Of Vines and Fruit

Ezekiel was a prophet of God to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Part of his mission was to remind the people that their disobedience to God was the reason they were now captives in a foreign land.

In Ezekiel chapter 15, God speaks this parable to the prophet:

Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel? If it has been put into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for anything? Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything! (Ezekiel 15:2-5)

The vine in view is probably a grape vine, but I suppose the lesson could be drawn just as easily using some other kind. What’s the value of such a vine? Just one thing: bearing fruit. That’s it. You can’t take wood from it to build anything or fashion anything useful. Apart from bearing fruit, the vine serves no purpose. It is good for only one other thing: fuel for fire. And once it has been used for that, it is truly good for nothing.

The meaning of the parable? God explained:

“As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,” declares the Lord God. (verses 6-8)

In God’s view, Jerusalem (representing Judah as a whole) was a fruitless vine. The nation had been unfaithful; it had not fulfilled its purpose of serving and glorifying Him. Because it had not borne the fruit for which it was intended, there was only one thing left: the fire of judgment — the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people.

In John chapter 15, Jesus teaches his disciples about faithfulness by using a similar picture:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. (verses 4-6)

An observation by Jim McGuiggan ties these two passages together and draws a vital lesson for us:

Our reason for existing is to be fruitful unto God. Our lives are to be a manifestation of the God who brought us into being through the death of his Son. People must see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. If that purpose is not being fulfilled in our individual and corporate existence then we are truly a fruitless vine. (Ezekiel 158)

Let’s be busy bearing fruit.

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