Ezekiel Chapter 15
Monday, 01/12/26 at 10:47
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com
20251023
Eze 15:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
After the last couple of chapters, and the marathon of a commentary that accompanied it, perhaps some of you are ready for something a little less challenging, so God has given us an 8 verse chapter! Enjoy this short interlude, because a sneak preview of the following one will show us that the longest chapter in the book (63 verses) shall follow!
Eze 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine (gheh-fen – bend, twining) tree (ates – wood, stock, timber) more than any (kole – the whole) tree (ates), or than a branch (zem-o-raw – twig, vine, slip) which is among the trees (ates) of the forest (yah-ar – copse of bushes)?
We now embark upon a short parable of Israel being depicted as a vine. The Psalms speak of this:
Psa 80:8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
Here it is said that God took Israel out of Egypt, and planted them in Canaan, as a man would plant a vine.
In biblical terms, a vine had one duty and one purpose only, and that was to bear fruit. Some of us gardeners in the audience have planted vines not for fruit bearing, but for beauty and a covering of structures. You need to remove the picture of your Clematis and your Virginia Creeper out of your minds as you read this. The kinds of vines that we grow for beauty are not what God had in mind. The typical Hebrew gardener would not have grown things simply for beauty. While the rich may have done so, the average person did not.
What is meant here are vines whose sole purpose was to bear fruit. Think of the grape vine. If this vine did not bear fruit, then it had zero use or value.
The Hebrew language in this verse is a bit unclear. The words ‘or than’ are in italics. The first part of the verse seems to be God asking a rhetorical question. God is asking if the wood of the vine (ie, the vine tree) is ‘more’ (ie, worth more) than any whole tree of the forest. The second part most likely means that God is also asking if the wood of the vine is worth more than even a single branch of any one actual tree in the forest.
The second possible interpretation is that, after the wood of the vine is said to not be comparable with any tree, this vine is then re-described as a single branch among all the useful, real branches of the tress of the forest.
To paraphrase each possibility:
1. What use is the fruitless vine in comparison to any tree in its wholeness, or even in comparison to a single branch?
2. What use is the fruitless vine in comparison to any tree in its wholeness? It is like a single branch of a single tree.
Either way, the assumption here is that God is speaking of a vine that he planted, but which is completely barren. The only thing to be found on it is its wood stem.
Eze 15:3 Shall wood (ates) be taken thereof to do any work (mel-aw-kaw – ministry, industrious occupation)? or will men take a pin (peg-nail) of it to hang (suspend) any vessel (utensil, thing) thereon?
Here, we obtain a better understanding of what God is trying to say. The reality of this vine is that it has no fruit. Chances are it doesn’t even have any foliage, though that is neither here nor there, as foliage had no practical use anyway. All this vine is, is its woody stem. If you try to put this stem to any practical use, you will be sorely disappointed. You cannot use it to build anything. You can’t even use a few inches of it to make a nail on which to hang something, as it has no strength for even that simple task. In other words, there is nothing useful that you can do with the wood of a vine plant.
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 (good) for any work (mel-aw-kaw)?
The only thing a fruitless vine is good for is burning. It is probably good kindling to start a fire with. As Judah was being pressed on all her borders, she was being burned up. In the center stood Jerusalem. Many of the cities all around her were already destroyed by the Babylonians in the first two attacks in 605 and 597. Now the center of the land was in imminent danger of being consumed.
God is asking his people, as his judgment fire begins to consume them at the edges, closing in on the heart of their nation, is there yet anything worth saving?
Eze 15:5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet (good) for no work (mel-aw-kaw): how much less shall it be meet (good) yet for any work (mel-aw-kaw), when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
God continues to expand upon the meaning of his parable. While a branch of an actual tree of the forest is useful for several different tasks, a fruitless vine stem has no such use. If you began to burn a solid branch of a real tree, a man may decide to pull it out of the fire before it is completely consumed, thinking that he may yet find some use for this charred piece of wood, provided it has not been damaged too severely.
Not so with a fruitless vine. Before it was thrown into the fire, no one could come up with any practical use for it. Now that it has begun to be burned up, who would ever desire to halt its destruction? To what purpose? There was nothing useful to be done with it before it began to be burnt, and there is certainly nothing to be salvaged once the burning has already began.
God is clearly saying that Judah is this fruitless vine. Because of continual sin, they have become totally fruitless, and therefore good for nothing. Before God even began to judge them (as represented by burning the vine), he says that they had no useful purpose whatsoever. And now that the judgment has began, there is no valid reason why he should stop, as there is nothing of any worth to save.
