“And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 15:7-8)
Using the wood of a vine as imagery, the Lord makes two points to Ezekiel. First, the most important outcome of the Lord’s punishment on Judah is that Ezekiel will know that he is dealing with YHVH, the LORD. This foretelling of the future is indicative of God.
Second, great destruction is coming, though some will survive. This same imagery is used in Isaiah 6: “Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said: ‘Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.’ The holy seed is its stump.” (Isaiah 6:11-13)
Thank you, Father, for confirming your identity and for being consistent. Amen.
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