Isaiah 5:1-7

Isaiah 5:1–7 KJV 1900

1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, And planted it with the choicest vine, And built a tower in the midst of it, And also made a winepress therein: And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, And it brought forth wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, Judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, That I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, Brought it forth wild grapes? 5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; And break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will lay it waste: It shall not be pruned, nor digged; But there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah his pleasant plant: And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; For righteousness, but behold a cry.

Introduction

The preacher becomes a singer.

Perhaps the people who had ignored his sermons would listen to his song.

The song of Isaiah. vss 1-2

My wellbeloved is like saying my very good friend.

The description of the vineyard in this text is vivid and life-like.

It shows the pains taken by the owner to prepare, tend, and guard the vineyard.

The great investment in the vineyard enhanced the expectation and therefore the disappointment.

A very fruitful hill.

Very fertile soil.

A lone hill that stands alone and cannot go unnoticed.

The word is literally a horn.

He fenced it.

Two features are involved with a vineyard fence.

On the outer feature, the owner would have planted a hedge of thorny bushes.

On the inner section, he would have built a stone wall around the vineyard.

These two defenses combine to thwart any varmints or thieves that would try to get in and destroy or steal the fruit.

He gathered stones out of it.

Jews were familiar with gathering stones out of their property.

The whole country is exceptionally rocky.

There is an Arabic proverb that says when God created the world, He gave all the rocks on earth to a single angel to distribute.

The angel put the rocks into two bags and flew away to scatter them.

As the angel was flying over Israel, one of the bags tore and 1/2 of the world’s rocks were dumped on that single country.

He planted the best grapes that he could find.

Still today you can find sorek grapes growing in the Middle East.

This highly esteemed oriental grape is one of the best available.

It’s a purple grape, with small raisins, and soft, tiny seeds.

He then took the stones that He had digged and used them to build a tower.

The tower was for the protection of the grapes.

It also communicated the owner’s intention of permanency.

This was not the typical booth that was cheaply made and thrown together.

This was a stone tower from which a watch could be kept over the vineyard.

The owner did everything possible to promote growth.

He even made preparations for the usage of that growth.

He built a winepress right there in the vineyard.

He then waited.

He was not unreasonable.

He knew it would take time for the grapes to produce.

Some grape varieties can take up to 3 years of care before they can produce any grapes.

The owner waited.

When the time came, though, for the vineyard to begin producing grapes, the owner was disappointed.

Imagine how he felt when he came to examine the vineyard and saw clusters on the vine.

He goes to try the first taste of the fruit he has worked so hard to produce.

Instead of sweet, fragrant and juicy fruit, he is repulsed by wild grapes on his vine.

Wild Grapes have a sour taste and a repulsive odor.

The people in that area call them wolf grapes because they are unfit for human consumption.

An invitation to judge the vineyard. vss 3-4

Isaiah asks Judah and Jerusalem to help pass judgment on the vineyard.

This whole scenario reminds me of how Nathan dealt with David after his sin with Bathsheba.

Isaiah’s readers are either silent or they agree that the owner should have received a better return on his investment.

Isaiah asks if maybe they can point out something more that the owner could have done for the vineyard.

Of course there is nothing.

The revelation of the owner’s response to the failure of the vineyard. vss 5-6

Rather than abandon the property, the owner attacks it.

He will lift his hedge of protection from the vineyard.

He will remove the thorny outer defense and he will knock down the stone wall that he had built.

This will permit animals and enemies to trample it underfoot.

He will withhold the life-giving rain upon its soil.

There will be no pruning.

No removal of superfluous offshoots.

Nor will there be any digging.

Loosen the ground for the admission of air to the roots.

The owner is willing to

The exposure of the owner and vineyard’s identities. vs 7

Isaiah does not take the risk of his hearers not understanding the hidden meaning of this parable.

He plainly explains the identities of the owner, the vineyard, and the vine.

The owner is the Lord of hosts.

Israel is the vineyard.

Judah is the pleasant plant, or the plant that brought God pleasure.

God intended for His vineyard to be an oasis.

Instead, it turned into a nightmare.

Peace, justice, and righteousness were His goal.

Instead, His work was rewarded with oppression and crying.

I like when authors go the extra step to help us understand the poetry that lies behind the English in the original languages.

We see two contrasts in verse 7.

Judgment - Oppression

Righteousness - Cry

We get the meaning of the Hebrew words that Isaiah used but we don’t get the sounds.

Listen to what these words would have sounded like.

Judgment - oppression

Mishpat - Mishpah

Righteousness - Cry

Tze-daqah - Tze-aqah

Judah and Israel were guilty of squandering the investment that God had poured into them.

Application

We have been the recipients of God’s investments as well.

Individually in the gift of salvation.

Corporately in the position that our church enjoys.

What are we going to do with our privilege?