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UPPOSEDLY, the words "useless"
and "worthless" are synonyms. However, in this passage, these two
adjectives are not synonymous, they are stages in the decline of a nation. The
inhabitants of Jerusalem are herein compared to the woody part of a vine. Now, you
wouldn't go down to the furniture store and expect to find a bedroom set that
would come in oak, mahogany, cherry or grape vine. Oh, you could find the first
three all right, but they just don't saw grape vines into planks down at the
saw mill. It's just not famous for its durability or fine grain.
Now, Israel had been a fruitless
vine. As such, she had been useless. But, in judgment, God intended to cut her
down and cast her into a fire. Once both ends of the vine had burned up and the
rest had been charred by the flames, then the vine would be worse that useless,
it would be worthless (Ezekiel 15:5). What could be done with a charred piece
of a vine, except maybe to go ahead and burn it the rest of the way (Ezekiel
15:8). Because of the transgressions of His people, God intended to destroy
them. Their sins had dragged them down to the point where they were useless,
and God's wrath was about to finish their decline.
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