“Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?” (Ezekiel 15:2)
Ezekiel, the prophet received this Word from the Lord. Symbolically, the vine represents the people of God. God asks Ezekiel what makes the vine different from other trees or a branch on the trees of the forest? What sets it apart? The answer is obvious to us. What sets the people of God apart from others is His Presence. But as we read along, we find what God thinks of Jerusalem. It’s become useless. It’s just like any other tree. And worse it's like the withered branches of the trees, useless and only good to be burned. “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.” (Ezekiel 15:6) What an indictment.
If we read the chapter before this, we learn of their idolatry. God had plans for them. But in their idolatry, they are useless to do God’s work. And in their destruction even less. “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?” (Ezekiel 15:5)
In today’s world, it is not impossible to fall into idolatry, even if we don’t worship a statue. Anything can become an idol, something that takes the place of God. We may not even be aware of it. How many times have I heard that someone did not go to church because they got unexpected guests? That is idolatry. They have given their visitors priority over God. How many times do we give our family priority over God? The excuses are numerous of why we can’t give God first place. One that everyone excepts is work. People give their work priority over God. If God is Who He is, wouldn’t He provide us with work, if we honor Him over our jobs, instead of honoring our jobs over God?
Jesus said this: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 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.” (John 15:1-2) In this verse, as a branch of the true vine, Jesus, we are to produce. We are to work in the kingdom. If we are useless, the Father removes it. If we produce, we are pruned so that we may produce more. The word the Scripture uses is purge. What that means is that as we produce, we come to a plateau where that’s as much as we can do because there are things in us, maybe sin, maybe wrong attitudes, biases or selfishness that need to be removed before we are able to produce more. The Lord has to cleanse us. We need to go through a process of recognizing that there is a hinderance in our lives. We must repent of it and surrender it so that we can be cleansed of it. Then we will be able to progress. This is a never-ending process. God will continue revealing sin in our lives. And we much continue to deal with it by repenting and leaving it so we can be used of God, so we can be useful in His kingdom and so that we can be a branch that bears fruit.
What causes one branch to bear fruit and another to wither. The following Scripture says, “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.” (John 15:5) And there it is. We are talking about spiritual, supernatural, divine and eternal work. As an imperfect man in the flesh, we cannot bring forth fruit on our own. It is in continuing with the Lord, remaining in His Presence and waiting on the Lord that we will bear fruit. The useless branch was depending on himself to bear fruit. And that is an impossibility. We cannot do it apart from the vine, apart from God.
Jesus reveals how we are to do this. As we work in the kingdom, waiting on the Lord, staying close to Him, when we need Him to do something He will do it. We do the possible and He does the impossible. “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7) From experience, work in the kingdom is supernatural work. We come to a place where it will take God to complete the work. And He is faithful. This is how the Father is glorified. And this is how it is to be His disciple.
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