Ezekiel 15:1

The Bible says in Ezekiel 15:1-8, “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[2] Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?[3] Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?[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 for any work?[5] Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?[6] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.[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.[8] And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.” This is an interesting passage of scripture because God reminds the nation of Israel of how small they are compared to other nations. God said that the nation of Israel was like a little vine next to huge trees. How did they survive all those centuries: God protected them. The Lord does the same thing for many Christians in the age in which we live. Christ is our strength. Christ is our protection. Christ is our defense.

The fact that Israel was compared to just a small vine has another significance: they would easily be destroyed once God brings His judgment, or once God removed His protecting hand from them. Christians who understand their dependence upon Jesus recognize a similar circumstance for their lives in this world. We are dependent on Jesus for everything. When we do not depend upon Him and His all powerful force, we also are like little vines among the great trees of the forest. How much we need Jesus every day. We are weak and He is strong. We are small and He is great. We are unwise and He is wise. We are evil and He is holy. Jesus is our everything. Because the Israelites were a small vine, they would easily be gathered up and cast into the fire and burned like a little branch. It is a good thing that we live in the age of grace and not under the law. If we were under the law, we would be in the same situation that the Israelites were in: in danger of God’s judgment. Jesus took our judgment for us on the cross of Calvary. Therefore, we owe Him everything.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 16:1-6, “Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[2] Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,[3] And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.[4] And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.[5] None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.[6] And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.” God told Ezekiel in verse 2, “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.” That should always be a part of the message given by a preacher of God’s Word: sin. We need to know how sinful we really are so that we can turn to the Lord for forgiveness. Jesus wants to forgive everyone, but He cannot do that until we realize that we need to be forgiven. The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin so that they will want to be forgiven. Jesus said about the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-11, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:[9] Of sin, because they believe not on me;[10] Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;[11] Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

In the rest of the verses in this passage God emphasizes the fact that Israel only became a nation because of God. It was God’s idea to create Israel. Israel would have never exited if it was not for God and God’s plan. Why is it that Israel was born, and why is it that they formed a nation while all the other peoples that inhabited that land were either destroyed or faded away in the pages of history? It only took one word from God for it to all happen. God looked at the land of Canaan, and God said just one word. That Word is found twice in verse 6, “Live.” God is the life-giver. He decides who lives and who dies. How long will you live: as long as God looks at you and says, “Live.” Never forget that Jesus gives eternal life. Once you come to know Jesus as Savior, He looks at you and He says, “Live forever.”

In the next several verses God tells the Israelites all the things that He did for them in addition to giving them life in the birth of their nation. The Bible says in Ezekiel 16:7-8, “I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.[8] Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.” God made the nation of Israel multiply. God supplied their needs. And God loved them. God said in verse 8, “thy time was the time of love.” Life is great when it is the time of love. God made it the time of love for them. God loved them. This is one of the greatest teachings of the Bible: this truth that God loves us. It is not just any love: it is the great eternal love. It says about Jesus, “Having loved his own, he loved them unto the end.” It says about Christians, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.” All true love comes from God. “God is love.” There is a time to love, and then there is a time to not love. When God brings a woman to a man, and their hearts are joined by God, that is the time to love. And so they get married because of the love that God gave to them for each other. God remembered all the good that He did for Israel, and God told them, “thy time was the time of love.” If you come to know the love of God through Christ, then you know what love is.

God also said in verse 8 to Israel that He “covered thy nakedness.” This symbolizes forgiveness of sin. God knows our failures. We are exposed to His all-seeing eyes. Once you become the object of God’s love instead of condemning you for your failures and sins, He forgives. Forgiveness from God is a wonderful thing. That is why Jesus died on the cross of Calvary: so He could forgive us and cover our nakedness.

And then in verse 8 God told the Israelites that He made a “covenant” with them. He made a contract, an agreement, with them. God always keeps His word. God kept His part of the covenant. But it was the covenant of the law, and the Israelites did not keep the law. How fortunate we are to have been given from God the covenant of grace. There are no conditions to our covenant except to trust in Jesus. Once you enter into this covenant with God, you receive certain benefits. God said to the Israelites at the end of verse 8, “thou becamest mine.” Once we trust in trust in Jesus, and He covers our nakedness, He makes us unchangeable promises, and He takes possession of us. From that point forward He guides our lives. He determines what happens to us. He works in our hearts to make us better Christians. We are no longer our own. We became His possession when we came to know Jesus. We were bought with a price: the precious blood of Jesus.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 16:9-14, “Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.[10] I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.[11] I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.[12] And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
[13] Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.[14] And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.” These verses are all about what God did for the people of Israel, and not one word of what they did or they accomplished. That truth certainly is symbolic is salvation. Jesus saves us. We do not save ourselves. After we are saved, Jesus makes us into the Christian that He wants us to be. “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The point is that it is all of God. It is all God’s work: coming to know Him, then being prepared by Him, and then being used by Him. God might use you as an instrument, but God is doing the work and accomplishing any good that gets accomplished. In verse 9 God said that He washed them with water. Washing with water symbolizes being cleansed from sin. It symbolized that in the Old Testament and it symbolizes that in the New Testament. As a matter of fact water baptism comes from the Old Testament. John the Baptist was an Old Testament prophet and he learned about water baptism from the Old Testament teachings. Naaman was told to go to the river Jordan and dip himself in the water seven times to get healed and cleansed. That was water baptism. The phrase “water baptism” means literally cleansing with water by dipping in water. When you cleanse something with water, you typically put it in the water such as dishes in a sink or a person in a tub, especially if you do not have running water. By that cleansing with water is only symbolic. The real cleansing comes from Jesus when He saves you from your sins. That is the cleansing you need. If you get water baptism and you think that cleanses you from sin then you are terribly wrong. You must come to Jesus and pray to get cleaning from sin. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

In verse 9 God says that He anointed the people of Israel and the nation of Israel with oil. Of course, this is symbolic of God choosing someone. God makes choices. God chooses some people and rejects others. He rejects those that reject Him. God rejects those who reject the invitation to come to Christ and be saved. What a privilege it is to be one of God’s special anointed ones. It is not just some preachers or a few other people who have some outward gift that are anointed. Every believer in Jesus is anointed just like the Jewish people in the Old Testament were anointed. If you know Jesus, God has chosen you and made you a part of His Kingdom, His work, and His plan. What an honor He bestows upon us, and we are only sinners who believed on Jesus.

In verses 10 through 13 God talks about the beautiful clothing, the jewels, the bracelets, and the silver and gold that He adorned the Jewish people with. Of course, this symbolizes the beauty of holiness. God loves His chosen people. They are beautiful to Him. One of the benefits of being saved through faith in Christ is that God starts working in your life to make something beautiful out of it. “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Why did God make something good out of Israel, and why does He make something good out of each believer in Christ? God gives the answer to that in Ezekiel 16:14, “And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty.” God loves everyone on the earth and He wants to reach everyone. God loves the heathen. Jesus died for everyone: every single person on this earth. And God’s method for reaching the people of the earth with the good news about Christ is to take each believer, make something out of their lives, give them a beautiful Christian character, and use them as lights in a dark world. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

___________________________________________________