11/29/2025 – Week 5 of 13 – Ezekiel study (Nov 1st thru Jan. 24th) – Chapters 15 – 17 /- Post 1 of 2// / For introduction – See 10/14/2025 post / Post 1 of 2
Here are the sources for the quotes:
Three sources for my quoted commentary excerpts this week:
(*A) – Apologetics Study Bible
(*B) – My personal standby for this study: “Be Reverent – Bowing Before Our Awesome God – OT Commentary Ezekiel” Warren W. Wiersbe / ISBN 978-1-4347-0050-6
(*C) – The Daily Study Guide Series (DSB) – “Ezekiel” by Peter C. Craigie / ISBM 0-664-21807-5
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Ok, let’s get started!:
PICTURES of FAILURE (Ezekiel 15 – 17)
(*B)
“… The three message recorded in these chapters were given to the elders who were seated before him in his own house, men who outwardly appeared interested in hearing God’s word but inwardly were idolatrous (14: 1-3).
The three parables (messages), one of each chapter are as follows:
- THE WORTHLESS VINE (15: 1-8)
- THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE (16: 1-63)
- THE TWO EAGLES AND THREE SHOOTS (17: 1-24)
PICTURES OF FAILURE (EZEKIEL 15 – 17) – Chapter Five
“…One more fact should be noted: These three parables answered the complaints of the people that God had rejected His people and was breaking His own covenant. False prophets in both Jerusalem and Babylon were building up the confidence of the people by telling them that Lord would never allow Jerusalem and the temple to fall into the defiled hands of the Gentiles (Jeremiah 29: 20-32). After all, Israel was Jehovah’s special vine, planted by Him in the Promised Land. The nation was married to Jehovah in a divine covenant, and He would never divorce herr. But even more, hadn’t the Lord promised David an endless dynasty (2 Samuel 7)? The Davidic dynasty was like a tall sturdy cedar tree that could never be felled by the Gentiles. Ezekiel used these same three images to teach the nation that the Lord was judging His people because He did have these special relationships to them! Privilege brings responsibility, and responsibility brings accountability.”
- THE WORTHLESS VINE (15: 1-8)
“… Ezekiel’s contribution to the vineyard story is to point out the worthlessness of the vine if it doesn’t bear fruit. If a tree becomes useless, you can at least cut it down and make something useful out of the wood; but what can you make out of the wood of a vine? You can’t even carve a tent peg or a wall peg out of it! It’s good for only one thing, and that’s fuel for the fire. If the wood was useless before it was thrown into the fire, it’s even more worthless after it’s been singed and marred by the flames.”
FYI – Scripture references to the vine: John 15 – (“Jesus compared Himself to a vine and His disciples to branches in the vine, because we depend wholly on Him for life and fruitfulness.”) / Revelation 14: 17-20 (“a symbol of corrupt Gentile society at the end of the age, ripening for judgment in the winepress of God’s wrath) / Multiple images applied to the nation of Israel: Psalm 80; Isaiah 5: 1-7; Jeremiah 2:21 ; Matthew 21: 28-46; Luke 20: 9-19). “In fact, Ezekiel will bring the image of the vine into the parable of the shoots (Ezekiel 17: 6-8 within our reading today)”
(*C)
“And so the parable is one of the failure of function. God had given Israel a task to undertake, but she had failed to fulfill it. And the ‘burning of the wood’ would soon be seen in the destruction of Jerusalem; if a few twigs were to escape the fire, they too would be eventually burned, as good for nothing else. Having failed to fulfill the high calling of God, there was no alternative calling to which Israel could tern, no other skill to which she could turn her hand. The end had almost come, such is the force of Ezekiel’s grim parable. The only bright spark amid the smoky gloom is the single assurance that the few who survived would know that God was the Lord (verse 7.)
The ancient parable continues to apply to the church, as it did to Israel in centuries past. Like Israel, the church has a single mission: it is to convey the love of God to the world. Love is in the roots of the church, just as it must be in the fruits of the church. For the members of the church must love God, the first commandment, and they must love one another, the second commandment. Only then can love flow through the church in the fulfillment of its mission to the world. But there is a constant tendency for the church to forget that it is a vine; it seeks instead to become an oak or a cedar. It exchanges the mission of love for a multitude of worldly pursuits, all honest in themselves, but not the purpose for the church’s existence. And when it has failed in its function, it is good for nothing else.”
