Ezekiel 15:1

Ezekiel 15:1 says, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  As followers of Christ, as He did with Ezekiel, God will continue to talk to us to give us direction in life if we will only hear Him.  The message will be what we need to hear at that time.   

Verse two adds, Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?  God asked Ezekiel if the vine was greater or more important than the tree that it grew on if it produced fruit or if it was greater than the branch of  the tree.  Israel was a vine which God had planted to bear fruit for Him, or I believe looking to the New Testament that Jesus Christ is the true Vine and we as Christians are the branches The people of Israel had become a detestable vine because they had quit bearing fruit for God, so it became necessary for the true Vine to come and for those who would be God’s people to be a branch of that Vine.   

Verse three adds, Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?  God said if the vine bore no fruit, what was it worth?  It wouldn’t even be good for hanging things from since it would not be strong enough to bear any weight.  Israel had become such a worthless vine when they turned away from God and stopped bearing fruit for Him.  Like the people of Israel, we become worthless branches to God if we stop obeying His commandments, but it will not be because the true Vine, Jesus Christ has failed us.  Like Israel the fault will always be ours.   

Verse four states. 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?  God said that the worthless vine would be thrown into the fire since it was worthless for anything else.  I believe that followers of Christ, we will never be thrown into the fires of hell, but if our life is not rooted as a branch in Him, our works may one day be thrown into the fire.  Anyone who is rooted in any other vine will be thrown into the fires of hell one day.  Matthew Henry points out that once the vine has been thrown into the fire, there will never be a reason to take it out.  Once a person has been thrown into the fires of hell, there will be no redemption for them, nor will there be any redemption for the works of Christians that are done outside of the will of God.   

Verse five adds, 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?  God asked Ezekiel if the vine had not been useful by bearing fruit when it was whole, how much more useless would it be once it was devoured by the fire.  If a person has been useless to God in life by not being a part of the true Vine, they will be even more useless when they have been thrown into the fires of hell.  There will be no hope of redemption then. 

 

Ezekiel 14:21

Ezekiel 14:21 says, For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?  God asked what could be worse than when He sent His four judgments on Jerusalem.  God has many ways to punish those who do not put their faith in Him, especially those who profess to be His people who yet refuse to enter into and live in obedience to a relationship with Him.  It would indeed be a terrible thing if He used every means available to Him at once to punish sinners, and yet one day He will.   

Verse twenty-two adds, Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.  God told Ezekiel that there would still be a remnant of both men and women who would remain faithful to Him and be spared. Even if the whole world is destroyed, those who are faithful to God though repenting of their sins and accepting Jesus Christ and putting their faith in Him under the leadership of the Holy Spirit will always be part of the remnant that God spares.   

Verse twenty-two continues, And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.  God told Ezekiel that those who were a part of the remnant would be a comfort to him.  He would see this by the fact that what they were doing was in accordance with God’s law. As Christians, we should be comforted by other Christians as we work together to do God’s work, and the world should see that there is a God and know that  people had not been destroyed without cause.  We need to do all that we can to call people to God, and they should know by the way that we live that there is but one God.

Ezekiel 14:12

Ezekiel 14:12 says, The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,  God’s word came to Ezekiel again.  As stated before, we need to always be hearing form God as Christians.   

Verse thirteen adds, Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:  God told Ezekiel that when the land sinned against Him that He would send a famine on the land.  I believe that this means the people of the land and not the land itself since the land is not capable of sinning.  God may allow or even cause famine to come on a nation today if they do not put their faith in Him.  I believe this is even truer for a nation that professes to be His people but do not put their faith in Him nor obey their commandments.   

Verse fourteen continues, Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.  God said that though three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job had been a part of the land of Israel and had been obedient to Him that they could only deliver their souls by their own righteousness, or I believe the righteousness of God imparted to them because of their faith in Him.  We can only deliver our own soul because we put our faith in the righteousness of God and never in our own righteousness.  Matthew Henry points out that Noah and Job were ancients of faith and Daniel more of a contemporary and that we should never put the ancients of God ahead of people who are at work for Him today.  They were just men doing what God called them to do, just as many people are doing now. 

Verse fifteen states, If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:  God said that if He caused noisome or fearsome beast to keep the people out of the land it would be because of their sin.  If we a kept out of heaven, by whatever way God chooses to keep us out, it will always be because of our sin and our refusal to accept His gift of salvation.   

Verse sixteen adds, Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.  God once again refers to Noah, Daniel, and Job, three great men of faith, and says that their faithful obedience to Him could only save them.  We cannot be saved nor even have a country spared by anyone else’s faithfulness to God.   

Verse seventeen continues, Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:  God then refers to the possibility of His bringing the sword through Israel or maybe the certainty that it was going to happen.  If or when He allowed this to happen, it would be because of their disobedience to Him and their refusal to acknowledge Him as God. One day, Jesus Christ is going to return in judgment of the world, and those who have refused to acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord will face a fate much worse than death.  They will be sent away to everlasting punishment.   

Verse eighteen concludes, Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.  God said that when His judgment came, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there to proclaim God to them, only those three would be saved because people still wouldn’t believe them.  Once Jesus Christ returns in judgment, it will be too late for anyone to be saved, no matter who might speak to them, but it will be because of their choice to reject Him when they had a chance to accept Him.  Once more, we cannot save anyone else but only ourself.  All we can do is to witness to them as Noah, Daniel, and Job did.   

Verse nineteen says, Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:  God now speaks of sending a pestilence to the people of Israel instead of destroying them and again this would be because of their turning  away from Him.  

Verse twenty adds, Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.  God once again that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there in the land proclaiming God’s word that they would be rejected by the people and could not save them.  Of course, if they did repent and turn to God, it would not be any of these three who saved them. As God pointed out over and over, Noah, Daniel, and Job could only save themselves by their faith in Him and could only witness to other people.  This will always be true.