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.