Isaiah 5:1 – 30 The Song of the Vineyard (Luke 13:6-9)
“I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle
and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!
And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it. For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
Woes to the Wicked
Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land. I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied. For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine. At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine.
They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands. Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.
Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion’s nobles and masses, her revelers and carousers! So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes. But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes, to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice. Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against His people; He has raised His hand against them and struck them. The mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come! None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken. Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away from deliverance.
In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.”
Business is prospering in Judah, and the rich are getting richer! There’s a building boom going on, and those with the money to do so are expanding their mansions, gobbling up the meager gardens of the poor. Each man is trying to build a bigger mansion than his neighbor. As a result of these real estate grabs, the poor are being heartlessly shoved into slums. The rich are indulging themselves by engaging in drinking parties while they continue to squeeze the last bits of money out of the poor. Amid this depravity, Isaiah is the one God has chosen to warn the hard-hearted people of Judah that everything they prize so much is about to go smash.
God chooses to compare the nation of Judah to a vineyard. God has done everything possible to make His vineyard as fruitful as possible, planting it, tending it carefully, and nurturing it as only He knows how; yet, all it is yielding is sour grapes! BLECH! God sees each time another poor man is forced off his ancestral land and each time another poor woman is cheated in the market by merchants using dishonest scales. That delicious grape juice that should have been made into wine is simply turning into sour vinegar of the worst kind.
Now God is warning the men of Judah that destruction is looming. God is about to summon a harsh bunch of terrorists to come and destroy Judah. All this wealth will go up in smoke and flames. On that day, men will search for light but the light will be gone, obscured by the clouds of smoke as Jerusalem and all of Judah is put to the sword.
APPLICATION: Why didn’t anybody pay attention when Isaiah was preaching? Didn’t anybody take Isaiah seriously? There were probably some people who did listen to Isaiah; after all, Isaiah was from a priestly family and undoubtedly had a number of friends who respected him. Isaiah couldn’t have been more blunt; “God is going to destroy Judah” is about as frank a message as possible. But many of those same friends had probably gotten caught up in competing with their neighbors and simply ignored Isaiah’s messages. Wealth, power, and alcohol form a potent combination, and those three items were inflaming the passions of many, including religious leaders.
Viewing the history of Israel and Judah through the telescope of history, it’s tempting to criticize Isaiah’s audience for failing to heed his warnings. But are we doing any better? In a day when many people are more concerned about the plight of baby seals than baby humans, in a day when precious metals mined by child labor help run vehicles, in a day when drug addiction has claimed many victims, we have no room to criticize.
Galatians 6:7 – 10 tells us: “ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
God is still on the throne. The same God who used Isaiah to warn the people of Judah about their impending doom neither slumbers nor sleeps. Actions still have consequences and our spiritual choices have eternal consequences. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!”
None of us knows what might happen tomorrow. As I am writing this, news has reached us that Mike Leach has died suddenly from a heart problem. At the time of his death, Mike Leach was one of the most successful college football coaches in America and the head football coach at Mississippi State University. Mike was a loving father and husband and an inspiration to many; yet, his life ended when his heart failed.
2 Corinthians 6:1 says, “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.” Today is the only day we have to choose to follow God! Today is the only day we have to accept the gift of eternal life God has given us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Today, God is offering you the greatest Present every given! Don’t refuse it but accept while there is still time.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all who read these words to realize that You have already given Your greatest Gift to the world when You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to be born as a man, to live and die as a man, and to shed his blood for the sins of all mankind. Help all who read these words to accept that Gift. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment