THE short 15th chapter treats Israel under the well-known figure of the vine—God’s vine, responsible to bring forth fruit. (Psalm 80:8-11: Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1, and many other passages refer to Israel as the vine, or the vineyard, which God had planted and cared for). The vine had failed to yield fruit to God, its husbandman, and now His word to Ezekiel is, “What is the vine (or, the wood of the vine) more than any wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work?”
It is not useful as the wood of other trees, and even as fuel its value is low. Israel had already experienced the fire of God’s indignation in the captivity of both “ends” of the nation—the ten tribes and the two, and only the small part was left in possession of the land; these were more wicked than their fellows who had gone into captivity.
God was therefore about to give to the fire the inhabitants of Jerusalem who are viewed as representative of the people left in the land of their forefathers. He would set His face against them, and when they would seek to escape front one fire, another would devour them. This, we may gather, referred to the effort to escape from the besieged city, which ended in the capture of those who fled. (Jeremiah 39:4-9).
Chapter 16 takes up Jerusalem in another way, under the symbol of an unfaithful wife. The city’s beginning was Canaanitish, and there was evidently nothing in its early history of which to be proud. Its first name was Jebus, which is said to mean “Trodden down”, Captured after the death of Joshua (Judges 1:8) it was only fully taken possession of by David when he made it the capital city (2 Samuel 5:6-9), It was then that God bestowed His favor on the place, and after David’s death, when Solomon built the magnificent temple and beautified Jerusalem, it became a city of extra-regal splendor, But the pinnacle of glory thus attained was quickly followed by fearful departure from God, even in Solomon’s day (1 Kings 1:1-8). The course of Israel thereafter was an evil one for the most part, as is shown by 1 Kings 14:22-24; 2 Kings 17:7-23; 2 Chronicles 36:12-16, and many other passages.
Idolatry was the great snare of the children of Israel in all their history until they were carried as captives into the land of idols,—Babylon. Since then they have left idols alone. With the spread of idolatry there was abandonment of the place of separation from the Gentile world, and seeking alliance in turn with Egypt and with Assyria; God, as Israel’s Husband and Protector, was given up. So acting, it was impossible but that immorality and violence abounded, for one wrong step leads to another.
Judgment is pronounced upon Jerusalem because of all this (verse 35 and following). More corrupt than Samaria and Sodom was the city once marked out as God’s choice; indeed Samaria (the capital of the ten tribe kingdom of Israel) had not sinned according to half of Jerusalem’s sins.
Nevertheless, Jehovah will remember His covenant with His earthly people, and will establish an everlasting covenant (see Jeremiah 31: 31-341). For this, Israel must be redeemed—brought back from among the dead (Romans 11:15).
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