(Audio Version; Music: "Here v3" (Jobe, Leonard, Jordan), "From The Inside Out" (J. Houston)--WorshipMob HD Cover)
Introduction
“The tree of liberty must be
refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”—Thomas
Jefferson
So often we
take our liberties for granted here in America. Thomas Jefferson also said he
couldn’t imagine a country could go more than 20 years before that tree had to
be watered. Our founding fathers, in addition to being a brilliant assortment
of men, had a keen understanding about the sinful nature of humanity. Unfortunately,
one of the many ugly by-products of sin in all times and in all cultures is
tyranny. In some countries tyranny reigns because the government dictates power
to the people under its charge by force. It can be an awful existence for the
people, especially for Christians in countries where Christianity is
prohibited. In many countries in the world, Christians don’t have the liberty
to worship freely without severe persecution and even the threat of death. Here
in America, however, we have a habit of doing things differently. Here in
America we freely give up our liberties at the ballot box all with the help of
Christians. Let me give you an example: The residents of the Houston, Texas recently
elected an openly practicing lesbian Mayor. Not long thereafter, the city
adopted new legislation that allowed transgenders (For those of you who aren’t
familiar with that term, a transgender male believes he is a female and a
transgender female believes she is a male.) access to public restrooms of the
opposite sex. Some pastors in the area have spoken out against the enforcement
of the legislation. In response to these pastors, the Mayor had her henchmen
subpoena the sermons of all these pastors in an effort to determine what they
were preaching from the pulpit. It was a clear attempt by the Mayor to send a
message to area pastors specifically and Christians generally that they had
better fall in line or else. You might think that this behavior would be an
affront to all Americans and especially Christians here in America but sadly
it’s not. In fact, many Christians, whole denominations in fact, have embraced
homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle contrary to all sound biblical
teaching. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Christians participate in
electing officials that enact legislation in contravention to God’s word—not
just as it relates to homosexuality but to countless other matters that eventually
have a direct impact on Christian liberties. Christians are complicit in the
election of some of the most ungodly leaders one could ever imagine. Not just Mayors
of large and small cities but even officials of the highest offices in the
land. Often then, Christians decry the losses of their religious liberties that
inevitably ensue. Many parts of the body of Christ here in America are sick and
dying. I worry about the Church here in America. So many have wandered so far
from biblical truth I doubt they would recognize it if it were standing right
in front of them. It’s like they’ve lost their way; like they have no idea
what’s right and what’s wrong anymore. I believe Christians in America are at a
dangerous crossroad right now. They’ve cut themselves off from God’s truth in
Jesus Christ to their own peril. Jesus said that He was the vine and we are the
branches and apart from Him we could do nothing. Jesus said that branches cut
off from the vine were good for nothing but to be thrown into the fire—just Useless Branches. Like some Christians
today, Israel lost its way and was unfaithful to God. Like Christians during
the New Testament era, God intended Israel during the Old Testament era to be a
signpost pointing the nations to God through their faithfulness, holiness, and
righteousness. But when they abandoned their calling, God said they had become
nothing more than a useless vine destined for the fire.
Subject Text
Ezekiel 15:1-8
1The
word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest? 3Is
wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make
pegs from it to hang things on? 4And after it is
thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle,
is it then useful for anything? 5If it was not useful
for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something
useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred? 6Therefore
this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the wood of the vine
among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people
living in Jerusalem. 7I will set my face against them.
Although they have come out of the fire, the fire
will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that
I am the LORD. 8I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the
Sovereign LORD.”
Context
Ezekiel was
an Old Testament prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. He was a younger
contemporary to Jeremiah. Our Subject
Text contains a dire prophecy about Israel’s future. Let’s take a look at a
bit of history to get a better understanding of what was going on during
Ezekiel’s ministry. The Book of Ezekiel was written around 571 BC. The 6th
century BC was a tumultuous and bloody time for Israel and Ezekiel was a
first-hand witness to the devastation of Israel. Unfortunately for Ezekiel, he
found himself ministering to Judah in the midst of the Babylonian onslaught.
