What is the context?
A new word directs Ezekiel to prophesy against the southern forest of the Negev. The Lord will ignite a fire that consumes green and dry trees alike, scorching the land from south to north.
The fire cannot be quenched, and all people will recognize that the Lord kindled it. The image announces a judgment whose reach and outcome cannot be controlled by the people facing it.
Ezekiel then reports the response he receives: people dismiss him as someone telling parables. The picture has not led them to take the warning seriously.
The following chapter names Jerusalem, its sanctuaries and the land of Israel as the objects of the warning. The forest picture prepares for that more direct explanation.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry and Wesley understand the forest as the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Wesley takes the green and dry trees as showing that the disaster reaches different conditions and ranks of people.
Henry emphasizes the refusal behind the complaint about parables. The problem is not solved by treating the warning as an interesting story. The Lord’s next words make its application more direct.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.