Ezekiel 15:8

And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD. BECAUSE THEY HAVE COMMITTED A TRESPASS - rather, 'they have perversely fallen into perverse rebellion.' The Jews were not merely sinners as the other nations, but revolters and apostates. It is one thing to neglect what we know not, but quite another thing to despise what we profess to worship (Jerome), as the Jews did toward God and the law. [ maa`al (H4603) is to transgress through contempt and obstinacy: transgression of an inferior against a superior, willfully and presumptuously, and in disregard of one's conscience and profession. So the Reubenites (Joshua 22:16) appeared to be guilty of ma`al (H4604...

Verse Ezekiel 15:8. _THEY HAVE COMMITTED A TRESPASS_] They have _prevaricated_; they are the worst of sinners, and shall have the heaviest of punishments. Can men suppose that it is possible to hide even their dark hearts from God?...

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 15:2 WHAT IS THE VINE TREE, etc.? The prophet's mind had apparently been dwelling, after the close of his previous utterance, on the imagery of earlier writers, in which Israel had appeared as the vine of Jehovah (Genesis 49:22; Psalms 80:9; Hosea 10:1; Isaiah 5:1.; Deuteronomy 32:32; Jeremiah 2:21), and to which

AND I WILL MAKE THE LAND DESOLATE,.... The land of Judea uncultivated, men and beast being cut off; see Ezekiel 14:15; BECAUSE THEY HAVE COMMITTED A TRESPASS, SAITH THE LORD GOD; acted a treacherous and perfidious part; apostatized from God, having committed idolatry, which was the cause of their ruin; and therefore it was not without a cause that the Lord did what he did, in it; see Ezekiel 14:23....

Ezekiel 15:1. This is the first of three parables to demonstrate still further the delusion of their false hope that deliverance would come. The vine is a type of Israel Psalms 80:8; Isaiah 5:1, and Hosea 10:1. The vine is only good for one thing, which is the bearing of fruit; apart from this it is worthless. The wood cannot be used for anything whatever. It is good for nothing but burning. Nebuchadnezzar carried out this sentence 2 Kings 25:9. It reminds us also of the parable of the vine our Lord spoke, in which, speaking of the unfruitful branch, He said, “Men gath

EZEKIEL 15. THE USELESS VINE (JERUSALEM) IS DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION. We have seen some of the reasons why the illusion of the inviolability of Jerusalem was so hard to slay (chs. 12f.). Here we meet with another. The people believed themselves to be the darlings of Yahweh. Had not the great Isaiah (ch. 5) compared them to a vine, which had enjoyed His special nurture and care? Good, says Ezekiel, but remember how useless the vine is; why you cannot even make a peg out of its wood. While, as for the fruit of this particular vine he passes over this in ominous silence it has either none to show, or the foul fruit (of injustice and oppression) so stingingly denounced by Isaiah (Isaiah 5:4; Isaiah 5:7). Besides, it has already been burned at both ends an allusion to the fall of Israel in 721 B.C. and the first deportation of

COMMITTED. TRESPASS. Figure of speech _Polyptoton_. App-6. Hebrew "trespassed. trespass" for emphasis. committed. great trespass, as in Ezekiel 14:13. TRESPASS. Hebrew. _ma'al_, App-44. SAITH THE LORD GOD. [is] Adonai Jehovah's oracle....

The figure of "burning" in the fire is expressed in literal language: the land shall be made a desolation. Like his predecessor Jeremiah, the prophet sets little store by the existence of Israel as a state or kingdom among other states. Israel's mission is religious, not political. See on ch. Ezekiel 13:3....

BECAUSE THEY HAVE COMMITTED A TRESPASS— _Because they have grievously trespassed._ The Vulgate and Chaldee have it, _Because they have been prevaricators._ "They are not mere sinners," says St. Jerome, "like other nations, but have been guilty of prevarication;" for it is one thing to neglect what a person is ignorant of, and another to contemn what we should worship. REFLECTIONS.—Jerusalem in her beauty was the joy of the whole earth; but now that sin has defiled her, the flames are kindling to devour her palaces. 1. She is compared to a wild and barren vine, the most unprofitable and useless tree in the forest; unfit for any work, and only suited for fuel to the fire. And if when flourishing it be not fit for any service, how much less when reduced to ashes. 2. The application of this similitude to Jerusalem follows. This city, with the inhabitants thereof, as the unprofitable vine,...

CHAPTER EIGHT PARABLES AND PICTURES 15:1-17:24 The justification of God's judgment against Judah continues in Chapter s 15-17, but the nature of the defense changes. Here Ezekiel employs parables or allegories to paint a rather gruesome word picture of the ingratitude, sin and rebellion of God's people. He describes (1) the useless vine (Ezekiel 15:1-8); (2) the faithless wife (Ezekiel 16:1-43); (3) the fallen sister (Ezekiel 16:44-63); and (4) the lowly vine (Ezekiel 17:1-21). The section closes with a brief and optimistic parable of the stately cedar ...