King Nebuchadnezzar extended the Babylonian empire’s control west and invaded
Judah in 605 BC. From there, Nebuchadnezzer set his sights on Israel. In 597 BC
Ezekiel was taken captive and exiled to Babylon along with many of the Jews. A
few short years later, in 593 BC, Ezekiel had his first prophetic vision during
the fifth year of what is known as the Babylonian exile. In 588 BC Ezekiel predicted
the fall of Jerusalem and in 586 BC Nebuchadnezzer burned the temple and every
other major structure in Jerusalem to the ground. For 22 years Ezekiel was
street preacher in Babylon telling anyone who would listen not just about God’s
judgment but also about God’s salvation. Ezekiel’s number one goal; the thing
God called him to accomplish was to shine a bright light on Israel’s
unfaithfulness and call them to repent and obey. Ezekiel’s ministry was to
guide Israel back to faithfulness in spite of their exile. Remember this:
Faithfulness to God did not require liberty from Babylonian captivity.
Text Analysis
1The word of the LORD
came to me: 2“Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that
of a branch on any of the trees in the forest?
Before I go
too far into trying to explain v. 1-2 of our Subject Text, I want you to see something that is the key for all
ministers of God’s Word—it comes from God. One of the biggest traps for pastors
in all ages is wandering away from God’s Word into the murky waters of personal
opinion. In seminary we were taught to hold on tight to what God says is right
and true and what God says we should do and hold on loosely to what we think is
right and true and what we think people should do. Ezekiel wants to make clear
in v. 1 that what he is about to say comes directly from God. V. 2, however, is
less clear. V. 2 is the first in a series of questions at the beginning of our Subject Text that create a trajectory
for God’s instruction given to Israel through Ezekiel. We think the answer to
v. 2 is easy but only because we know the rest of the verses. But what if you
didn’t. What if you didn’t know the whole story of Ezekiel and Israel and I were
to ask you, ‘How is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of
the trees in the forest?’ You might not know or you might say there’s no
difference or you might say, ‘That depends on what its intended use is.’ That
last response seems right to me because it takes both of the other two
responses into consideration. However, what if the vine can’t or won’t serve
its intended purpose? Well then the answer is pretty simple isn’t it? There is
no difference between the two and that seems to be the point of the question
isn’t it? Israel had a specific purpose but they refused to fulfill that
purpose. The vine represents Israel and the branches of the trees in the forest
represent the other nations of the world. Israel was supposed to be different; a
holy nation set aside as a symbol of God’s righteousness. Israel was supposed
to be an example for the way the nations were supposed to live, relate to, and
worship God. Instead, they became just as unfaithful and corrupt as the
surrounding nations. As a result the vine has become no different than the
branches of the trees in the forest. “Ezekiel’s use of this parable was an
answer to those who thought that the vine, that is Israel, was sacred and
indestructible. The only purpose of a grapevine is to produce grapes. Otherwise
it is useless except as the fuel to burn. Israel was punished because it had
abandoned that purpose that gave it value, the bearing of fruit.”[1]
3Is wood ever taken
from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on?
God takes
it a step farther in v. 3. The implication is that Israel had one purpose like
a grape vine has one purpose. If that purpose is not fulfilled, it can’t be
repurposed to take the place of the purpose of something else. All people and all
things have their purpose in God’s created order. It is not anyone’s place to
repurpose what God has purposed. “yātēd [Heb.
‘peg’] also designates a peg inserted into a wall, from which on hangs
household implements. Ezek 15:3 observes that one cannot make a peg that would
support a vessel from the wood of a vine…The peg would then give way, and the
load would be shattered.”[2]
4And after it is
thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle,
is it then useful for anything? 5If it was not useful for anything
when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the
fire has burned it and it is charred? 6Therefore this is what the
Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of
the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in
Jerusalem.