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2. THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE (16: 1-63)
(*A)
“16: 1-63. The fourth reason for Judah’s fall was the nation’s history of unfaithfulness (see 12: 1-7). This 63 verse chapter is the longest continuous prophetic message in Ezekiel. It presents Judah as a prostitute (see Hosea 4: 12-15; 6:10) lacking any sense of gratitude for the Lord’s gracious choice of His people, or for His blessing and provision.”
16: 59-63. Despite the inevitability of judgment for breaking their covenant (v. 59), Ezekiel closed his story of the unfaithful sister, Judah, with a promise of restoration and a new covenant. He used emphatic language; in essence, God was saying, “I myself” will make a new everlasting and unbreakable covenant with her (vv. 60,62). The prophet added that “you will remember your ways and be ashamed” when the Lord makes atonement for her sin — a phrase pungent with Messianic overtones similar to Zechariah 12: 10-14. Judah’s new covenant would be based on repentance, an idea Ezekiel expanded in 17; 22-24 and 34: 23-29 (see also Jeremiah 31: 31-34).”
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(*B)
“… But as we read the chapter, we must see not the dark background of Israel’s wickedness but also the bright light of God’s love and grace. “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Romans 5:20 NKJV).
… “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham” (Acts 7:2 NKJV), not because Abraham earned it or deserved it, but because of God’s great love and grace…
… “There wasn’t one word of the covenant that the Lord failed to keep, and the reputation of Israel spread far and wide. During Solomon’s day, foreign rulers came to listen to him (1 Kings 10: 1-10, 24-25)….
… “Believers today who live for the world and depend on the world are committing “adultery” in a similar way (James 4: 4-6). The Lord desire and deserves our full and complete devotion (2 Corinthians 11: 1-4; Revelation 2:4)…
“…God’s goodness in allowing this to happen would bring them to shame and repentance (Romans 2:4). When you read the prayers of Ezra (Ezra 9), Daniel (Daniel 9), and the Levites who labored with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9), you see that there was still a godly remnant that humbly sought the face of the Lord and confessed their sins.”
“However, it’s likely that this restoration is reserved for the end times the Israel will see their Messiah, weep over their sins, and enter into His kingdom (Zechariah 12:9 – 13:1). History records no restoration of Som and the cities of the plain that God destroyed, nor for the kingdom of Samaria that was conquered by Assyria in 722 B.C. Ezekiel wrote about an “everlasting covenant” (Ezekiel 16:60), which indicates that this prophecy will be fulfilled in the end times. (See Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Isaiah 59:21; 61:8). Later in his book (Ezekiel 37: 15-28), Ezekiel will credit a reunion of Samaria (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom) under the kingship of the Messiah. The Lord makes it clear that this restoration and reunion will not be on the basis of the covenant made at Sinai but wholly because of His grace. The Jewish people broke that covenant and suffered for their disobedience, but nobody can be saved by keeping the law (Galatians 2:16, 21; Romans 4:5). It is only through the redemption provided in Christ Jesus that sinners can be forgiven and received into the family of God. (Ephesians 2: 8-10; Romans 3:24).
There will come a time when’s God’s people Israel will remember their sin and recognize God’s goodness and grace on their behalf. Their mouth will be shut because of conviction (Ezekiel 16:63; Romans 3:19) and they will be saved. How can a holy God forgive the sins of rebels, Jews, or Gentiles? Because of the atonement that He made on the cross when He gave His son as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14), and that included Israel. Christ not only died for the church (Ephesians 5:25) and for the sins of the world (John 3:16), but He died for His people Israel (Isaiah 53:8). One day, that new covenant will bring to them the cleansing and forgiveness that only the blood of Christ can give.”
- THE TWO EAGLES AND THREE SHOOTS (17: 1-24)
(*B)
The two eagles: 1). King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and 2). Pharaoh Hophra. “The eagle is used as a symbol of a strong ruler who invades a land (Jeremiah 48:40; 49:22).
The three kings, who are represented by three shoots.: 1)King Jehoiachin (vv. 3-4, 11-12); 2). King Zedekiah (vv. 5-10, 13-21); 3). Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, not just a king, but THE KING. (Zerubbabel means “shoot of Babylon,” but he helped to make possible the birth of the “shoot of David”.
Concluding paragraph:
“It was a dark day for the people of Israel, but when the day is the darkest, the Lord’s promises shine the brightest. God’s people today need to take heed to his prophetic Word, which is a light that shines in our dark world (2 Peter 1:19). Just as Jesus fulfilled prophecy and came the first time to die for the sins of the world, so He will the second time and reign over His righteous kingdom. The tender “shoot” of David will be the might monarch, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!”
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SolI Deo Gloria!