Think of the implications here. First, there comes a point in a nation’s history where God sees it as this barren vine. Before judgment begins, God can see that there is no fruit to be had from this plant anymore. So, while a nation may be at the height of its prosperity, comfort and ease, God is making a decision to destroy it. I believe that the west fell under this exact scenario in the 80’s and 90’s. We were at the height of our prosperity. We seemed to be at the top of the world. Remember how communism collapsed in the late 80’s. We soundly won the first Gulf war. Peace and safety, prosperity and blessing, seemed to be everywhere.
But at the same time, the church was sliding into gross apostasy and false movements that we believed were of God, but were not. The odious prosperity gospel, the repugnance of the gross ostentatiousness that characterized Christian television, the hyper grace and mega church phenomenons, all this and more were sowing the seeds of our eventual destruction.
Second, once the burning (judgment) begins, this verse says that there is no reason to stop it. And this leads into the preeminent dire truth that God wants us to grasp.
Very few understand that the purpose of God’s wrath is to destroy, not to correct or heal. It is to remove the unclean thing, it is not to save or deliver. Don’t expect that those who go through the wrath will suddenly become righteous. Most will become defiant and enraged instead.
We must understand the stark difference between the chastening of the Lord and his wrath. Especially when God is dealing with his own people, chastening will always be attempted first. Repeated chastenings may follow. If he sees repentance and a turning of one’s ways back towards obeying him, well and good. But more often than not, our fallen natures ignore or defy the chastening of the Lord. Like a rebellious teenager, in our hearts we have purposed in them so that no one will tell us what to do, or how to live. If we have decided we want to look at porn and masturbate continually, then so be it. If we have decided that we like to dress provocatively in order to stir up the lust in men, then that is what we will continue to do. If we love the fact that the internet is programming us to become addicted to constant, continual self validation via likes and shares and subscribes, then we choose to never give that up. When we get to such a place in our lives, where our lusts and habits rule our lives, then what can God do for us? He tried and tried, and we would not hear. He sent his prophets again and again, and we mocked and condemned and made fun of their ‘doom and gloom’ messages. So God is left with no choice. He makes a decision to judge. It is time to burn up those useless, barren vines, as they have no use in his kingdom. He begins to set us on fire. As we begin to burn, we may smell some smoke, but are usually oblivious to the fact that we are being consumed. As it reaches toward the center of our vine (ie, toward our innermost being), we end up screaming and raging against the unfairness of it all. Just as the reprobates left in Jerusalem, who refused to repent, even after their entire nation, city, and temple was burnt to the ground. Those who survived had learned nothing, and proved the fact that they were too far gone to repent. They were good for nothing except to be thrown onto the fire and burned.
Of course, all this reminds us of Jesus’ story in the gospel of John:
Joh 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
If we are brutally honest with ourselves, how many believers do we know who are truly abiding in the vine? That is, who is really living in a continual, persistent, and consistent intimacy with Jesus? Who in the church is consumed with talking about Jesus, talking to Jesus, wanting to always spend more time with him, and sees everything in this world as potential distractions and stumblingblocks that keep them away from whom they love?
Not too many of those kinds of people, I would wager.
This verse is why I believe that there is very little hope for the west. The fruitlessness has been starkly evident for quite some time. The sentence has been passed. The fires have begun. There is no good reason for God to put the fires out. America, you have shown some signs of life and repentance. Keep fighting for righteousness. Fight for all you’re worth, as this is the final hour. This is the last opportunity. Fight in the prayer closet. Fight in supporting those on the front lines. Fight, until you can fight no more. Who knows if you can obtain a reprieve from the certain destruction to come?
Eze 15:6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine (gheh-fen) tree (ates) among the trees (ates) of the forest (yah-ar), which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
God has made his argument. Before he brought the Babylonians, Judah was worthless, as far as being of any kingdom use. Babylon has attacked twice already. A lot of Judah has been actually burnt by the marauding army. And has the residue of people changed their ways? When you look at the life of king Zedekiah, did he lead the people back to God in these final, critical years? No he did not. They began as fruitless before total judgment commenced, and as total judgment proceeded, they remained totally fruitless. No repentance. No changing of their ways. No fruit whatsoever. We can read all about what they did in the book of Jeremiah. God knew exactly how they would respond. So here he lets the exiles know that judgment will not stop. There is no reason for it.
We need to grasp the deeper meaning behind all of this. We have been taught lies about Yehovah. We have been taught such lofty views of our worth that are sheer fantasy. Because Jesus died on the cross for us, we are led to believe that our worth is greater than anything that has ever been created. We have all heard the sermon that if there were just one of us on the earth that was in this fallen state, Jesus would have still died for us. Whether that is true for not is debatable, and not the point. The point is that it puts in our heart a severely unbalanced view of our worth. We think that we are so precious, so valuable, that no matter how we behave, God loves us and will always love us, and will always be wooing us and planning endless ways to get us back to the fold.
