John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 15:6

"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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 (ASV)

Here the Prophet shows that the citizens of Jerusalem were thrown into a fire, by which they suffered various kinds of death; for although they were not immediately and entirely consumed, yet their extremities were burned off. For the whole region was laid waste all around, and the kingdom of Israel was entirely cut off: Jerusalem remained like the middle portion of the bundle.

But the inhabitants of Jerusalem were so worn down by adversity that they were like a stick burned at both ends. Since this was so, we here perceive their great stupidity in persisting in stubborn resistance, although God had humbled them so in various ways. Now, therefore, we understand the meaning of this point.

But the words of the Prophet must be explained: what shall be, or what is the wood of the vine compared with other wood? Some translate it as "with the palm branch"; others, "with the wild vine"; but both of these are foreign to the Prophet's meaning. Especially, the wild vine can have no place here.

As far as the palm is concerned, what reference is there to the palm branch in the middle of a forest? For palms are not planted in forests amidst lofty trees. But since the word זמורה, zemoreh, signifies branches as well as palms, it agrees best with the meaning to speak of every tree as branching.

What, therefore, is the vine in comparison with every branching tree that is among the trees of the forest? Here the Prophet brings before us fruitless trees, yet those that attract our notice by their beauty. And so he implies, if the Jews wish to compare themselves with the profane nations, they are not superior in any worthiness or elegance that they have naturally and of themselves.

This must be diligently noted: although God sometimes adopts those who excel in ability and learning, in warlike prowess, in riches, and in power, yet He gathers His Church as much as possible from men of humble birth, in whom no great splendor shines brightly, so that they may be objects of wonder to the world.

For what purpose, then, does God do this? For He could fashion His own elect so that they might be completely perfect in every way. But since we are too inclined to pride, it is necessary that our weakness should always be placed before our eyes to teach us modesty. For if nothing in us reminded us of our weakness, our own worthiness would blind us, or turn our eyes away from ourselves, or intoxicate us with false glory.

Therefore, God desires us to be inferior to the profane, so that we may always learn to acknowledge as received from Him whatever He has freely bestowed upon us, and not to claim anything for ourselves when our own lowliness is so plainly set before our eyes.

But as far as the Jews are concerned, they were, as we have said, like a vine, because their excellence was not natural but external. God had fashioned them, as it were, from nothing; and although they were adorned with many remarkable gifts, yet they could claim nothing for themselves.

Shall there be taken, He says, any wood from it to fashion it for any work? God here shows that the Jews were rightly preferred to others because He had planted them with His hand. For if they had been uprooted, He shows that the wood would be useless, since it could not be used for any purpose.

And Christ uses the same analogy (John 15:1–7) when He shows that by nature we have no root in us, nor sap, moisture, or vigor, since we are a vine planted by our heavenly Father. But if He roots us up, nothing remains for us but to be thrown into the fire and utterly burned.

Lastly, God shows that the Jews would be more worthless than the nations if He took away from them whatever He gave them; and He admonishes them that their state has no stability except through His goodwill towards them. For if the Prophet had only said that whatever the Jews had they owed to God, and for this reason were indebted to His generosity, they might still exalt themselves.

But it is added, in the second place, that they remained safe day by day, insofar as God spares them, cherishes, defends, and sustains them.

Therefore, the Prophet means this when he says, Shall it be taken to form any work from it, or will they take it for a peg to hang any vessels upon it? He says, Behold, it was given for consumption, and its two ends were burned up. Here, as I said, he points out various calamities by which the Jews were almost struck down, though not subdued.

For they were hardened in their stubbornness; and although they were like burned and rotten wood, yet they boasted that they were perfect through their adoption and through the covenant that God had made with Abraham. They boasted themselves to be a holy race and a royal priesthood. Yet God reproves their indolence when He says their state was like burned wood, when a bundle of twigs has been thrown into the fire, and there is some remnant so injured by the smoke as to be robbed of its strength.

Behold, He says, when it was whole could it be formed into any work! How much less after the fire has consumed it. Here the Prophet pursues the same sentiment. If anyone should take any part of the bundle after the fire had dried it, could he adapt it for any work?

