The Vineyard of the LORD a Song of My Beloved
THE VINEYARD OF THE LORD
The parable of the vineyard
This chapter in Isaiah is among the most beautiful and insightful passages in all of scripture.
“For exquisite beauty of language and consummate skill in effective communication, this parable is virtually peerless. One difficulty of a literary masterpiece is that a would-be translator who is not the literary equal of the author faces an impossible task … It is in fact an outstanding example of the way the inspiring Spirit employed human language to convey the divine message.” Grogan
Isa 5:1-2
The unproductive vineyard
Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes.
This parable is a story of God to Israel. The Lord tells the story in a language the Jewish people were familiar with. The nation of Israel understood the parable of the vineyard and the many advantages God had given them. They are the vineyard in the story.
My Well-beloved
The vineyard belonged to a caring vine-dresser (my Well-beloved). It was positioned on a very fruitful hill. The ground was carefully prepared (dug it up and cleared out its stones). It was planted with good stock (planted it with the choicest vine). It was protected (a tower in its midst). The proper provision was made for the fruit to be processed (made a winepress in it).
What the scholars think
“No possession is dearer to a man than a vineyard, and there is none that demands more constant and persevering toil. Not only, therefore, does the Lord declare that we are his beloved inheritance, but at the same time points out his care and anxiety about us.” Calvin
“I have been thinking of the advantages of my own position towards the Lord, and lamenting with great shamefacedness that I am not bringing forth such fruit to him as my position demands. Considering our privileges, advantages, and opportunities, I fear that many of us have need to feel great searchings’ of the heart.” Spurgeon
Israel received many advantages under The Lord’s care; it is not surprising that He expected it to bring forth good grapes. But instead, it brought forth wild grapes.
What the scholars think
Wild grapes: “We are dealing here with something worse than unfruitfulness. The New Testament also speaks of a faith that brings forth fruit, but the fruit is dead works, which pollute the air like a cadaver. The wolfs-bane, or wild vine (2 Kings 4:39), does bear beautiful berries, but they are bitter, foul-smelling and poisonous in nature. This is a precise description of the self-willed and false religion of the unfaithful covenant people.” Bultema
Wild grapes: “Poisonous berries … not merely useless, unprofitable grapes, such as wild grapes; but grapes offensive to the smell, noxious, poisonous.” Clarke
Wild grapes are what one would expect if nothing had been done for the vine. The love and care of God produced something worse than no fruit. The hill where The Lord tilled the field would have been better left barren. That barren field would come later during the judgment of God.
Isa 5:3-4
God asks Jerusalem and Judah to consider the story of the vineyard
“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?”
Judge, please, between me and my vineyard: The question is simple. Who is to blame for the bad harvest? Is it the fault of the hard-working farmer, or can the vineyard be blamed?
We know of course we can’t fault a vineyard for lack of production. The weather, soil conditions, and effort of the farmer are where we should look first. In this story, the farmer is The Lord, and he controls the weather and gave his best in his care for the vineyard. But in the Lord’s vineyard, the free will of man, Israel, is where we must look for blame.
What more could have been done to my vineyard?
In the story, there was nothing left undone by the owner of the vineyard. He did all he could do. In the same way, God cannot be blamed at all for the wild grapes Israel brought forth. God did his part by putting Israel in a great position to find success. It was Israel’s responsibility to respond well. They did not.
What the scholars think
The fault lies with man, not God. “It will be seen then … that every soul of man had the chance of becoming a fruitful vineyard; and if it became the reverse, it was due to no failure in either the wisdom or grace of God.” Meyer
“O you that profess to be his people, what more could Christ have done for you? What more could the Holy Spirit have done? What richer promises, what wiser precepts, what kinder providences, what more gracious patience?” Spurgeon
A warning from the Apostle Paul
Most people do not receive the work of God with gratitude. Paul the Apostle warned, “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain”. (2 Corinthians 6:1)
Of course, a literal vineyard doesn’t work to produce fruit. But we, as God’s vineyard, are called to receive the grace of God. We ‘return the favor by producing the ‘fruit of righteous deeds. God doesn’t want us to receive His grace and then become passive. Paul knew that God gives His grace, we work hard, and the work of God is done.