This is Harlequin romance bulldoodle. Even our theology has been swamped by demonic feminism. If we would turn off our simpering, cowardly preachers for a minute, and start paying attention to the actual word of God found in the bible, we would not be so readily deceived.
We need to ask ourselves a very uncomfortable question. Are we really of any use to the kingdom of God? Do we serve any purpose? Instead of believing the liars in the pulpits, who teach us the fantasies of men who think like insecure women, we need to grapple with the cold, harsh facts of the bible.
If we are not bearing any fruit, if we are not doing anything to further the kingdom, then exactly what are we good for? Would we not be as these Judeans, whom God judged to have no practical use for his purposes whatsoever? And what did he conclude was the only reasonable thing to do with these reprobates? Just continue to love and protect them, and shower them with prosperity and blessings? Continue to reassure and reaffirm them in their idiotic delusions? Chase those mean ole Babylonians away, so they could continue to worship their idols, and visit those witches who would put pillows under their arms, and attire themselves with gaudy garments, all the while praising their wickedness and condemning the righteous? Should Yehovah really allow such things to continue forever, just because they were supposedly his people?
No, he should not. As he did not spare Judah, so neither shall he spare us. Since we refuse to put down our idols, since we refuse to stop being programmed in wickedness by our cell phones, since we choose to continue to believe the lies about God’s character from the pulpit, since we continue to close our ears to the righteous judgments of the Lord, so we shall experience what Judah experienced. Remember, this is the God who changeth not.
Eze 15:7 And 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.
I remember after the covid mandates were lifted in 2022 in Canada, how some people cheered and bragged about how they stared the evil government down and made them back off. Even after the authorities brought in foreign mercenaries to trample and beat and pepper spray many unarmed civilians, and absolutely crushed the trucker’s convoy in its tracks. After that lesson was given, the purpose of the mandates was fulfilled, so they lifted them. Not because we made them do it, but only because they had fulfilled their evil purpose. Since then, there has been virtually zero opposition to the wicked decrees that have continually spewed forth from this dictatorship. People saw what happened to the truckers, counted the cost, and decided that to protest was just not worth it, because of what the government could and would do to them. And yet many believers thought that they had won some sort of victory!
For deluded fools such as these, fire after fire is reserved for them. That is, judgment after judgment. Now it is mass migration (or invasion). Canada, like every other western nation, is being overrun. Except that it is being done at a faster rate, in relation to the size of our population, than in any other nation on the face of the planet. And this is because God’s face is set against us.
Every judicial ruling in Canada is now wicked and unrighteous. The Supreme Court of Canada has just ruled that a mandatory minimum sentence of just one year for child pornography is ‘unconstitutional’, as each judge should reserve the right to impose a lesser sentence than that. Yet they failed to hear a single case against every lawsuit attempted to be brought forth that accused the government of criminality and breaching the charter of rights and freedoms over any and all of their illegal and evil covid lockdowns and mandates. Protecting the wicked and punishing the innocent is now the law of the land in Canada. While every provincial health agency has stripped the medical licenses of every doctor in Canada who publicly questioned any aspect of the covid narrative, they continue to hire and protect known pedophiles, who have actually been publicly exposed, by refusing to fire or even discipline them.
If you want to know what Judah looked like at the time of Ezekiel, look no further than the reality that is Canada in 2025.
Eventually, we will all acknowledge that it is Yehovah himself who is doing these things to us. But our pride, ignorance, and stupidity means that it will take a lot more pain and horror before most finally understand the reality of how this universe really works. It works by sowing and reaping. For every action, there is a consequence. And God is in charge of it all.
Eze 15:8 And I will make the land (eh-rets – earth, can also mean a land, nation or country) desolate (shem-aw-maw – devastated, a waste), because they have committed (maw-al – covered up, acted treacherously) a trespass (mah-al – grievous falsehood), saith the Lord GOD.
The three alternate meanings above succinctly sum up the moral climate in Judah at this time. There is grievous falsehood, there is treason, and there is a covering up of what is really going on. Sound familiar?
I could go on and on about the treason that, seemingly suddenly, many thousands of people are no longer afraid of committing in our nations. We can talk about all the covering up of evil deeds, as DOGE and the Trump administration is continually bringing to light in America. We can go on all day about the fake news, the lies and the gaslighting that is now part of the daily fare. But we all know these things.
What we all do not know is that these things are actually guaranteed by Yahweh to destroy our eh-rets. That is, it will destroy our nations, our countries, even the entire planet. You cannot build a life, or a family, or a church, or a nation, or a world, on lies and deceit. All we need to do is look around us. Deep down inside, we know where all of this is really headed.
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com/
