Useless Vine

Ezekiel 14:1-15:8
 

Our series is titled Harder than Flint: Ezekiel
 
In Ezekiel 3:4-9 we learned where this title came from:
 
He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel—not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.” – Ezekiel 3:4-9
 
Now when flint is struck by steel the steel breaks of a tiny sliver causing a spark. (Note: The steel breaks off not the flint because it is harder than steel.)  That is the reason why flint stones were used to start fires and later to ignite gun powder in flint lock pistols and rifles. But God said He would make Ezekiel’s forehead like the hardest stone harder than flint.
 
Now before we pick up where we left off last week let’s pray and ask the Lord to speak to all of today through His message.

As we pickup in our series in chapter 14 of Ezekiel we find visited by some elders who had believed the false prophets and who had worshipped idols in their heart.
 
Starting in verse 1 we read:
 
Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all?”
“Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols, in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols.”’
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. “For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the LORD will be brought to answer him in My own person. “I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the LORD.”
“But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the LORD, who have prevailed upon that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. “They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares the Lord GOD.” – Ezekiel 14:1-11
 
Though deceived, the elders and the people were being held responsible by God for trusting the false prophets and they would be punished with the same severity as the false prophets.  The people were to blame, for they had been told in the law of Moses how to discern and deal with false prophets.
 
In Deuteronomy 13:1-5 we read:
 
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God” – Deuteronomy 13:1-5
 
Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord GOD.
“If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate.
“Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
“Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” – Ezekiel 14:12-20
 
God again pointed out the inevitability of judgment on Israel. If God would spare the wicked city of Sodom for the sake of 10 righteous people (Gen. 18:22-33), the Israelites in Ezekiel’s day thought that surely, He would spare Jerusalem because of its righteous individuals. But Ezekiel’s message made it clear that the righteous few would not prevent God’s judgment on Jerusalem.
 
For thus says the Lord GOD, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it! “Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters.  Behold, they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. “Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,” declares the Lord GOD – Ezekiel 14:21-23
 
God said a similar thing to the Prophet Jerimiah in Jerimiah chapter 15:

Then the LORD said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! “And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the LORD:
“Those destined for death, to death;
And those destined for the sword, to the sword;
And those destined for famine, to famine;
And those destined for captivity, to captivity.”’ – Jerimiah 15:1-2
 
If you compare Ezekiel’s chapter 14 prophesy to Jerimiah’s chapter 15 prophesy side by side, they say essentially the same thing.
 
It was God’s purpose (in Ezek. 14:1-23) to punish Israel for its idolatry. The biblical Daniel is the perfect example of a man who refused to compromise his beliefs.
 
God mentioned Noah, Daniel, and Job in chapter 14 verses 12 through 19 because of their similar characteristics. Each was a man of righteousness who overcame adversity. Righteous Noah was able to save only his immediate family from judgment (Gen. 6:8-7:1). Daniel was a righteous man in Ezekiel’s day whom God used to save his friends from judgment (Dan. 2:12-24). Job was a righteous man who interceded for his three friends to save them from God’s wrath after his own trials (Job 42:7-9).
 
Even if these three pillars of righteousness prayed together for mercy in a land under judgment, their praying for others in that case would be of no avail; they could save only themselves. (Compare that with Jeremiah’s words about the ineffectiveness of Moses’ and Samuel’s praying, Jer. 15:1-2.)
 
This was made even more poignant when God declared, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved (Ezek. 14:18; and. 20). Noah had “saved” his family and Job’s family was restored after his calamities; but when God’s judgment would come on Israel, they would be able to rescue only themselves.
 
Now when we look at these to prophesies side by side, we see they are one in the same.  That is God essentially repeats them to both Ezekiel and Jerimiah.
 
When God repeats something like this it is determined by Him and will not be changed.
 
And that is exactly what Joseph told Pharaoh when he summoned Joseph to interpret the two dreams Pharaoh had in Genesis 41:32 Joseph says:
 
q “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God and God will quickly bring it about.” – Genesis 41:32
 
God also sent a hand with no body to write out His Judgment on the wall in front of King Belshazzar and a thousand of his nobles.  The judgement was against King Belshazzar and King Belshazzar’s whole kingdom.  Belshazzar quickly summoned Daniel to interpret what the hand had written.  The following is Daniel’s interpretation:
 
“Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘Menè, Menè, Tekel, Peres.’ “This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. “‘Tekel’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. “‘Peres’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” – Daniel 5:25-28
 
Note how the hand wrote the word Menè twice. Menè, Menè literally means God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Daniel 5:30 tells us:
 
That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two. – Daniel 5:30-31
 
God wasted no time after He repeated Himself concerning numbering Belshazzar’s kingdom.
 
