιτο—Vulg.: … quid flet.
Eze_15:4. Παρεξ ὁ πνρι δεδοται... την χατʼ ἐνιαντον κκθαρσιν ἀντης αν̓αλισχει—
Eze_15:6. For בעץ there is a plural reading: בעצי.
EXEGETICAL REMARKS
A figure (Eze_15:1-5) and its application (Eze_15:6-8). The former is carried out in detail; the latter follows in the shape of interpretation. With much plausibility, Neteler (comp. Eze_15:7 with Eze_14:22 sq.) refers what follows specially to “the remnant left over,” in support of which the connection with what precedes might be pleaded; but it must not be forgotten that this remnant are the justification of the judgment on the whole; and hence, that the reference generally to Judah and Jerusalem is to be maintained.
Eze_15:2. The figure of the vine or vineyard is in current use for Israel (Deu_32:32; Isaiah 5; Hosea 10; Jer_2:21; Psa_80:9 [8]; Mat_21:33 sq.) in manifold shades of meaning,—sometimes the noble vine, sometimes the degenerate, sometimes the wild vine. The latter is perhaps the idea lying at the foundation, no stress, however, being laid upon it; but the vine in general, as compared with other wood, is meant to be spoken of, so that the figure of the vine furnishes merely, as it were, the customary title of Israel. What superiority has Israel, although the so-called “vine,” as a nation over other nations? Culture makes the vine a vine, just as it causes it to bear noble fruit. Now, however, instead of the despised culture, there manifests itself the judgment of God! Hence, also, עֵץ׳: the wood of the vine.—מַה־יִהְיֶה, not so much: what superiority has it? as rather: what will be its fate? how will it fare with it? as judgment is hinted at.—מכָּל־עֵץ. Every other wood can be made use of; the vine, on the contrary, is of no service except for its fruit. The answer supposed for the question, therefore, not merely denies the claim to a better fate, but even makes the wood of the vine inferior to other wood, that is to say, when it fails of its aim. This is the intermediate thought, which the apposition (corresponding as it does with the accents): הַוְּמוֹרה אֲשֶׁר׳, explains. Differently the Sept. and Vulg. זְמוֹרָה (commonly so called from paring or pruning; according to others, from intertwining; or, “that which shoots;” זָמַר is used to express a process—that of nipping off—derived from vine-culture) is the plant of the vine (Isa_17:10), which accordingly has been removed from its original habitat in the wilderness, in order to be planted, to be cultivated. The masc. הָיָה refers to wood, as being the connection in which the זְמוֹרָה is thought of. So also in what follows. If it has not repaid the planting, and this is the case here—but it is not expressly said that it had become degenerate, had borne no fruit at all or bad fruit (Hengst.: “the vine-shoot which is among the trees of the forest” = the vine which corresponds with the forest-trees in barrenness, as it is mere wood; the wild vine does not occur at all in Scripture),—the questions that follow naturally suggest themselves in this connection.
Eze_15:3. For use its diameter even unfits it (Hitzig); while its appearance is too paltry for ornament, and it is too weak to bear anything except fruit.
Eze_15:4. Useless as wood, because it is of service merely for its fruit, it falls of right to the fire (Joh_15:6; Mat_7:19). But still less is to be thought of it, and therefore, just as at the beginning (Eze_15:2) a question was put as to its fate, the question is renewed in view of the effect of the fire. The two ends are in the application perhaps not so much the kingdom of the ten tribes and Judah, as rather those tribes of Israel on the one side and on the other; so that the middle piece, which may still come in question, is Judah with Jerusalem, or the latter alone. נָחָר partic. Niph. of חָרַר. Figure and reality running into one another. What is in prospect is in part realized fact, on the ground of which a further question is put (Mat_3:10; Heb_6:8).
Eze_15:5. הִנֵּה resumes the parallel הִכֵּה of Eze_15:4. What could not even be in its uninjured state, can much less be when the case stands with it as in Eze_15:4.
The carrying out of the figure already indicated its reference generally; the application now interprets it expressly of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Eze_15:6. אֲשֶׁר־נְתַתִּיו, such a destiny as has just been made to take effect. Hengst.: “which I give” by a law of nature with regard to the vine.
Eze_15:7. Eze_14:8.—From the fire, etc., that is to say, in the sense of Eze_15:4-5. Already burnt, they would have required to be on their guard against the fire. But in this way that is only “the beginning of the end” (Hengst.). Many expositors point specially to the experiences of the divine wrath under Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin. But comp. on Eze_15:4-5. (Grot. proverbially: coming out of the one, the other will fall upon them.)—Eze_5:4; Eze_10:2.
Eze_15:8. Eze_14:15-16; Eze_14:13.
DOCTRINAL REFLECTIONS
1. The temple of Herod even was decked off with the “distinguishing mark” of Israel, the vine and its clusters (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 5:6. 4).
2. What is here called the “wood,” Paul would express by the words: “after the flesh.”
3. “The chosen people of God, if they deny and profane the Holy Spirit of heavenly fruitfulness, who works in them, are, as regards the barren wood of their original stock, less than all other nations” (Umbreit).
4. “A nation or an individual to whom God has made Himself known, and who turns His grace into lasciviousness, sinks far beneath those who have not known God. Heb_6:4 sq.” (Hengst.)
5. “The Church is not to be a wilderness, but a vineyard; is not to bear flowers only, or leaves and twigs merely, but fruit. She is not an apple-tree or fig-tree, but a vine. Wine cheers, inspirits, enlivens. Outwardly insignificant, there is the noblest power within. The grace of Christ working through poor apostles” (a Lapide).
HOMILETIC HINTS
Eze_15:2 sq. The question as to superiority was called forth by the vainglory and self - complacency of Israel. They boasted of being superior, and therefore what they are to become is held up before them; for it is not what we seem to ourselves to be that constitutes our superiority over others, but it is what has come out of us that will ultimately show whether we are to go to the right hand or to the left. The end decides the matter. It is not: the beginning good, everything good.—“Our faith constitutes our superiority; proving itself as it does in our conduct and edifying others” (Starck).—If thou hast, why boastest thou thyself, seeing thou hast received it? Keep what thou hast, that no man rob thee of thy crown.—“The intention of the prophet is to humble the foolish self-confidence of the people, who boasted themselves of the gifts of God’s grace, as if they were mere natural excellences. On the ground of His benefits they took a stand against God” (Calv.).—“The comparison with plants and trees is in many respects a suitable one for man” (Starck).—“Believers have but a mean appearance before the world; but in Christ, the True Vine, they are fruitful, John 15.” (Starke.)—“He who looks at the vine as regards its wood will scarce reckon it among the trees. It lies at the feet of the trees of the forest. Their wood far surpasses its wood. But because God had planted Israel, he came forth from the wilderness of all the nations. Out of Egypt God brought him (Psa_80:9 [8]sq.). Other nations, on the contrary, flourished by means of arts, riches, population, capacity for war, etc. These were lofty forest trees, which drew the eyes of all upon them. Israel stood and fell with God’s grace” (Calv.).—To the Jews the law was given very much as a vine-dresser’s knife, that they might bring forth more fruit.
