The big picture
A short image of a vine comes from God to Ezekiel, his prophet. The question concerns its wood, not its fruit. Unlike stronger timber, vine wood is poor material for making things. Fire leaves it even less useful. God then names Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, as the city pictured by that burned wood. The people have acted unfaithfully. Their place in the land will not prevent its ruin, and escape from one danger will not end the judgement.
In this chapter
- Vine Wood Cannot Serve as Timber Ezekiel 15:1-5
God asks Ezekiel what advantage a vine's wood has over the wood of forest trees.
- The City Faces Fire and Desolation Ezekiel 15:6-8
The people of Jerusalem are the ones pictured by the wood.
Central truth
God compares Jerusalem to burned vine wood, declaring that its unfaithfulness brings ruin rather than protection from further judgement.
Scripture beside the summary
Ezekiel · King James Version · 8Ezekiel 15:1-5
Vine Wood Cannot Serve as Timber
God asks Ezekiel what advantage a vine's wood has over the wood of forest trees. It is not useful for a crafted object, not even a peg from which to hang a vessel. Put into a fire, its ends burn and its middle is scorched. It is then less fit for work than before. The questions make the answer plain through familiar material. Nothing here praises the vine's fruit or its growth. God directs attention to wood that cannot bear a useful load, especially after fire has consumed it.
In everyday life
A cabinetmaker picks up a twisted vine cutting from beside the woodpile and tests it against the shelf peg he needs. It bends where a sound piece must hold firm. A scorched piece offers even less support, so he sets it aside. God uses the wood to accuse a city's unfaithfulness, not to give advice about selecting timber.
Notice
Ezekiel 15:3 The example shrinks from making an object to making a single peg. Even that small use fails, strengthening the point about the wood's lack of practical strength.
Ezekiel 15:1-5
King James Version1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
4Behold, 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?
5Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
Ezekiel 15:6-8
The City Faces Fire and Desolation
The people of Jerusalem are the ones pictured by the wood. As vine wood is given to the fire, he will give them over to judgement. He will set himself against them. Escape from one fire will lead to another that consumes them, and they will know the Lord through his opposition. The land will become desolate because they have acted unfaithfully. The image does not call people worthless by birth. It names the consequence of their breach with God, and it denies that surviving an earlier danger guarantees safety from the next.
In everyday life
A recovery surveyor marks a damaged district as still unsafe after the first emergency ends. Residents returning to inspect their homes hear that surviving one hazard has not removed the remaining danger. She explains each restriction without treating relief as foolish. Ezekiel names renewed fire as God's judgement for unfaithfulness, not an unresolved safety condition.
Notice
Ezekiel 15:8 The final verse gives a reason for the desolation: the people have committed a trespass. The wood image serves that accusation rather than standing as an unexplained insult.
Ezekiel 15:6-8
King James Version6Therefore 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.
7And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.
8And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Ezekiel 15:1 begins with “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,”
Where the chapter turns
Ezekiel 15:4 forms a natural hinge: “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 final note
Ezekiel 15:8 leaves the reader with “And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words fire, LORD, work, meet, tree, burned help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- meet
- Suitable or fit for the particular use being discussed.
- trespass
- An act of wrongdoing that breaks an obligation to God.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