God seems
to continue along the same line of His initial questioning to demonstrate the
uselessness of a vine, this time after it has been charred by fire.
Specifically, if a vine is useless for anything other than supporting fruit,
how much more useless would it be after it is thrown in the fire? Vv. 4-6 seem
obvious but God is revealing something else in these verses—Israel’s destiny.
Israel would suffer the wrath of Babylon in part first in 605 BC, then be
defeated in a second wave in 597 BC that resulted in the exile of its
inhabitants and finally Israel would be burned to the ground in 586 BC. The
point being that a partial destruction of Israel wouldn’t suffice to bring
Israel back to faithfulness. Although the temple would be rebuilt under
Persia’s King Cyrus in 516 BC, Israel’s cycle of unfaithfulness would reach its
pinnacle with the crucifixion of Jesus in AD 30. Forty years later, in AD 70,
the Romans would completely destroy Jerusalem leaving only one wall, the
Western Wall, standing. The Temple would never be rebuilt after that.
“Jerusalem is like that vine wood, and its fate is therefore (inevitable) going
to be that of half-burnt vine branches, fit for nothing but to be thrown back
onto the fire and consumed completely. Just as the Lord has ‘given’ vine wood
to be burnt because of its uselessness, so also the inhabitants of Jerusalem
have been ‘given’ by the Lord. This implies not only a comparable divinely
determined fate (burning) but a comparable divinely determined assessment of
value (useless)…The initial defeat of Judah in 597 BC and the first exile, has
not achieved a redemptive purpose: The people have not been made any more fit
for God’s purposes, but on the contrary even more useless than before…Back into
the fire they will go, for they are fit for nothing else, and this time the
destruction will be complete.”[3]
7I will set my face
against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet
consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the
LORD.
We have to
remember that Ezekiel didn’t speak of a coming flame when he revealed God’s
intended destruction of Israel, the fire was already smoldering and it would
only be a matter of time before it became an inferno that would consume them.
Think about this for a moment—what’s the first and maybe the only thing you can
think about when you’re faced with a difficulty in your life? ‘What do I have
to do to get out of this mess?’ Although we don’t really know, I have no doubt
that there were at least some people that came to Ezekiel and ask something
just like that—‘What do we have to do to get out of this mess?’ ‘What do we
have to do so God won’t be mad at us anymore?’ Unfortunately, Israel’s destiny
was set. Clearly God knew that they would never fulfill their purpose of being
a royal vine that would bear the fruit of turning the nations toward God. The
people are about to learn the hard way that God is an immovable force against
which they would smash their sinful lives. At some point God’s patience with unfaithfulness
will wear thin and his righteous judgment will rain down on all those who
believe they can rub their sins in God’s face without suffering any
consequences. “Where God begins to put the question about the true nature of
his people, then fearful depths open up. God’s word affirms of his people that
they are useless; and this not simply on account of a passing defect which will
quickly disappear. On the contrary, by its very nature it is useless. Again and
again therefore it fails on account of its sinful human nature…Wherever God’s
people think that the can dodge this divine judgment, by whatever form of piety
they attempt to do so, then they are deceiving themselves. Gods word summons
the community to accept this judgment upon itself and to recognize that under
the revelation of the living God all its honor will be turned into shame and
all its righteousness…will be destroyed.”[4]
8I will make the land
desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
As has
always been the case, the people and the “land” are inseparable. Canaan, the
land that was given to Israel after they were delivered from their Egyptian
bondage, is part of their inheritance and a source and symbol of God’s blessing.
It was described as a land flowing with milk and honey. We learn in v. 8 that
the land will not escape the judgment resulting from the people’s
unfaithfulness. A royal vine planted in a land flowing with milk and honey has
become fuel for the fire and the land will become nothing more than a
wasteland. Nothing escapes the reach of God’s judgment—not even the inanimate
object that is the land. “When the Lord threatens to make the land a
‘desolation,’ the land receives the threat, so that both the soil itself and
the inhabitants of that territory stand under judgment.”[5]
Application
What I
usually get after a lesson like this one is something like: “Yeah, yeah but we
live in an age of Grace so this doesn’t really apply to us.” Well it is true
that Ezekiel lived during the age of the Law and we live in the age of Grace.