Eze_15:6 sq. “God is always punishing; but the punishment is unto destruction when He sets His face against the sinner” (Luther).—“The fact that one evil is past makes men secure without reason, for another comes after it” (Starck).—“Let us learn from this chapter to beware of fleshly security” (Luther).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4–8 cast into . . . fire-- (Joh 15:6).
cast into . . . fire-- (Joh 15:6).
both the ends--the north kingdom having been already overturned by Assyria under Tiglath-pileser; the south being pressed on by Egypt (Kg2 23:29-35).
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midst of it is burned--rather, "is on flame"; namely, Jerusalem, which had now caught the flame by the attack of Nebuchadnezzar.
Is it meet for any work--"it," that is, the scorched part still remaining.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 7, 8 It is significant that AEsop was a contemporary of…
UNFAVORABLE COMPARISON OF THE VINE TREE (JERUSALEM) WITH OTHER TREES.
It is significant that AEsop was a contemporary of Ezekiel, and that this sixth century B.C. marks the era of constant intercourse between the Hebrews and the surrounding peoples. The vine was the choicest production of Palestine and typical of its inhabitants. It was difficult for an Israelite to believe that Jerusalem, the vine of Jehovah’s own planting (Gen_49:22; Deu_32:32; Isa_5:1; Jer_2:21; Psa_80:8-16), could ever be ruined as completely as Ezekiel prophesied. In reply to this the prophet, following the literary custom of his age, tells the story of the vine. The vine can be classed as superior to other trees only because of its grapes (Jdg_9:13). If it does not bear fruit it is fit for nothing else. It is small and frail, and except for its fruit it has no pre-eminence over “brushwood” (Eze_15:2, Kautzsch). The carpenter can make no use of it, neither can the housewife (Eze_15:3). If this is true of the vine at its best, how absolutely useless does it become when ruined for fruit bearing and half destroyed by fire (Eze_15:4-5). Just so the chosen people have been indeed chief among the nations, but only so because of their religion. Politically and territorially they were insignificant even at the height of their glory: how much more since they have felt the touch of the destroying flames (Eze_15:6; compare Joh_15:1-8).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–8 2. or than a branch] Perhaps: the vine-branch which…
2. or than a branch] Perhaps: the vine-branch which is,—the words taking up “the vine tree” of previous clause. Owing to the verb the natural sense is: what shall be made of the wood of the vine among all wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Cf. Eze_15:3. With the comparative sense the accents should be disregarded: what is the wood of the vine more than any wood of the branch which is &c. On Israel as the vine cf. Gen_49:22; Isa_5:1; Deu_32:32; Jer_2:21; Eze_17:5; Eze_19:10; Psalms 80; Hos_10:1.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v1 This short chapter contains a single simile and its…
XV.
This short chapter contains a single simile and its application, designed to show that Israel, having failed to fulfil the purpose for which they had been chosen, were worthless, and could have no other end than destruction.
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(2) What is the vine tree?—The comparison of Israel to a vine or to a vineyard is common in Scripture (Psa_80:8-13; Isa_5:1-7; Jer_2:21; Hos_10:1; Mat_21:33-41, &c.) and is very apt; for the vine, bringing forth its appointed fruit, was among the most precious of the earth’s productions, but failing this, was utterly worthless for anything but fuel. The fact that Israel did not yield the fruit required is not especially mentioned, being taken for granted here, and abundantly expressed in the connected prophecies. The fruit of righteousness, as our Lord has shown in Joh_15:1-8, under the same figure of the vine, is only possible by a steadfast clinging to the Source of righteousness, and this was the point in which the Jews of this time had signally failed.
(5) How much less shall it be meet?—The worthlessness of the wood of the vine having been shown in Eze_15:3, and it having been said in Eze_15:4 that it is therefore “cast into the fire,” the climax is here reached. According to Eze_15:4, it is burned off at the ends, and then the remnants are pushed also into the fire to be burned, just as one would do with grape branches to save the trouble of cutting them up. This comparison is carried out in Eze_15:7.
(7) Shall go out from one fire and another fire . . .—The words one and another are not in the original and may be omitted, and the articles inserted: “they go from the fire, and the fire devours them.” This was exactly the condition of Israel. Partially consumed in the fire of the Divine judgments, they had been again and again overtaken. The “ends” were already gone; now “the midst of it” was to be burned up—the final result, as always, being a recognition of God.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Vers. 1-8. The worthless vine.
Vers. 1-8. The worthless vine.
The vine represents Israel, and in its degenerate state it stands for the 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 Israel, may be typified in the old analogies of the vine (John 15).
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I WHEREIN THE WORTH OF THE VINE CONSISTS. "What is the 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. (Isa_5:2) Much labour 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". (Isa_5:2) Christ values his people just according to their fruitfulness. (Joh_15:8)
II HOW THE VINE MAY BE WORTHLESS. If the vine be fruitless, it 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 Israel was less valuable than heathen nations. The Jews were then far inferior to the Greeks and Romans at the height of their greatness. The Church of Christ, when barren of spiritual fruitfulness, is a 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.
III WHAT IS TO BE DONE TO THE WORTHLESS VINE. It has 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?". (Luk_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. (Mat_25:30)
IV HOW THE WORTHLESS VINE IS TO BE SUBSEQUENTLY REGARDED. It was of no use before it was burnt. What, then, will be its value afterwards (see ver. 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," such wages cannot be turned to any good account. We may submit to wholesome correction, but we should "flee from the wrath to come" when that wrath is the consuming fire of destruction, the awful consequences of persistent sin.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Vers. 1-8. The worthless vineyard.
The prophet was inspired to point the reproach of the Hebrew people, by reference to their ingratitude, their unfaithfulness, and their failure to fulfil the special purpose for which they were exalted to a position of peculiar privilege. In this passage, as in a similar passage in the fifth chapter of Isaiah"s prophecies, the similitude of the vine is employed to set forth, on the one hand, Divine care, culture, and forbearance; and, 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 Israel"s calamities and distresses.
I ISRAEL WAS SELECTED FROM AMONG THE NATIONS ON 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 unfavourably 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 m themselves there was nothing of which to boast.
II THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN SELECTING ISRAEL WAS THE 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." But if the vine yields no clusters of grapes, what is its use? Israel was appointed to privilege in order 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.
III ISRAEL FAILED TO FULFIL THIS PURPOSE. God came, year after year, seeking fruit, but found none. He looked for progress, and there was deterioration. He looked for obedience, and there was rebellion. He looked for spirituality, and there was formality and hypocrisy. 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.
IV ISRAEL THUS BECAME UTTERLY USELESS FOR ANY 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.
