151 God's Message came to me: 2 "Son of man, how would you compare the wood of a vine with the branches of any tree you'd find in the forest? 3 Is vine wood ever used to make anything? Is it used to make pegs to hang things from? 4 "I don't think so. At best it's good for fuel. Look at it: a flimsy piece of vine, thrown in the fire and then rescued - the ends burned off and the middle charred. Now is it good for anything? 5 "Hardly. When it was whole it wasn't good for anything. Half-burned is no improvement. What's it good for?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 15:1-5
Chapter Contents
Jerusalem like an unfruitful vine.
If a vine be fruitful, it is valuable. But if not fruitful, it is worthless and useless, it is cast into the fire. Thus man is capable of yielding a precious fruit, in living to God; this is the sole end of his existence; and if he fails in this, he is of no use but to be destroyed. What blindness then attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and of true religion! This similitude is applied to Jerusalem. Let us beware of an unfruitful profession. Let us come to Christ, and seek to abide in him, and to have his words abide in us.