07-05-2010, 04:00 PM
Has anyone else ever noticed this?
Eze 15:1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Eze 15:3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
Eze 15:4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
Eze 15:5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
Eze 15:6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Eze 15:7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.
Eze 15:8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
What do we learn about the vine tree in the above passage?
-that it's generally useless (v. 3) except to be burned as fuel (v. 4), and after that it's even more useless.
-in verses 6-8, the Lord makes application of the parable to Jerusalem and tells Ezekiel that that's the fate that awaits the land because of the inhabitants' sin.
Then if we go to John 15, we see the true vine and burned branches (both vine passages are found in the 15th chapter of their respective books and both passages are eight verses long).
Joh 15:1 ¶ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
When Jesus used that expression in John 15, could He have been thinking of Ezekiel 15?
That would put John 15:6 into a context where those who do not abide in Christ can be cast forth and burned without going to Hell. They'd be being "burned" to "fuel" the cause of Christ, so that could describe something like I've heard before that sometimes God gets more glory from the death of a saint than his life.
And then if Jesus is the second Adam and the true vine, then it's logical to assume that the first Adam's problem (and by extension, ours) was due to deception through a vine. If Jesus says He is the true vine, then it sounds like He was aware of an untrue one.
Also, if part of the curse was for Satan to "go upon his belly," then maybe a similar style curse befell the vine tree? Maybe it started out more like an actual tree than a vine?
Just some thoughts that came to mind as I read Ezekiel 14 and 15. They look like parallel passages to me.
Eze 15:1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Eze 15:3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
Eze 15:4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
Eze 15:5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
Eze 15:6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Eze 15:7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.
Eze 15:8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
What do we learn about the vine tree in the above passage?
-that it's generally useless (v. 3) except to be burned as fuel (v. 4), and after that it's even more useless.
-in verses 6-8, the Lord makes application of the parable to Jerusalem and tells Ezekiel that that's the fate that awaits the land because of the inhabitants' sin.
Then if we go to John 15, we see the true vine and burned branches (both vine passages are found in the 15th chapter of their respective books and both passages are eight verses long).
Joh 15:1 ¶ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
When Jesus used that expression in John 15, could He have been thinking of Ezekiel 15?
That would put John 15:6 into a context where those who do not abide in Christ can be cast forth and burned without going to Hell. They'd be being "burned" to "fuel" the cause of Christ, so that could describe something like I've heard before that sometimes God gets more glory from the death of a saint than his life.
And then if Jesus is the second Adam and the true vine, then it's logical to assume that the first Adam's problem (and by extension, ours) was due to deception through a vine. If Jesus says He is the true vine, then it sounds like He was aware of an untrue one.
Also, if part of the curse was for Satan to "go upon his belly," then maybe a similar style curse befell the vine tree? Maybe it started out more like an actual tree than a vine?
Just some thoughts that came to mind as I read Ezekiel 14 and 15. They look like parallel passages to me.