Ezekiel 15:1-8 Not Good Wood
God speaks to Ezekiel concerning the vine’s strength as a wood. It is not good as wood but has other purposes not mentioned here.
God is strictly speaking to Ezekiel of the strength and usefulness of the vine for tasks that require wood. He is NOT calling the vine useless for any purpose. He has likened our relationship with Him as vine and branches. But He also says that every branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire.
Good healthy vines can be woven together to form mats or baskets. They can even be made into rope. But this can ONLY happen with green, living vines. Vines that are still pliable can be woven into wreaths or thatch coverings. But dry and brittle vines are good only for the fire.
The ‘vines’ here represent Jerusalem. And they are NOT good vines. They are fit only for the fire. There is no strength in them. They are dry and brittle. They were once ‘proud’ vines. Vines that thought themselves even better than the trees around them and which they mixed in with.
I was thinking about the ‘vines’ I have on my property. My biggest vining plants are blackberries. We have seriously cut them back but there are still PLENTY of them here. They have a root system that can be 12-18 inches deep and VERY wide. They are VERY difficult to kill.
What made me think of my blackberries though are their dead vines. If you let blackberries grow naturally, the inner portion of the bush is dead vines. They are dry and VERY sharp. If you are trying to keep control of your bushes, they need to be trimmed out each year. And they are good for nothing except the fire!
Most vining bushes have dead centers and only grow on the outer layers. This makes it nearly impossible to reach all the fruit. The live branches weave in and out of the dead ones and often grow above them. Reaching the majority of the fruit involves pushing through live and dead branches.
I have another vining plant in my yard that I don’t prune at all. It is a climbing rose. It peeks out of the canopy of one of my trees every year. It is my favorite rose, and we have MANY. This canopy of roses comes from ONE vine. The ‘tree’ it is in has a vine like structure of its own. When pruning the tree back, I have to first identify to rose vine. I protect that one stalk to ensure my roses will continue to thrive in that tree. I have no idea how prolific the vines are within the canopy of the tree. Judging by the number of roses, it is probably extensive! This vine is NOT for the fire.
There is another kind of vine that I have encountered. Not on my property here but on the property I used to live on in Tennessee. It is Kudzu vines. These vines are prolific to the extreme. And they will choke the life out of whatever they climb on. They grow so dense that the plants around them have no chance at reaching sunshine or water. They will even take over power poles! Left to their own devices, they will consume structures too. “Kudzu: The Invasive Vine that Ate the South” will give you a better understanding of this vine.
Jerusalem as a vine is producing NO fruit. It is the dead vines in the middle of the bush. These vines have broken off from the Source. They are dry and brittle. God has to prune them back if He wants to see any life from His ‘plantings’. They have been let go so long that a SERIOUS pruning is the ONLY way to save the ‘plant’. And this is what God is doing. He will keep a remnant that is producing fruit and put the rest in the fire. It will produce a heat that will make SURE those that don’t get in the fire will remember forever.
I was just wondering if the vines God is speaking of as being no good for anything except the fire could be ‘poison ivy’? I’ve learned from first-hand experience that you don’t want to stand in the smoke from burning poison ivy.
God tried reigning in these ‘vines’ earlier with many different ‘tools’ but they were stubborn and resisted EVERYTHING He tried. THIS TIME there will be NO resistance allowed. The ‘bad’ will be cleaned out with ‘extreme prejudice’! And the good will be WELL WARNED.
Father God, I know I went a little off of Your original message. I felt sorry for the vines. I see some good uses for them besides the fire. But it all depends on the life in the vines. The vines of Jerusalem had no life in them. They cut themselves off from You a LONG time ago. They were past the point of flexibility. Those vines were fit only for the fire.
PLEASE let me NEVER become like on of them! As Your child, filled with Your Spirit, I will NEVER be dead. I will always be alive and You will continually work to bring more and more fruit out of my life every day. Yes. I still need pruning too. But I am safe from the fire because of Your love! Let me NEVER boast about that on my own. I boast in it being a work YOU did for me. A work I could NEVER do on my own.