Jesus used this same image in His parable of the wicked tenants and the vineyard (Matthew 21:33-46).
“Has it been so with us? Have we rewarded the Well-beloved thus ungratefully for all his pains? Have we given him hardness of heart, instead of repentance; unbelief, instead of faith; indifference, instead of love; idleness, instead of holy industry; impurity, instead of holiness?” Spurgeon
Isa 5:5-7
God’s judgment on the unproductive vineyard.
“And now, please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
I will take away its hedge:
All the owner of the vineyard must do is stop providing special protection to the vineyard, and it shall be burned … it shall be trampled down.
I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or dug: The vineyard will receive nothing from the Lord. The vineyard resisted and protested the “pruning” and “digging” and “watering” the owner did. So now, the owner says, “Fine. No more pruning or digging or watering. You will see for yourself if that is better.”
Many discouraged children of God wish the Lord would stop pruning, stop digging, and stop watering. Those things may be hard, but it is even worse when the Lord stops doing them!
He looked for justice,
but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold, weeping:
The prophet plays on words here. In Hebrew, he wrote, “He looked for mishpat, but behold mispat; for tsedaqua, but behold tseaqua.”
Woe to the nation ripe for judgment.
Isa 5:8-10
Woe to the land barons.
Woe to those who join house to house; they add field to field, till there is no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land! In my hearing, the Lord of hosts said, “Truly, many houses shall be desolate, great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield one ephah.”
Woe to those who join house to house:
This is a picture is of greedy real estate owners buying multiple properties from families in debt.
More from the scholars
“For it cannot be condemned as a thing in itself wrong, if a man add field to field and house to house; but he looked at the disposition of mind, which cannot at all be satisfied, when it is once inflamed by the desire of gain. Accordingly, he describes the feelings of those who never have enough, and whom no wealth can satisfy.” Calvin
“Covetous persons are of the dragon’s temper, who, they say, is so thirsty, that no water can quench his thirst. Covetousness is a dry drunkenness, saith one, an insatiable dropsy, and like hell itself.” Trapp
Many houses shall be desolate, great and beautiful ones, without inhabitants: When judgment to these land barons, their real estate deals will not be successful, and their little empires will come to ruin.
“When men are covetous after the things of this world, God has a way of making them to be filled with disappointment and with bitterness.” Spurgeon
Isa 5:11-17
Woe to those who party endlessly, and celebrate everything but God.
Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow an intoxicating drink; who continue until night, till wine inflames them! The harp and the strings, the tambourine and flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the Lord, nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore my people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge; their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself and opened its mouth beyond measure; their glory and their multitude and their pomp, and he who is jubilant shall descend into it. People shall be brought down, each man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness. Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture, and in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat.
Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow an intoxicating drink:
The picture is of those who “work hard” to party and endlessly celebrate. Their lives are filled with substance abuse and music – But they do not regard the work of the Lord, nor consider the operation of His hands.
Is this lifestyle wrong—if so why? The simple answer; is that it forgets about God. Though they may claim to remember Him in some way, they do not regard the work of the Lord, nor consider the operation of His hands. Anyone who really does regard the work of the Lord, and really does consider the operation of His hands, will live as if God is real and as if there is much more to life than partying and entertainment.
Therefore my people have gone into captivity:
those who forget about God because of their partying and entertainment will be judged by captivity that will end the laughs (he who is jubilant, shall descend into it), exalt the Lord (the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment), and reward the meek (the lambs shall feed in their pasture).
Isa 5:18-21
Woe to those who confuse moral issues, who think that they know better than God does.
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as if with a cart rope; that say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it.” Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity:
This image is that of fools. They idiotically draw sins to themselves and think themselves clever the more sinful pleasures they pull closer.