V DIVINE DISSATISFACTION WAS EXPRESSED AGAINST ISRAEL. There is something truly terrible in the declaration of Jehovah: "I will set nay face against them." Such expressions are objected against by some who are indignant at such anthropomorphic representations of the Eternal. But the acts of God, as recorded in history, support the representations of his feelings as thus expressed. Removing, as we should do, from our conceptions of Jehovah anything suggested by such language which is derogatory to his perfect character, we have still a view of the Divine justice and retributive government which it is most important that every reader of Scripture should take, and that habitually.
VI DIVINE CHASTISEMENT IS APPARENT IN NATIONAL DISASTER. The worthless wood of the unfruitful vine was cast into the fire for fuel. And of the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Judge declared, "They 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 Israel and. Judah were as repeated castings into the furnace of righteous retribution. The rebellious and idolatrous people were chastened, were humiliated, were decimated, exiled, despised, and all but consumed. Their land was made desolate, stud 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 Israel to bear, and a work for Israel to do, among the nations; and he who first chose the nation did not now abandon it. T.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES Vers. 1-8. Useless, if fruitless.
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, 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 Israel under the symbol of a vine. And amid the ruins of ancient buildings in Palestine, clusters of the vine, carved in stone upon lintel or architrave, may still be seen.
I MOST TREES SERVE MANY USES. From root to topmost twig, 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 ofjurisprudence. It may be famous for legislation, for commerce, for manufactures. If it should fail in one respect, it might yet excel in others. Egypt and Greece and Rome were justly celebrated for many of these things. These taught the world; they moulded humanity. By their literature and art and systems of government they are teaching mankind still. "Being dead, they yet speak.
II THE VINE TREE HAS BUT ONE USE ITS FRUIT. Of all trees it is the most prolific in bearing fruit. Under proper culture, its fruitfulness is certain, regular, copious. All the life and vigour of the tree are poured into its clusters. But failing this, it renders no other sin vice 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 Israel to fail in exerting a moral influence upon the Gentile nations was a loss incalculable to humanity. It was a check upon the development of manhood.
III A FRUITLESS VINE IS DESTINED FOR THE FLAME. Other 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 Israel"s nationality. The picture sketched by the prophet is impressive. It is 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 grievous 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. D.
HOMILIES BY W. JONES
Vers. 1-8. The true object of the life of man.
the word of the Lord came irate me, saying, Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree?" etc. Israel is here compared to a vine. The figure is frequently applied to her. (cf Psa_80:8-16; Isa_5:1-7) If a vine be fruitful, it is very highly valued. Its fruit is said to make "glad the heart of man," and to "cheer God and man." But if it be not fruitful, of what use is it? It is of no use as timber. If other trees fail to bring forth fruit, they may at least render good service as timber. Not so the vine. If it is not fruitful, it is fit only for burning. So Israel was "planted a noble vine, wholly a right seed," with the express purpose of bringing forth fruit, i.e. of continuing faithful to the one true God, and doing righteously amongst men. If they had fulfilled that design, they would have occupied a position of noble pre-eminence amongst the nations of the world. But failing in that, they failed totally, and were fit only for destruction. "In respect of those things which constitute the natural greatness of kingdoms antiquity of origin, extent of territory, abundance of resources, attainments in arts and science what could they boast of in comparison of Egypt, Ethiopia, Babylon, and the greater kingdoms of the earth?" Hence if they failed religiously, like a fruitless vine they were fit only for the fire. Their destruction was already in a great measure accomplished (vers. 4, 5), and its further accomplishment was at hand (vers. 6-8). 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 usefulness. If we do so, we honour 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." "Bearing fruit in every good work." These are the two great characteristics of the fruit which God requires of us. They should not be severed. The holy character must bring forth good works. 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 endeavour to realize these things in tile best manner in each individual case. Our text further suggests
I THAT THE TRUE OBJECT OF MAN"S LIFE IS THAT HE MAY THUS BEAR FRUIT.
1. He is formed by God for this object. Man is endowed with faculties fitting him for this. He has mind and soul by which he may perceive the revelation of God. He has a will which was designed to work in sweet harmony with that of God. He has a conscience which was constituted to accord with and respond to the eternal righteousness of God. tie 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 honouring 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.
2. Man is blessed by God with culturing agencies for this object. What agencies of help and culture God gave to his people Israel! the moral Law, religious ordinances, sacred memorials, consecrated priests, inspired prophets. How many and influential are the means which we possess for promoting our mental and spiritual growth and usefulness! an inspiring history, a glorious literature, the sacred Scriptures, opportunities of religious worship, divinely instituted sacraments, various Christian ministries, 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. )
II THIS IS THE ONLY TRUE OBJECT OF MAN"S LIFE. If the vine 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 pursuit of pleasure, the race for riches, the struggle for power, 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. 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
(1) the acquisitive faculties are developed at the expense of the communicative;
(2) man"s relationship to God is ignored;
(3) 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.
(1) It affords scope for the harmonious development of every faculty of our nature.
(2) That development is beneficial, not only to the individual, but to society also. This, indeed, is part of the object or purpose itself
(3) 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 the life of man.
III IF A MAN"S LIFE UTTERLY FAIL OF THIS OBJECT, IT IS FIT 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." "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." "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?" Persistent fruitlessness means ruin, destruction.
APPLICATION. Have we our fruit unto holiness? Are we bearing fruit in good works? Then let us seek after increased fruitfulness. But if it be otherwise with us, let us penitently seek to amend our ways, lest our barrenness leads to our ruin. W.J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 What is the vine tree more than any tree.
Eze_15:1-8
What is the vine tree more than any tree.
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The worthless vine doomed for the fire
Founding on old similitudes, the prophet assumes that Israel is the vine, and compares it as a tree or as wood with the other trees of the forest. It is as wood that it is put in comparison with the trees. He is studiously silent in regard to the fruit of the vine. This which gave the vine its preeminence (Jdg_9:13), cannot be touched upon, for it does not exist. It is the wood of the vine only that can be compared with the other trees of the forest, the feeble, Creeping plant with the lofty trees around it. Judah never had any pretensions to be a powerful state, or to enter into competition in wealth or military resources with the kingdoms round about. As a tree among the trees, a state among the states, what was it good for? And especially now, what is it good for, when it has already been in the fire, its ends consumed and its heart charred? What is it fit for, or need it expect, but to be flung again into the fire and wholly consumed? (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
Fit only for the fire
These fallen branches form the fuel which the woodman gathers for his fire. They are at once fit for the burning, for there is no sap, no resisting element of life in them; the burning fitly consummates the process of oxidation long ago begun and carried on in them. In a similar way there are in the True Vine dry and withered branches, having no share in His vitality--whose connection with Him is a purely mechanical one. They are deformities upon Him. The dispensations of Gods Providence that help to develop the growth and fruitfulness of Christs true disciples only wither them into greater deadness, and blanch them into greater deformity, and cause to grow upon them the noxious parasitic growths of worldly lusts. The flame of Tophet is the fit consummation of the spiritual oxidation and decay that has been going on for years. (Hugh Macmillan, D. D.)
