Within today’s chapters we find three parables of judgment which the Lord gave to Ezekiel to deliver to the house of Israel. First, the parable of the branch of the grapevine, whose wood is useless for anything, you can’t even make it into pegs (Ezekiel 15:3). After it gets partially burned in the fire, it’s even more obviously useless. That’s Jerusalem, says Yahweh: just as the dead grapevine gets burned as useless brush, so it will be with Jerusalem (15:6-7).

Next, the parable of the abandoned baby girl cast aside in the street, rescued and cared for and eventually wed to a prince (16:4-14). Then she runs to the street and becomes a prostitute offering herself to every man who passes by (16:15-29). This again is Jerusalem: they have whored after the gods of the nations, and have even sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to these idols (16:20-21). We have seen this, in King Manasseh sacrificing his son (II Kings 21:6), and in King Ahaz doing the same (II Chronicles 28:3).

Finally, the parable of the eagles and the vine: one eagle plants the vine, and it appears to be doing well, and then the vine shifts its loyalty to the other eagle, and will be torn apart by the first (Ezekiel 17:1-9). The imagery here is less obvious than the first two, but this is once more Jerusalem, carried off to Babylon and yet secretly rebelling against Babylonian rule (17:12-15). Although God’s promise is that somehow in the end redemption will come (16:60), nevertheless in the short run this rebellion will lead to greater punishment (17:15-16).

All three of these parables circle around the theme of judgment. Like the people of Jerusalem, we mostly want to think of ourselves as the innocent victims. Yet if we are willing to let the scripture speak to us and prod us toward repentance, we can identify with the adulterous wife who has gone whoring after foreign gods; we can recognize that we are the useless dried branch of the grapevine burned up as punky firewood; we can confess that we are the rebels who refuse to accept our punishment and in our stubbornness make the punishment even worse.

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Help us, Lord! These stories are about us: about our indifference, our lewdness, our rebelliousness. Move in our hearts, that we may see the truth about ourselves; teach us repentance, so that we may turn back to you, and be your loyal followers once again.