Ezekiel

Chapter 15

Jerusalem the Useless Vine

Ezekiel 15 presents Jerusalem under the image of a vine branch that has no practical value once separated from fruitfulness. Unlike stronger forest wood, vine wood is too weak for construction and fit only for fuel, especially once fire has touched it. The chapter applies that image directly to Jerusalem: because the city has been unfaithful, the inhabitants will be handed over to consuming judgment and the land will be made desolate.

This brief oracle sharpens Ezekiel's case against Jerusalem by stripping away every illusion of inherent worth or security. The issue is not that the vine once had no purpose, but that apart from covenant fruitfulness it has no remaining claim to usefulness or protection. In the flow of the book, the chapter reinforces that privilege without faithfulness becomes grounds for judgment rather than immunity from it.

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Ezekiel 15

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vv. 1-8

Jerusalem the Useless Vine

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T¹hen the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest? ³Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils? ⁴No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it!

⁶Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. ⁷And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD. ⁸Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

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01vv. 1-8Jerusalem the Useless VineThe LORD asks Ezekiel to consider what value vine wood has compared with other trees of the forest. It cannot be fashioned into tools or even a peg for hanging utensils, and once fire has consumed its ends and charred its middle it is plainly useless. So too with Jerusalem: because the people have acted unfaithfully, God will set His face against them, and even if they seem to escape one fire, another will consume them until the land lies desolate.