Sin makes men worthless
Professors of religion, if they do not live up to their profession, but contradict it, if they degenerate and depart from it, are the most unprofitable creatures in the world, like the salt that has lost its savour, and is thenceforth good for nothing. Other nations were famed for valour or politics, some for war, others for trade, and retained their credit; but the Jewish nation, being famous as a holy people, when they lost their holiness and became wicked, were thenceforth good for nothing; with that they lost all their credit and usefulness, and became the most base and despicable people under the sun. Daniel and ether pious Jews were of great use in their generation; but the idolatrous Jews then, and the unbelieving Jews now, since the preaching of the Gospel, have been, and are, of no common service, not fit for any work. (M. Henry.)
Fruitful and useless
The single idea of this brief chapter is that if the vine should fail in grapes it fails altogether. There is a whole philosophy of life in that single and simple fact. The great and solemn doctrine is this, that everything is to be judged by the purpose for which it was created. Here is a school: what ideas do we associate with the word school? Reading, study, letters, arts, instruction, mental illumination, intellectual development and progress: these ideas are right, they are cognate, they are just. Does this school produce that result? No. What then? Then it is not a school: it is a place of darkness, or an asylum of ignorance; it is a corner of imprisonment, or a place of mental degradation. What do you think of this painting? It is a likeness of your dearest friend. Having given you this introduction to the painting, what will be your standard of judgment? You will at once seek your friend in it; it will not do for you to say that the drapery is beautifully painted, the foreground is excellent, and the background is superb, and everything about it of the nature of technique would please an artist of the highest degree: you are not looking in that direction, because in that direction you have no vision; the gate of that outlook is locked against you: but you know your friend, and your friend is not there. Will you purchase that picture? No. If it had been a picture only you might have bought it; but it professed to be a friend. It lies. That which, introduced to me as a work of art, might have charmed me, shocks me when it comes under false pretences. So, then, you have the same law of the fifteenth chapter of Ezekiel operating through and through your life; you keep your shop upon it, you conduct your whole business upon it: why do you shrink from applying it to yourself, your character, the result of your training? Oh that men were wise, that they were fearless enough to apply their own commonsense to their own moral condition! This standard of judgment will keep us right in estimating everything. Do you seek grapes on thorns? You are operating in the wrong direction. Do you seek figs on thistles? You will never find them. You must judge everything by its purpose, and according as a thing serves its purpose is it really good and really valuable. That standard would keep us right in all judgment if we would abide by it. Judge prayer by the same standard. What is the object of prayer? Submission to the Divine will. It is no part of my business to pray conclusively, and without leaving God any alternative, that the childs life may be spared. The child is not mine. No man or woman has a child; the child is Gods: All souls are Mine. I will therefore say, Lord, I love this little child, and without it I feel as if I could not live: may I have it a while longer? No. Thy will, my God, be done. The same judgment ought to be applied to the Bible. For what should a man go to the Bible? For God. Will he find God there? On every page. You are now in the right direction, you have gone upon the proper quest; you will receive answers along that line, and doors will fly back along the whole circle of the horizon to admit you into larger liberty. In all things judge by the purpose. The Bible is a vine that grows, so to say, revelations of God. And judge men by the same standard. What is the great purpose of man? To represent God. When he fulfils that purpose he fulfils his election and calling; when he fails of that purpose, no matter what he is, he has failed to bring forth fruit unto God. How all things would be harmonised and adjusted righteously if we could receive this rule! One star differeth from another star in glory: judge each star by its weight, distance, magnitude, and relation to the whole solar system as known to us. (J. Parker, D. D.)
A parabolic picture of Israel
I. God has placed some sections of the human race under special culture.
1. This was the case with the Jews (Deu_32:32; Isa_1:1-31; Psa_80:1-19; Jer_2:21).
2. This is the case with Christendom.
3. This is especially the case with Great Britain.
II. Those sections of the race under special culture are, whether fruitful or unfruitful, widely distinguished from all others.
1. If fruitful they are distinguished by valuableness. What on earth is of higher value than a godly life?
2. If unfruitful, they are distinguished by worthlessness. Unless the vine produce grapes it is more worthless than most other trees of the forest. You cannot manufacture furniture out of it, construct ships, or build houses; unless it grows grapes it is fit for nothing but the fire.
III. The distinction between those under special culture and those who are not is recognised and retributed by God (Mat_7:26-27). (Homilist.)
Mans power dependent upon knowledge of God
All history has shown this parable to be true. It was the moral and religious power of the Jewish nation which was their strength. When they abandoned that, they failed. Other nations exceeded them in material resources, other minds surpassed them in philosophical acuteness and power of expression, other people are identified more surely in history with pictures of great wealth and Eastern magnificence; but through all ancient literature that wonderful people are ever appearing as the holders of a strange and powerful religion, which in some way had an influence out of all proportion to the power of the people who propagated it, which gained an influence over men of all nations and ages, and held captive, time and time again, the very conquerors of the land. The vine as a vine did a work which as a tree, as mere wood, it could not accomplish; its clusters did for the glory of God and the blessing of man what its branches never could accomplish.
I. This parable and its fulfilment lay down the principle, that what God offers is the only thing that is good for us, and that comparative failure awaits us in any other paths than those of His opening. Gods offers in this light are commands. We are free to accept them as far as our will goes, but we are bound to accept them as far as our nature goes. God, in offering, always has a tone of freest invitation; but all the time, from our own lives, if we would only hear it, there is constantly arising the loudest command to us to accept His offers. Leave out moral power, and leave out the desire of man to go upward, and what is he but the weakest and most dissatisfied creature on earth? What is this vine tree, then, more than any tree? Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Is it meet for any work? Understand the position of the Bible about man, and see how true it is. What is man, says the Psalmist, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? David said this when he considered the heavens and the moons and the stars; and surely we men, who, with all our wisdom, have never yet moved one heavenly body out of its course, and are still looking up into the heavens like little children gazing out of the window at twilight, and who feel so proud if, like those children, we can only say, I think I see another star, surely we are not yet ready to wipe out the record of the insignificance of man. Be proud of anything but your own power to know God, and to reach out after Him, and to aspire to be like Him in moral character, and you are wasting your life. Be humble, see how the riches of the world dwarf any fortune you may succeed in making, how the power and beauty of the inanimate or animal creation throw into the shade anything that you may accomplish, and at once you will begin to seek the true riches which God alone can give, and which man alone, of ell Gods creatures, can possess. Humility is the gate of entrance into power always. Go and sit down in the lowest seat at the worlds feast, see how other things surpass you, and then soon you will hear the voice of the master of the feast saying, Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee; then shalt thou learn thy superiority, as Gods child, over all other things in the world; then will all things be yours. For then you will begin to be Gods vine; you will develop just those things in which the vine excels,--dependence, life, and fruit.