If he should take the twig when whole, it would not be fit to receive any shaping; how much less could the burned wood be used for a peg or anything else. If, then, not even a peg can be found in the entire bundle when the stem is like an ember from being scorched by fire, how can it be turned to any use?

Now follows the application. He says, As I have given the wood of the vine among woods (literally, "in the wood of the forest"). From this we gather what I previously said about the branch: that it corresponds to trees and is not used for the wild vine or the palm branch.

For he now says, simply, amidst all the wood of the forest. But he says that the wood of the vine was among the wood of the forest—not because vines are merely planted there, but this comparison is used.

That is, among woods, or even among all the woods of the forest, because these trees are felled and destined for buildings, or containers are made from them, and all kinds of wooden furniture, as well as the materials of houses, are taken from trees.

He says, therefore, that the wood of the vine is given among the wood of the forest (that is, among the woods of the forest), since the twigs are burned, as they cannot be made useful to people. So have I given, He says, the citizens of Jerusalem.

Now after we understand the Prophet’s meaning, let us learn that the Holy Spirit so addressed the Jews formerly, that this discourse might benefit us in these days. We must perceive, in the first place, that we are superior to the whole world through God’s unmerited mercy, but naturally we have nothing of our own in which to boast.

But if we behave arrogantly through reliance on God’s gifts, this arrogance would be sacrilege, for we snatch away from God His own praise and clothe ourselves, as it were, in His spoils. But Paul, when he speaks of the Jews, briefly but clearly defines both sides: Do we excel?

Do we excel the Gentiles? he asks (Romans 3:1). By no means! For Scripture denounces us all as sinners—all as accursed. Since, therefore, we are children of wrath, he says, there is nothing we can claim for ourselves over the profane Gentiles.

After he has so humbled all the pride of his own nation, he repeats again: What? Are we not superior to others? Yes, we excel in every way. For the adoption, the worship, the law of God, and the covenant confer upon us remarkable superiority, such that we find nothing like it in the whole world.

How do these things agree? That the Jews excel and are to be preferred to others, and yet that they excel in nothing! Namely, because they have nothing in themselves to cause them to despise the Gentiles or boast themselves as superior; therefore, their excellence is not in themselves but in God.

And so, Paul here does not commend their virtues but says that they excel by unmerited adoption, because God made His covenant with Abraham, and they were to arise from the holy nation, because He established a fixed line of godliness among them by promising Himself to be a Father to them. Indeed, He determined that Christ should spring from them, who is the life and light of the world.

We see, then, the former privileges of the Jews; our situation is the same in these days. As often as we are favored with God’s gifts, by which we draw near to Him and overcome the world, we ought also to remember what we were before God took us up. Then our origin will humble all arrogance and prevent us from being ungrateful to God.

But that is not yet sufficient. We must also come to the second point: that not only has God’s free grace raised us to such a height, but it also sustains us, so that our stability is not founded in ourselves but depends only on His will. Therefore, not only the remembrance of our origin ought to humble us, but also the awareness of our weakness.

From this we gather that we have no perseverance in ourselves unless God daily, indeed, moment by moment, strengthens us and continually shows us His favor. This is the second point. The third is that if God afflicts or chastens us with His rods, we should know that the foolish confidence by which we deceive ourselves is by this means beaten out of us.

Here we ought to consider carefully the meaning of the phrase—the wood of the vine is useless when it is uprooted, and especially when dry.

For although the profane nations perish, yet it is not surprising if God’s judgments are more severe towards the reprobate, who had obtained a place in His Church and who had been enriched with His spiritual gifts. This ingratitude makes us an example to others, so that the whole world may be astonished at seeing in us such dreadful signs of God’s anger.

Hence the Jews were an object of hissing and abhorrence, an astonishment and a curse to the profane nations. Why was this so? They had more grievously provoked God, who had acted so generously towards them, and were not only ungrateful and treacherous but had deliberately provoked Him.

Thus it also happens to other reprobates. So this point should be carefully noted, when the Prophet says that the wood of the vine is thrown into the fire, even though other trees, when cut down, are still useful for building or for furniture.