In the same way God has repeated His Judgment concerning the fate of the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants the city would not be spared and the majority of the inhabitants would die from the fire, the plague and the sword and a small remnant would be taken into captivity back to Babylon.  They would come to Ezekiel, and he would discern from their behavior that God was totally justified in destroying the city and the inhabitants. 

Now God goes on to describe in Ezekiel 15 how useless Jerusalem and the majority of the people in it had become and how He has judged them.
 
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “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? (Note: if they did it would break and so would every vessel that was hung on it.)
“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!
“Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘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. – Ezekiel 15:8
 
It is interesting here that God compares Jerusalem and its inhabitants with wood of a vine a useless vine.
 
Years later Jesus calls Himself the true vine and His followers the branches in John 15:1-6 He says:
 
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “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. – John 15:1-6
 
So, what can we learn from this passage in Ezekiel?  Certainly, we need to mourn the words and the actions of our own leaders and the people of our own nation and the rest of the people of our world who are practicing idolatry like the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  We need to understand that a similar fate awaits them.  We need to remember that Jesus is the vine we are the branches.  As branches our purpose is to bear fruit.  Proverbs 11:30 says:
 
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls. – Proverbs 11:30
 
God judged the idolatrous people of Jerusalem and gave them up to the fire, the wild beast, the plague, famine, and the sword and spared only a small number who were led away into captivity.  We must remember that even the righteous will not be able to save their city nor their nation nor their world, but they can still be fruitful and win some souls while there is still time. 
 
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
 
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. – 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
 
Based on the Old Testament Prophesies and the New Testament Prophesies and our current world events, time appears to be running out for our world as we know it.  I don’t know if you knew this or not, but a group named The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists of Chicago founded in 1945 by the Manhattan Project Scientist (i.e., some of the ones that worked on the original atomic bomb) have been keeping a doomsday clock updated since 1947 to represent how close we are to world catastrophe from unchecked technical advances. 
 
The clock represents the hypothetical global catastrophe as midnight on the clock and the Bulletin’s opinion on how close the world is to a global catastrophe as the number of minutes or seconds to midnight.  The time is re-assessed in January of each year.  Initially in 1947 they set the clock at 7 minutes to midnight.  In 1991 after the Berlin wall was taken down and after the collapse of the former USSR iron curtain countries, they set it back to 17 minutes to midnight or roughly 1020 seconds to midnight but since that time it has been ticking closer to midnight. In 2018 it was assessed and set at 2minutes or 120 seconds.  In 2020 they assessed it at only 100 seconds to midnight i.e., 100 seconds from the point of world global catastrophe. So, they have moved roughly 920 seconds closer to world catastrophe in just 29 years. If the assessments were linear that would be a rate of 31.724 seconds closer to midnight per year.  If they continued at that linear rate, we would only have roughly 3.2 years left.  But it is not linear.  In fact, in January of 2021, it was re-assessed again, and it remained at 100 seconds and that took into account the known effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic. 
 
Whether they are right or not with their current assessment, I do not know.  What I do know is that God’s Judgement will in fact eventually come upon the world just like it eventually came upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and later to the city Jerusalem and the house of Israel in Ezekiel’s day.  Remember Jerusalem was not originally destroyed when the Babylonians first captured it and took the captives back to Babylon.  Instead, the Babylonians set up a puppet government and a puppet king.  Does that sound familiar? But the people remaining in Jerusalem did not repent instead they continued to fall deeper and deeper into worshiping idols.  So, God allowed it to eventually be totally destroyed.  I also know that if we abide in the vine (Jesus) we can be fruitful until His judgement comes.  So let us be like Paul and abide in Christ and become all things to all men so that we may save some before it is too late for them.
 
Let’s Pray. Now as Carl plays let us prepare our hearts to take communion, knowing that this was so important to Jesus that He instructed His disciples to do this in remembrance of Him even before His body was broken and his blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.