II. We have seen that mans strength as man, compared with the rest of creation, is in knowing God. Now let us see that it is likewise the strength of the individual man as compared with his fellow man, to know God. It is a difference in moral power that will determine for each one his place in life. That one who has high ideas, noble ambitions, lofty pictures, will succeed in life. It is not what is around us, but what is in us, that brings out our power. Every man ought to assert himself. Men and women have no right to be like so many bricks in the social structure,--all cast in one mould, all of one hue and shape. If out of our faces and in our actions there appeared the power of Gods love working upon us, if each of us appreciated the privilege of being a child in Gods family, surely it would not be so. The hope of the individual man lies in the knowledge of Christ. If you would know your own place in life, and fill it, and cease to be one of a crowd of men, get the knowledge of the Saviour, who can alone teach you of God; depend upon Him, draw your life from Him, produce your fruit for Him. Let Him deepen your moral life. Seek not the things of this life, which, if you succeed in obtaining, will only place your name a little higher or lower in a list of others who are very much like you; but strive for that knowledge of God which shall write your individual name in the Lambs book of life, never to be blotted out, the name of a child of God.
III. Let me make one more application of the prophets parable; that is, to the Christian life. Mankind is Gods great vine, and every man is a vine; but above all, those whom God has chosen constitute the great vine, the peculiar people like Israel of old, whom He has chosen to bear fruit for Himself. The object of Christianity is to do that, and it should never be used for anything else. Christian services are not to be used to please our aesthetic tastes; Christian truth is not to be a mere weak substance for us to be sentimental over; Christian churches and the attendance on them are not to be used as the stamp of social standing, or as a badge of good intentions; Christian profession is not to be a formality with which to satisfy our consciences; Christian doctrine is not to be a mere subject of discussion. Christianity is to make us better men and women; it is to make us Gods servants in all that we do; it is to make us know that He is our God, because He has sent Christ to be our Saviour; it is to raise our standard of life, and make us know that we are sinners; it is to tell us that our sins are forgiven, and to make us firm, by the love of God in us, to turn from those sins, and walk in newness of life. Let that be the way we hold our Christianity out to men, in word and in deed, as we use it thus ourselves. Such a power men need; such a power Christ alone can supply. (Arthur Brooks.)
The fruitless vine
I. A lesson of humility for all who have tasted that the Lord is gracious. What is the vine tree more than any tree, etc. In looking upon all the various trees we observe that the vine is distinguished amongst them--so that, in the old parable of Jotham, the trees waited upon the vine tree, and said unto it, Come thou and reign over us. But merely looking at the vine, without regard to its fruitfulness, we should not see any kingship in it over other trees. In size, form, beauty, or utility it has not the slightest advantage. We can do nothing with the wood of the vine. It is a useless plant apart from its fruitfulness. Now, beloved, this is for the humbling of Gods people. They are called Gods vine; but what are they by nature more than others? Others are as good as they; yea, some others are even greater and better than they. They, by Gods goodness, have become fruitful, having been planted in a good sell; the Lord hath trained them upon the walls of the sanctuary, and they bring forth fruit to His glory. But what are they without their God? What are they without the continual influence of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in them? Are they not the least among the sons of men, and the most to be despised of those that have been brought forth of women? Look upon this, believer. Dost thou exalt thyself? Oh! strange mystery, that thou, who hast borrowed everything, shouldst exalt thyself; that thou, who hast nothing of thine own, but hast still to draw upon grace, shouldst be proud; a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty of thy Saviour, and yet proud; one who bath a life which can only live by fresh streams of life from Jesus, and yet proud!
II. A lesson of search. As the vine without its fruit is useless and worthless; so, too, the professor, without fruit, is useless and worthless; yea, he is the most useless thing in the wide world.
1. A fruitless professor.
(1) Where are we to find fruitless professors? Everywhere--down here, up there, everywhere; in pulpits and in pews.
(2) Now, shall I tell you who is a fruitless professor? The man who neglects private prayer, and does not walk with his God in public; that man whose carriage and conversation before God are hypocritical; who cheats in trade and robs in business, yet wraps it up, and comes out with a fair face, like the hypocrite with a widows house sticking in his throat, and says, Lord, I thank thee I am not as other men are! There is a man for you, who brings forth no fruit to perfection. Another one is he who lives right morally and excellently, and depends upon his works, and hopes to be saved by his righteousness: who comes before God, and asks for pardon, with a lie in his right hand, for he has brought his own self-righteousness with him. Such a man is a fruitless professor: he has brought forth no fruit. That man, again, is a fruitless professor who talks big words about high doctrine, and likes sound truth, but he does not like sound living: his pretensions are high, but not his practice.
2. Why is it that these men are fruitless, and must be cast away? The reason is, because they have no roots. Many jump into godliness as they would into a bath; but they are very glad to jump out of it again, when they find the world pays them better. And many there are who will just come and say they are the Lords, and they think they are, but there is no root in them, and therefore by and by their impressions pass away.
3. What is Gods estimation of a fruitless professor? It is this that he is the most useless thing in the world.
4. What is to become of this fruitless tree? When an old vine is pulled off the wall, after having brought forth no fruit, what becomes of it? You know, there is a lot of weeds raked up in a corner of the garden, and the gardener, without taking any notice of it, just throws the vine on the heap of weeds, and it is burned up. If it were any other kind of tree he would at least reserve it for chopping up to make a fire within the masters house; but this is such an ignominious thing, he throws it away in the corner, and burns it up with the weeds. If it were a stout old oak, it might have the funeral of the yule log, with honour in its burning, and brightness in its flame; but the fruitless vine is treated with contempt, and left to smoulder with the weeds, the refuse, and the rubbish. It is a miserable thing. Just so with professors; all men that love not God must perish. But those who profess to love Him, and do not, shall perish with singular ignominy. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The end of mans existence
I. The end of mans existence is to love and serve God.
1. He has all the natural powers that are requisite to serve this end.
2. He is placed in circumstances that are favourable to the working out of this end.
II. This is the exclusive end of mans existence.
1. Not wealth.
2. Not pleasure.
3. Not power.
4. Not fame.
5. Not learning.
6. Not domestic comfort.
III. Man, if he does not serve this end, is fit only to be destroyed.
1. By his destruction he will be a warning to others.
2. By his destruction he will be a monument of the Divine justice. (G. Brooks.)
The end of mans existence
I. Man is naturally capable of yielding a most precious fruit: this fruit consists in living to God.
1. He is possessed of all the natural powers which are requisite for that purpose. He is endowed with reason and understanding, enabling him to perceive the proofs of the being of God, and to entertain just, though inadequate, conceptions of the principal attributes of His nature.
2. As we are possessed of natural powers, fitting us for the service of God, so He has bestowed upon us much care and culture, with an express view to this end.
II. This is the only end for which mankind are formed and preserved; this is the proper fruit of human nature, which admits of nothing being substituted in its room.
1. A mere selfish, voluptuous life cannot be supposed to be the proper fruit of human nature.
2. A life of social benevolence, in which the public good is preserved, without a supreme regard to God, cannot be this fruit.
(1) To do good to our fellow creatures, without regard to God, is to forget the principal relation in which we stand, and, consequently, to neglect the principal duty.
