Ezekiel 15 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Ezekiel 15 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• We aren’t given an exact date for the revelation given to Ezekiel in chapter 14. It seems safe to assume it was in the same year or shortly after the vision of chapters 8-11, which would date it to 591 BC.

• Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:

  • Amon (642-640 BC)

  • Josiah (640-609 BC)

  • Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)

  • Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)

  • Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)

  • Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)

WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY

• Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.

• Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.

• Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.

• Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.

• Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.

• Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.

• Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.

• Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.

• Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.

• Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.  

• Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.

• Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.

OUTLINE:

• VINE WOOD (15:1-8):

  • God asked Ezekiel a question, “How does wood from a vine compare to the other types of wood in a forest?”

  • The answer was obvious. While cedar or pine could be used to construct houses, boats, and tools, vines were largely useless.

  • A vine is only good for producing fruit, but it is utterly unprofitable if it doesn’t accomplish that job.

  • Typically, when vines were cut down, they became fuel for fire.

  • God told Ezekiel He was going to give the people of Jerusalem to the fire.

  • They were largely unprofitable and useless when it came to fulfilling the role God had given them. They didn’t keep God’s laws personally, and they failed to represent God well to foreign nations.

  • They were fruitless and good for nothing.

  • God was going to burn them up with His “four disastrous acts of judgement” (14:21). If they managed to escape one, He would get them with another.

APPLICATION:

• What good are we if we choose to be unfruitful?

• Most of us know the passage about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-24. The Spirit of God produces fruit in us and through us as we grow up into maturity.

• But what if we decide at some point in our Christian lives that we are content with who we are, we stop growing, stop working towards Christlikeness, stop surrendering ourselves to God for fruit bearing?

• Fruitfulness should be our aim. We should want to be a branch producing all the fruits of God’s Spirit.

• Fruitlessness and apathy end with God’s displeasure, just as it did for the citizens of Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s day.

• Fruitfulness and growth end with God’s pleasure as He watches us grow up into the image of His Son.