However, God has been and will remain the same during all ages! Here’s the real
question that I’d like someone to answer: When did the age of Grace become an
age when God could be openly mocked without consequences. In my introduction, I
told you about Thomas Jefferson’s ideal with respect to liberty. Jefferson
believed that liberty was essential for humanity to be all God created it to be
and that liberty was the fertile soil in which religious expression could grow
and prosper. However, what Jefferson perhaps failed to consider was that faithfulness to God does not require
liberty. It would probably be less painful and dangerous but it’s not
essential. Israel had no reason to be unfaithful to God who provided everything
for them. Instead, they began to adopt the ungodly practices of the surrounding
nations. It wasn’t something that happened all at once but eventually God’s
patience ran out and judged Israel to be like a vine that didn’t bear
fruit—worthless!
My greatest
fear for the Church in America is that we have squandered our gift of religious
liberty. Christians live in the perfect environment to be faithful to God. We
have been called to be a light in a world filled with darkness and are supposed
to be free to be able to do so without obstruction or persecution. And what
have many Christians done with their gift of religious liberty? They’ve elected
officials to enact legislation in direct contradiction to God’s Word. To make
matters worse, some of those same Christians have not only adopted the sinful
behavior of the surrounding culture but have invited it with open arms into
their churches! If we lose our religious liberties here in America we will have
no one to blame but ourselves. I’d like you to think about something: 80% of
Americans claim to be Christians. It would be better if that number were
grossly overstated because if it is true then how is it possible that we have
elected so many officials who enact such ungodly legislation? How is it that so
many of our religious leaders have not just closed their eyes to sinful
behavior but welcome it through the doors of their churches? In a nation with
unprecedented liberties claiming a population of 80% Christians, how do 50% of
Christian marriages end in divorce? How have we had more than 56,000,000
abortions since 1973 when a “Christian” nation first gave its consent to
infanticide? Lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals, and transgenders represent less than
3% of the entire population of America. If 80% of Americans claim to be Christians,
how is it possible that Christian businesses are being forced out of business
because they refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage ceremony?
How can homosexuality be accepted as an alternative lifestyle inside the
Church? How can Christian pastors be threatened with incarceration for refusing
to perform same-sex marriages? Do you want to know how religious liberties are lost
here in America? By being unfaithful to God. We live in an age of Grace but
there has never been, nor will there ever be, an age where God can be openly mocked
by His people indefinitely without consequences.
Thomas
Jefferson may very well be right that the tree of liberty must be watered
occasionally with the blood of patriots and tyrants, I don’t know. But
faithfulness to God is not dependent on liberty as so many Christians around
the world have demonstrated by their faithfulness to God in the face of severe
persecution and threat of death because of their faith in Christ. Conversely,
liberty does not produce faithfulness to God as America’s 200-year history
demonstrates. Like Israel, the Church is called to be salt and light to a lost
and dying world. Again, I believe the Church in America is at a crossroads. We
can either commit or recommit ourselves to being faithful followers of all of God’s
Word or, like Israel, be judged by God to be Useless Branches good for nothing but fuel for the fire.
[1]
Lamar Eugene Cooper, Sr., Ezekiel—The
New American Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group), p. 166.
[2]
Willem A. VanGemeren, Gen. Ed., New
International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, Vol. 2,
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), p. 569.
[3]
Iain M. Duguid, Ezekiel—The NIV
Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), pp. 200-201.
[4]
Walter Zimmerli, Ezekiel 1—Hermeneia:
A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible, (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress
Press, 1979), pp. 320-321.
[5]
Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville, Eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2012), p. 844.
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