(2) The end of mans existence cannot, with any propriety, be considered as confined to this world; but the proper end accomplished by mere social virtues is entirely confined to the present state.
(3) No collective number of men can be independent of God, more than a single individual; therefore no such collective body has a right to consult their common interest, to the neglect of God, any more than a Tingle individual to pursue his individual interest.
III. He who answers not the end of his existence is fit only to be destroyed. The barren vine may be useful as fuel, and to this purpose it is much applied in eastern countries. Thus wicked men may be useful with a subordinate kind of usefulness, by their destruction.
1. They may thereby become edifying examples of the just vengeance of God, in order to deter others.
2. They will serve to manifest those attributes of the Great Supreme which their conduct disowned, and which it seemed virtually to call in question.
(1) What blindness attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and religion!
(2) What little room is there for that confidence which many place in correctness of deportment towards their fellow creatures, while religion is not even pretended to be the governing principle of their lives!
(3) What need have we all to examine ourselves, and seriously to inquire, whether we are yielding that fruit unto God, on which we have been insisting!
(4) How ought those to be alarmed, when the result of such examination is, that they have been hitherto utterly without fruit! (R. Hall, M. A.)
Fruit Gods primary intention
The fruit of the vine was Gods primary intention: for its wood was of no practical use: Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men make a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? God divides His gifts among trees, as among men and nations. The vine is not blamed for not being a cedar--for not yielding timber for the furniture of the temple; but simply and only for not bearing its own refreshing cluster of grapes. And so with nations: so with Israel, so with England. It is not enough for our own nation to apologise for its worldliness by proving it is no worse than some other nation. God has given us as a nation our national task; by that, and that alone, are we to be judged. We are not worse than others, Israel said; and fell. The air has laxly been full of these selfish and self-deceiving pleas: and they are our worst danger. They are the moth and rust of conscience; they both work our decay and conceal it. Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work--that elegant, delicate vine; how much less shall it be meet yet for any work when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? A nation is prosperous, not by the appearance it makes, but by the Divine purpose it follows. Without that, growing, it decays; decayed, it is cast into the fire. Let the individual also ask--For what does God want me? He wants you not to do anothers work, but your own. Your fruit is wanted in lolls vineyard. This is too wonderful for you to know why: it is enough that He knows. If I fail to give Him what is mine to give, He cannot take anything else from me. Had He made me a thorn, I would have to blossom to His honour, white and fragrant: He would understand. But seeing He has made me a vine, I must produce vine fruit for His feast of charity. The strength of the cedar He may have given to another: He knew why. I must not trouble about cedar, or oak, or fir: I must look after the fruit He expects from me. (H. E. Lewis.)
They shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them.--A man sins physically, and because the punishment comes in a subtle deterioration of the mind, he imagines he has outrun heavens red lightning. Or he sins socially, and because the fraud is not discovered, or else it is winked at, he thinks himself safe: and all the time the poison is deadening all that is fairest within him. Rather, let a man pray--even in his sin, if he can pray--that he may keep the sense of sins penalty. The torture of sin is better than its intoxication. (H. E. Lewis.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 ISRAEL COMPARED TO THE USELESS WOOD OF A WILD…
ISRAEL COMPARED TO THE USELESS WOOD OF A WILD VINE (Chap. 15)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—In the last chapter the prophet had announced that God would not spare Jerusalem for the sake of the few righteous therein. In this chapter he destroys another refuge in which they trusted. He shows how His people Israel have no native superiority over other nations, no such intrinsic value as would entitle them to be considered as a special case. They may have rested secure in the thought that Israel is compared to a vine (Psalms 80), that they could not be rejected and punished because of their election. The prophet’s answer to this false confidence is, that Israel is no longer a true vine, but mere wood, yea, even the most useless of all wood, and only fit to serve as fuel for the fire. In Eze_15:1-5 the figure is worked out in the shape of a parable. In Eze_15:6-8 we have the application of the parable. God will deal with Jerusalem as men deal with the wood of the forest vine, the worthless remains of a barren tree.
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Eze_15:1-2. “What is the vine tree more than any tree?” It was a standing figure with the prophets to compare Israel to a vine or vineyard (Isaiah 5; Hosea 10; Jer_2:21), and always, with the exception of Psalms 80, to point out its degeneracy.
Eze_15:3. Shall the wood be taken thereof to do any work? It is useless as a material for making any instrument. “For use its diameter even unfits it; while its appearance is too paltry for ornament, and it is too weak to bear anything except fruit” (Lange).
Eze_15:4. “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?” The answer to this question is given in the next verse, the force of which is this,—If in its perfect state it cannot be put to any useful purpose, how much less when it is partially scorched and consumed!
Eze_15:6. “So will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” “The Jews having utterly failed to answer the divine purpose in selecting them to be witnesses for Jehovah in the midst of the heathen, they were to be completely broken up as a nation, and punished by severe and fiery trials in succession, till the dross of their idolatry was purged away. When a professing people act unworthily of their calling, they are only fit to be rejected” (Mat_3:10; Mat_5:13) (Henderson).
Eze_15:7. “They shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them.” “Out of a fire one must come either burned or scorched. Israel has been in the fire already. It resembles a wild vine which has been consumed at both ends by the fire, while the middle has been scorched, and which is now about to be given up altogether to the fire” (Keil).
Eze_15:8. “And I will make the land desolate.” Repeating the threat of chap. Eze_14:13; Eze_14:15.
HOMILETICS
THE END OF MAN’S EXISTENCE (Eze_15:2)
The vine-tree is weaker than most trees, so as to be unfit for any work, and would therefore be very contemptible but for that property it possesses of bringing forth a valuable and delicious fruit. On this account it is highly prized and diligently cultivated. But if it fail of producing fruit, the only purpose to which it can be applied is to turn it to fuel. Such is the figurative representation which the prophet gives us in this passage of man, considered especially as the object of divine care and culture. He is naturally capable of yielding a precious fruit; in this consists his sole excellency; this is the sole end of his existence; and if he fails in this he is of no use but to be destroyed.
I. Man is naturally capable of yielding a most precious fruit: this fruit consists in living to God.
1. He is possessed of all the natural powers which are requisite for that purpose. He is endowed with reason and understanding, enabling him to perceive the proofs of the being of God, and to entertain just, though inadequate, conceptions of the principal attributes of His nature: His self-existence, His absolute perfection, His power, His wisdom, His all-sufficiency, His omnipresence, His holiness, justice, and goodness. Inferior animals do not; on which account He is the vine-tree amongst the trees of the wood, inferior in many properties to some of them, but superior in those particulars which fit him for this end, and on that account incomparably more valuable.
