BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Stories have a unique power to convey truth, especially when truth is uncomfortable and hard to face directly. In today’s reading, Ezekiel uses three stories to confront the Israelites with the brutal truth about their covenant unfaithfulness.

In the outer pair of narratives, Ezekiel describes Israel’s rebellious remnant as a scorched and shriveled vine. Yahweh planted his people in fertile soil where they could thrive and produce fruit. But the leaders and people have rejected Yahweh’s life-giving wisdom, causing them to wither into a useless, barren stalk.

A long allegorical story sits between the outer pair of stories. It compares Israel to an unfaithful spouse. A word of caution: Some of the language Ezekiel uses here is graphic and disturbing. Two important notes about this passage can help us understand Ezekiel’s challenging message.

First, Ezekiel’s portrayal of Jerusalem is a grotesque caricature, intentionally exaggerated for shock value. Nobody would act the way Jerusalem does in Ezekiel’s allegory. (Sex workers don’t generally pay their clients.) Ezekiel is trying to jolt the elders of Israel into recognizing the disastrous results of their unfaithfulness. So he twists the familiar metaphor of Israel’s covenant marriage with Yahweh into the most appalling nightmare he can imagine.

Remember, Ezekiel is disrupting his audience in a way that eating dung bread and lying on his side for nearly 400 days did not manage to do. This allegory should be horrifying to read. That’s Ezekiel’s whole point.

Second, it’s important to pay close attention to how Yahweh’s judgment works in Ezekiel’s allegory. Yahweh responds to Jerusalem’s adultery by giving the city what it wants: to strip itself of Yahweh’s protection and give itself into the hands of other nations. Ezekiel uses intense imagery to deliver the same essential points made by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and even Moses long before.

If the Israelites want to hook up with other gods, Yahweh won’t stop them. But he certainly wants them to avoid that decision and everything that happens after it. So Yahweh cranks up his volume through the prophets to deliver extreme warnings, helping them see what they’re in for before they get there.

Reflection Questions

• Can you think of any other places in the biblical story where God planted humans in a fertile, well-watered land to help them flourish? (Look back to Genesis 2 for a hint.) What happened? How might this hyperlink help you understand Ezekiel’s vine parables?
• The message of Ezekiel appears to be purposefully unsettling, likely because Israel’s corruption had become normalized and average. God disrupts these social norms. What does it reveal about God’s love for his people that he sends so many prophets with messages and acts meant to awaken them to their idolatry and injustice?