Ezekiel 15:1-8 & 16:1-29
Q.1. Why did God accuse Israel of being a useless vine? What will happen to Israel? – (Ezk.15:1-8)
The wood of the vine is almost useless for any purpose, except for firewood (Ezk.15:1-3 c.f. Isa.5:1-7). Applying this to the nation of Israel, God declared that since it was already charred, it was ready to be totally consumed (Ezk.15:4-6). God’s fire of judgment would consume them – 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 (Ezk.15:7).
Q.2. How did Israel respond to the history of God’s love for them? Has the church fulfilled its mission with greater faithfulness? – (Ezk.16:1-29)
Just as Isaiah had described the people as children of Sodom and Gomorrah, Ezekiel identified the nation with the Canaanites and Amorites, since they no longer demonstrated that they were people of God (Ezk.16:3 c.f. Isa.1:10; Jn.8:44). Despite Israel’s helpless beginning as slaves – God chose her. He took her naked and bare and gave her life – “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so, I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord God (Ezk.16:8). He blessed her above all the nations, so that her fame spread throughout the world. How did she respond? – You trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing (Ezk.16:15). Worse still – 20 “Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter? 21 You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire Ezk.16:20-21). She played the harlot with Egypt from whom God had set her free, and also with the other nations’ gods (Ezk.16:23-29). History shows that the church from the first century onwards, (c.f. Rev.chpt.2-3), has constantly strayed from the paths of righteousness. This underscores the amazing patience of the Lord (c.f. 2 Pet.3:9).