The LORD’s Vineyard
“In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent —Leviathan, the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard. I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it; I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground. Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me—yes, let them make peace with Me.”
In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit. Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her? By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.
Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, (Therefore the guilt of Jacob will be taken away, and this is his blessing when I take away his sin; cited in Romans 11:27) and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing. For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare. When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one. And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”
Make no mistake! Both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah EARNED their destruction and exile. Almost as soon as the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they began running after the local deities. Despite periods of revival, most of the time, it looked like a religious side show. Here were Asherah poles, there were high places, down in the valley people were offering their children to Molech. On the rooftops of Jerusalem, men were worshiping the moon and the stars. Women were sewing charms into veils and weeping over fertility gods. And then the same people were trooping to the temple at Jerusalem in hopes that one magnificent sacrifice would get them back in God’s good graces so that they could plunge back into full – bore idolatry as soon as they left the temple grounds. As a result of these sins, fortified cities and altars were turned into chalk dust and the tells that were left became places for grazing cattle and women gathering fire wood.
Who is the author of all this confusion? Satan. Here God refers to Satan as Leviathan, a monster of mythological proportions, a dragon of the sea. When Messiah comes, He will demolish Satan, defeating him for all time. Then Messiah will watch over Israel, making it a fruitful spiritual vineyard. God points out that He did not destroy the nation of Israel as He did so many other ancient nations. No matter how deeply Israel sinned, God always preserved a remnant. In recent times, God preserved a remnant of the Jews from Nazi attempts to annihilate them. Many of those surviving the concentration camps fled to Israel just as she was gaining her independence.
“In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.” This prophecy is literally coming true. Modern Israel has developed many technological marvels, including the drip irrigation method that is blessing arid parts of the world.
“In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one. And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” This last ingathering of the Jews is yet to take place. When God sounds that spiritual shofar, Jews will flock to Israel as they never have before. “And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”
APPLICATION: Few images are more powerful than the ones mentioned in this chapter. In ancient times, the shofar, or ram’s horn, was used to call people to worship or to war. Here Isaiah predicts that when Messiah returns, physical and spiritual shofars will sound and Jews around the world will respond.
God has never removed His hand from Israel, despite all her sins. Many of the ancient tribes the Israelites displaced were destroyed so completely that for years scholars refused to believe that they had ever existed. It remained for archaeologists to uncover ancient records documenting the destruction of these tribes. If not for God, Israel could just as easily have suffered complete destruction and could have retreated into anonymity.
God never intended for Israel alone to worship Him; God always intended that Israel would serve as a model so that other people will see what could happen to a nation that worshiped and glorified Him. Jesus assured Nicodemus in John 3:16 that “God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten son…”
God loves each one of us so much that He refuses to leave us alone to die in our sins. Years ago, I heard the testimony of a man who had been part of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang. This man had a praying mother, and she continued to beg God for her son’s salvation day and night. Finally, God got this man’s attention, and he called his mother from a phone booth. (This was in the 1970’s – no cell phones.) His mother in South Carolina found the name of an Assemblies of God pastor in the state of Washington where her son was and called that pastor. That pastor turned out to be a huge strong man who was a former U.S. Marine. The pastor arrived to collect the man from the phone booth just as the local Hell’s Angels were about to attack and kill him. Later on, I attended church with the man’s mother when I worked in her area and confirmed the truth of the story.
Today is the only day any of us have to serve God and worship Him. Today is the day you need to turn your life over to God so that He can lead and guide you. Why continue to struggle on your own when the Maker of the universe is offering help?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all who read these words to put absolute trust in You. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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