Dear readers, I am glad to share with you today a theme from Isaiah 5:1-5 and following. Indeed, a touching parable illustrates Jehovah’s care for his people: Israel is the vineyard of God’s beloved. Planted, then landscaped and maintained with the most tender solicitude, it ultimately produced only wild grapes, inedible and worthless. In His parable of the wicked cultivators, the Lord will express the total disappointment felt in His vineyard in Israel by the Beloved who had all rights over it (Luke 20:9-19).
But these verses also make us touch our own ingratitude. It is as if the Lord, after having made us count all the graces received since our childhood, asked with sadness one or the other of us: What else was there to do for you that I had not done? Was I not entitled to expect some good fruit from you? And yet you didn’t produce anything for me! We know the way to bear fruit. It is to remain attached to the “real vine”. Now that Israel, an unproductive vine, has been removed, Christ has become this true vine and His Father is its cultivator (John 15:1-8). In verset 8, Isaiah begins a series of “misfortunes…”; they show us the sad consequences of refusing to obey God, both for Israel and for man in general.
Here begins the prophet’s own subject, whose preface is only a glimpse. These two chapters describe the iniquity of the whole people as the vineyard of the Lord, and the judgments that will be based on him; the vine will be devastated, but a small Residue, of which Isaiah is the type, will be saved, through repentance and self-judgment. Jehovah judges his vine, that is, Israel, on the principle of what he has done for it and the fruit it should bring back after so much care. Nothing had been lacking in this care, they had been perfect and complete, so it will be completely destroyed.
Now I will sing to my beloved, … these are the words of the prophet Isaiah, to represent the state and condition of the people of Israel as a parable, whom he calls a hymn to his beloved; that is, of God the Father, whom he loved with all his heart and soul; or of Christ, who is often called the beloved of his people, especially in the book of song of Solomon; or the people of Israel, whose prophet had a great affection for being his own people. For this hymn of my beloved was inspired by him, and was made for his honor and glory (Lev 25:49). The inhabitants of Israel and the house of Judah, are compared to a vineyard, being separated and distinguished from the rest of the nations of the world, for the service and glory of God. But the grapes produced are not good and must be destroyed and replaced.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The Lord’s vineyard:
- Teaching the vine
Isa 5:1, 7 I will sing to my beloved The song of my beloved on his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard, on a fertile hillside. 7 The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah is the plant he cherished. He had hoped for righteousness, and here is bloodshed! Justice, and here are cries of distress! Jer 12:10 Many shepherds ravage my vineyard, They tread my field; They reduce the field of my delights to a desert, to a solitude. Mt 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of the house who went out in the morning to rent workers for his vineyard. Mt 21:28, 33 What do you think? One man had two sons; and, addressing the first, he said: My child, go to work today in my vineyard. 33 Listen to another parable. There was a man, master of the house, who planted a vine. He surrounded it with a hedge, dug a press, and built a tower; then he leased it to winegrowers, and left the country.
- Israel as a sterile vine
Ps 80:9 Thou had uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out nations, and you planted it. Isa 5:2 He stirred the ground, removed the stones, and put a delicious plant in it; He built a tower in the middle of it, and he also dug a vat in it. Then he hoped that she would produce good grapes, but she produced bad ones. Jer 2:21 I had planted you as an excellent vine and the best plant; How did you change, Degenerate into a foreign vine? Ez 15:6 This is why the Lord speaks, the Lord: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, This wood that I deliver to the fire to consume it, So I will deliver the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 17:6 This offspring grew, and became an extended vine stock, but of little elevation; its branches were turned towards the eagle, and its roots were under it; it became a vine stock, gave jets, and produced branches. Ez 19:10 Your mother was, like you, like a vine, planted near the waters. It was fertile and laden with branches, because of the abundance of waters. Os 10:1 Israel was a fertile vine, which returned many fruits. The more abundant his fruits were, the more he multiplied the altars; The more prosperous his country was, the more he embellished the statues.
- Desolation of Israel
Isa 1:8 And the daughter of Zion remained as a hut in a vineyard, as a hut in a field of cucumbers, as a city spared. Jer 2:15 Against him the lion cubs roar, cry out, and they ravage his country; Its cities are burned, there are no more inhabitants. Lm 1:4 The paths of Zion are in mourning, for one no longer goes to the feasts; All her doors are deserted, Her priests groan, Her virgins are afflicted, and she is filled with bitterness. Mt 23:38 Behold, your house will be left deserted;
- Warnings about Infidelity
Ct 1.6 Do not beware of my black complexion: It was the sun that burned me. My mother’s sons were irritated with me, they made me guardian of the vines. My vine, to me, I did not keep it. Isaiah 5:7 The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah is the plant he cherished. He had hoped for righteousness, and here is bloodshed! Justice, and here are cries of distress! Mt 21:43 Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and will be given to a nation that will bear fruit of it. Mt 25:24-25 The One who had received only a talent then came, and he said, Lord, I knew that you are a hard man, who reaps where you have not sown, and who amasses where you have not winnowed; 25 I was afraid, and I went to hide your talent in the earth; behold, take what is yours. Luke 16:12 And if you have not been faithful in what is to others, who will give you what is yours?
From all the above, we note from this parable that six misfortunes are pronounced against the different characteristics of iniquity. First misfortune: on the lust and the ardor to acquire and keep everything to oneself. This misfortune is the decrease in population and famine. Second misfortune: on the drunkenness and pleasures of the world. Unhappiness consists of captivity, famine and thirst, finally the sepulchre and just judgment. Third misfortune: those who knowingly do evil in defiance of God and His judgment. Fourth misfortune: for those who confuse evil and good, light and darkness, sweetness and bitterness. Fifth misfortune: on those who have a high opinion of themselves and their intelligence. Sixth misfortune: on those who use their energy to get drunk on the things of the world, who make themselves the defenders of the evil that benefits them and who blacken those who do good. Jehovah’s wrath has flared up against them, and God’s judgment will consume them and all their glory. This is the first character of the judgments, the public and complete judgment of the nation, where everything depended on the responsibility of the people. In the Gospels, God seeks fruit. Christ could take off the fig tree and put manure in it, but while doing so he was looking for fruit. That is why the fig tree is cursed and will never bear fruit, type of Israel (of man) under the first covenant. May the Lord Jesus extend His hand on all those who fear Him and want to walk according to His will. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the vision of the flying roller.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.