2. As we are possessed of natural powers fitting us for the service of God, so He has bestowed upon us much care and culture, with an express view to this end. The religious instruction He gave to His ancient people is frequently compared in Scripture to the cultivation which men bestow upon vines. “My beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill” (Isa_5:1). “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant” (Isa_5:7). He gave them His will, His ordinances, His prophets, and separated them from all nations by peculiar rites, that they might be to Him for a name and a praise and a peculiar treasure above all nations. He has done much more for us under the Gospel. None can be ignorant of the intention of God in all these provisions. “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how, then, art thou now turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?” (Jer_2:21).
II. This is the only end for which mankind are formed and preserved. This is the proper fruit of human nature, which admits of nothing being substituted in its room.
1. A mere selfish, voluptuous life, cannot be supposed to be the proper fruit of human nature. He who lives to himself is universally despised and condemned. “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit to himself” (Hos_10:1). “For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter” (Deu_32:32).
2. A life of social benevolence, in which the public good is preserved, without a supreme regard to God, cannot be this fruit. Can such persons be said to neglect the end of their existence? Undoubtedly, for the following reasons:
(1.) To do good to our fellow-creatures, without regard to God, is to forget the principal relation in which we stand, and, consequently, to neglect the principal duty. A right behaviour to each other is no proper compensation for the want of obedient regards to God (instanced in pirates and rebels). A regard to God is the root and origin of all real virtue.
(2.) The end of man’s existence cannot, with any propriety, be considered as confined to this world. But the proper end accomplished by mere social virtues is entirely confined to the present state.
(3.) No collective number of men can be independent of God, more than a single individual; therefore no such collective body has a right to consult their common interest, to the neglect of God, any more than a single individual to pursue his individual interest. The aggregate of mankind appears something great and imposing in the eyes of men, in consequence of which a peculiar importance is attached to those actions which tend to the public good. The magnitude of the general interest imposes a value on those actions which are adapted to advance so great an object. But, in the sight of God, all nations are as the “drop of a bucket;” “He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Suppose all the subjects of a lawful prince were to agree to stand by each other, and to promote each other’s interests to the utmost, would this be allowed by the prince as any atonement for a great and persevering rebellion? Or suppose a single individual so disposed, would not the result be the same? No other can be substituted for this.
III. He who answers not the end of his existence is only fit to be destroyed. He is like a vessel marred in the hands of the potter, proper only to be broken. The barren vine may be useful as fuel, and to this purpose it is much applied in eastern countries. Thus wicked men may be useful with a subordinate kind of usefulness, by their destruction.
1. They may thereby become edifying examples of the just vengeance of God, in order to deter others. That this will be one of the ends answered by the punishment of the wicked seems intimated in several passages of Scripture, as well as is supported by its analogy to human government. “And they shall go forth and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh” (Isa_66:24).
2. They will serve to manifest those attributes of the great Supreme which their conduct disowned, and which it seemed virtually to call in question. “What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?” (Rom_9:22). This is a subordinate use, not a primary end. It is that for which men fit themselves by their presumptuous and impenitent neglect of God.
(1.) What total blindness attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and religion!
(2.) What little room is there for that confidence which many place in correctness of deportment towards their fellow-creatures, while religion is not even pretended to be the governing principle of their lives!
(3.) What need have we all to examine ourselves, and seriously to inquire whether we are yielding that fruit unto God on which we have been insisting!
(4.) How ought those to be alarmed when the result of such examination is that they have been hitherto utterly without fruit! How strong the obligations on such, after considering their ways, to turn unto the Lord. And thankful should they be that space is afforded them for repentance and salvation.—R. Hall.
The Church is not to be a wilderness, but a vineyard; it is not to bear flowers only, or leaves and twigs merely, but fruit. She is not an apple-tree or fig-tree, but a vine. Wine cheers, inspirits, enlivens. Outwardly insignificant, there is the noblest power within. The grace of Christ working through poor apostles.—A Lapide.
(Eze_15:1.)
The Jews, who were the Church of God, resembled the vine.
1. Vines are few in respect of other trees, so were the Jews in respect of other people (Deu_7:7). They were the “fewest of all people.”
2. Vines are planted by hillsides, by houses, in gardens, orchards, &c., and the Jews were planted in the choicest land; “in a pleasant place” (Hos_9:13), “in a very fruitful hill” (Isa_5:1). The vine was brought out of Egypt; it was a chosen vine, and it was planted (Psa_80:8), but where? in “a good land,” even a land of brooks, fountains, springs, valleys, hills; in a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands (Deu_8:7; Eze_20:6). Therefore called a branch of His own planting, planted with His right hand (Isa_60:21; Psa_80:15).
3. Vines are weak, must have props and supports to uphold them. God dealt so by the Jews. “In the wilderness the Lord thy God bare thee as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went” (Deu_1:31). Children are weak, and must be carried in the arms; and so God did carry them (Deu_33:27).
4. Fruitful; no tree so fruitful as the vine. It is called the “fruitful vine,” it is fruitful in branches, and fruitful in clusters. The Jews were a fruitful nation. “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons, and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude” (Deu_10:22).
5. It spreads much; so the Jews, who were God’s vine (Psa_80:9-11). The psalmist saith there of this vine, that it filled the land, covered the hills with its shadow, sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river, and they spread far.
6. It is pleasant and delightful; such were the Jews (Isa_5:7).
7. Most pains required about vines of any plants or trees; much digging, dressing, pruning, supporting, fencing is needful. The Jews had much pains or cost bestowed upon them (Isa_5:4). Other trees are little looked after, but the vine must have special care (Joh_15:2). The husbandman observes every branch, the fruitful and unfruitful (Amo_3:2).—Greenhill.
THE REAL SECURITY OF CHRISTIANS
God’s Church is still the same though the outward form of it be changed. It is governed by the same principles, exposed to the same sources of danger, and only safe in the same refuge. The Christian Church is God’s Vine, and the reason of its existence, of its continuance, is exactly the same as in the case of His Church of old. What is the real security of Christians? Consider—
I. What it is not.
1. Not in their high calling, God called the Jews of old from amongst the heathen to be a separate people, a holy nation. He calls His Church now out of the world. Yet this is only means to an end, and not the end itself. He has called His people for a purpose, and if they fail to answer it they only fall from a higher elevation, and therefore into a worse destruction than others.
2. Not in their great gifts and endowments. They have the gifts of the Spirit, the means of grace, prophets and teachers, the written Word. With them lies the sacred deposit of God’s truth. But these are only the means and appliances of spiritual education. They are not in themselves knowledge, for in spiritual things knowledge comes of doing the will of God. Unless God is seen by the eye of the soul, and enjoyed as a real possession within, the doctrines and ordinances of religion become to us but barren traditions, and outward privileges only a temptation for resting in false security.
3. Not in what God has already done. God has cultivated His vine, the Church, with great care. But if any of her members stop short, and so fail to reach the end of God’s gracious design, the good which He hath wrought for them will be forfeited and will only increase their judgment. From each who hath not any solid results to show shall be taken away what has already been given, “even that which he hath.”
II. What it is. The real security of the Christian Church is its fruitfulness. God planted it for this very purpose.
1. God’s honour is concerned in the Church’s fruitfulness. The husbandman likes to see and to show the fruit of his labours. They are his reward, and they commend to others his diligence and care (St. Joh_15:8; St. Mat_5:16).
2. It is not what we receive, but what springs up from us into the fruit of good living, that determines our spiritual condition. God’s gifts are a power entrusted to us to be used for His glory. They are the seed which is sown in our hearts; but they are entirely wasted if the fruit does not appear.
3. The end decides the matter. It is in vain to rejoice at beginning well, and then imagine that all is done. The end alone determines our state before God. We were made for God’s glory, and if we have not reached that we have failed.
4. We must not boast of God’s gifts of grace as if they were products of our own nature. No ground for boasting at all, for we have literally nothing which we have not received. How much more is this true of God’s gifts of grace!
5. We must not turn God’s benefits into an excuse for sin. Our true security lies not in our privileges, but in the good use which we make of them.
(Eze_15:8.)
The sins of the inhabitants bring desolation upon a land. Canaan was a pleasant and fruitful land, a very paradise, but because they committed a trespass, corrupted God’s worship and oppressed the people, therefore God laid waste the land, even His own vineyard; He plucked away the fence, broke down the wall, and let in those wild beasts, bears, boars, and foxes, the Babylonians, who tore the vine in pieces, and rooted it wholly up, and laid all desolate. Before they came, the land was as the garden of Eden, but they left it a desolate wilderness; and where the vines grew, there were briars and thorns (Isa_7:23-24; Psa_107:3-4). If we would therefore prevent this, let us hearken to what is said, Jer_5:7.—Greenhill.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Ezekiel's Parable of the Vine
Ezekiel's Parable of the Vine
Jerusalem and Israel are compared elsewhere in Scripture to a cultivated vine, bearing or expected to bear fruit. Ezekiel's similitude, however, is that of the wild vine (Eze_15:2, RV), regarded simply as a tree. It is the most worthless of trees. Its wood is of no use for any purpose, being too weak even to make a peg of. A vine branch that happens to be half-burnt is even more worthless than it was before. Jerusalem is such a half-burnt vine, already charred by the first captivity. It is only fit for fuel, and will be wholly consumed.
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2. Or than a branch] RV 'the vine branch.'
7. From one fire, and another fire] RV 'from the fire, but the fire.' Jerusalem has survived one captivity, but will be overtaken by a second and final disaster.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Eze 15:1-8. This is the first of three parables…
Eze 15:1-8. This is the first of three parables to demonstrate still further the delusion of their false hope that deliverance would come. The vine is a type of Israel Psa 80:8-19; Isa 5:1-30, and Hos 10:1. The vine is only good for one thing, which is the bearing of fruit; apart from this it is worthless. The wood cannot be used for anything whatever. It is good for nothing but burning. Nebuchadnezzar carried out this sentence 2Ki 25:9. It reminds us also of the parable of the vine our Lord spoke, in which, speaking of the unfruitful branch, He said, “Men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” Joh 15:6. Some apply this also to Israel; it means the professing believer, who professes to be a branch in the true vine.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Vine-Tree Fit for Burning Only.
The Vine-Tree Fit for Burning Only.
As little as the Lord, for the sake of a handful of righteous people, will spare Jerusalem, so little can a preference of Israel before other nations be alleged, as placing the Jews in a position of safety. As the preceding prophecy is directed against any false confidence on the part of the righteous, so the present message takes away the illusion held by some as though the people of Israel on account of their position as the children of God were safe from destruction.
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v. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
v. 2. Son of man, what is the vine-tree more than any tree, what advantage has it above other trees, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? The wild vine has nothing that would make it particularly acceptable above other trees; on the contrary, it is less useful even than the ordinary forest-tree.
v. 3. Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? In building or manufacture. Or will men take a pin of it to bang any vessel thereon? to suspend vessels used in the household.
v. 4. Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel, that being about the only purpose which it serves; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, consuming them entirely, and the midst of it is burned, scorched, the aim even here not being realized entirely. Is it meet for any work? After the long exposition, the question is brought out with great emphasis, thus preparing the way for the answer.
v. 5. Behold, when it was whole, uninjured, when it was still growing, or immediately after it had been cut off, it was meet for no work, unfit for any purpose which would be of real benefit; how much less shall it be meet yet for any work when the fire hath devoured it and it is burned! that is, scorched, set afire. The two ends that had been consumed were evidently Israel and the bulk of Judah; what still remained was but a small remnant, and that subject to swift destruction.
v. 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 Jerusalem, of whom the vine-tree of the parable was a type.
v. 7. And I will set My face against them, determined upon their destruction; they shall go out from one fire, as from the calamities which had even now partly consumed them, and another fire, a final catastrophe, shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord when I set My face against them.
v. 8. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God, their treachery being that of their shameless idolatry. As in the case of the Jews their guilt was increased by their deliberate revolt and apostasy, so all those who fall away from the truth in our days will make themselves liable to a much severer punishment than the people who have never known the way of God’s mercy.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 5, 7 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh is talking to Ezekiel in this section.
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the word of Yahweh came
This is an idiom that is used to introduce something that God told his prophets or his people. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 3:16. AT: "Yahweh spoke this message" or "Yahweh spoke these words" (See: Idiom)
Son of man
"Son of a human being" or "Son of humanity." God calls Ezekiel this to emphasize that Ezekiel is only a human being. God is eternal and powerful, but humans are not. AT: "Mortal person" or "Human"
how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest?
Yahweh asks this rhetorical question to remind Ezekiel of something he already knows. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "a vine is not better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Do people take wood from a vine to make anything?
Yahweh asks this rhetorical question to remind Ezekiel of something he already knows. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "People do not take wood from a vine to make anything." (See: Rhetorical Question)
do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it?
Yahweh asks this rhetorical question to remind Ezekiel of something he already knows. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "they do not make a peg from it to hang things on it." (See: Rhetorical Question)
If it is thrown into a fire as fuel ... is it good for anything?
Yahweh asks this rhetorical question to remind Ezekiel of something he already knows. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "If it is thrown into a fire as fuel ... it is not good for anything." (See: Rhetorical Question)
If it is thrown into a fire as fuel
This can be stated in active form. AT: "If a person throws it into a fire as fuel" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
word of God
Son of Man
vine
fire
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 6, 7, 8 15:1–24:14 This section contains a series of eight metaphors,…
15:1–24:14 This section contains a series of eight metaphors, each reiterating from a different angle the certainty of Jerusalem’s forthcoming judgment. The images are of a worthless vine (ch 15); a faithless wife (ch 16); a vine and two eagles (ch 17); sour grapes (ch 18); a lion and her cubs (ch 19); a sword (ch 21); two degenerate sisters (ch 23); and a cooking pot (ch 24).
15:1-5 The wood of a tree can be used to make all kinds of useful objects, pegs being the simplest and most basic. A vine’s wood, however, has no strength, size, or beauty, so it is useless for pegs and it is not even good as fuel because it burns too quickly. It is completely useless.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.