Scholars say
“They flatter themselves by imagining that what is sin is not sin, or by some excuse or idle pretense they lessen its enormity. These, then, are cords, wicked ropes, by which they draw iniquity.” Calvin
“That are not only drawn to sin by the allurements of the world, or by the persuasions of wicked men, being surprised and overtaken by sin, as sometimes good men are … but are active and industrious in drawing sin to themselves, or themselves to sin; that greedily and steadily pursue sin, and the occasions of it, and are not at rest until they have overtaken it; that sin willfully, and resolvedly, and industriously.” Poole
“With vain and deceitful arguments and pretenses, whereby sinners generally draw themselves to sin.” Poole
“Let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it.”
Their responses show their arrogant contempt for the LORD. It is as if they are saying, “Go ahead, God. We are ready for your judgment.”
“He either cannot or will not do us any harm: we do not fear him, let him do his worst; let him begin as soon as he pleases. Not that any of the Israelites were so impudent as to use these expressions; but this was the plain language of their actions; the lived as if they were of this opinion; their presumption and security showing their desperate contempt of God, and of all his judgments.” Poole
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil:
Using clever and deceptive words, they blur moral issues and excuse their sin. They look at their own evil and call it good, and they look at the good of others and call it evil. Isaiah is describing a sickening moral decay, we see in our cultures today.
Isa 5:22-23
Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing an intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man!
Woe to the men mighty at drinking: We can picture these types today. Men and women boast of their ability to ‘hold their liquor’ or ‘drink others under the table.
Experts say
“The prophet inveighs against this vice a second time, because it was grown so common. Drunkards also are a sottish kind of creatures, and had therefore more than need to be double dealt with … Many of these sots take it for a great glory that they are mighty to drink wine.” Trapp
“Nothing is more base or disgraceful than for a man to make trial of his strength in swallowing food or in guzzling wine, and this struggling with himself so as to cram down as much as his belly can hold. Such men keep no rule of life, and do not know why God gives them nourishment; for we eat and drink to support the body, and not to destroy it.” Calvin
Who justifies the wicked for a bribe, and takes away justice from the righteous man: These are men who care only for their own pleasure and entertainment, and care nothing for others.
Isa 5:24-30
The LORD promises a sure and complete judgment.
Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like dust; because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them and stricken them, and the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the end of the earth; surely they shall come with speed, swiftly. No one will be weary or stumble among them, no one will slumber or sleep; nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, nor the strap of their sandals be broken; whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses’ hooves will seem like flint and their wheels like a whirlwind.
Their roaring will be like a lion,
they will roar like young lions; yes, they will roar and lay hold of the prey; they will carry it away safely, and no one will deliver. In that day they will roar against them like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened by the clouds.
As the fire devours the stubble, as the flame consumes the chaff:
Stubble and chaff are both very flammable. God is warning of sudden, complete, and severe judgment will hit the nation of Israel.
Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel:
Every one of Judah’s sins could be traced back to rejection and despising what God says. Man’s opinion was far more important to them than God’s word. As it was then, so it is today.
He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar and will whistle to them from the end of the earth:
God will call foreign nations to come and invade Judah, making them instruments of His judgment upon them. This is a tool the Lord has used in the past. He will do the same in the future.
They shall come with speed, swiftly
No one will be weary or stumble among them … Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed … Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent: the armies God calls against Judah are ready for swift brutal destruction. They are totally focused, prepared, and ready. The strong men of Judah boast of their victorious drinking contests! The unprepared nation of Judah will certainly fall against such dedicated enemies.
Behold, darkness and sorrow; and the light are darkened by the clouds:
War approaches. Why would the Lord put Judah in such a place? Correction is harsh but necessary. God corrects those he loves. The question for Judah then and us today is this, “Will we listen to God’s warning?”
God will redeem Israel: Isaiah 43:1-7
The Chosen Servant of God: Isaiah 42 part one: Jesus
What does the watcher reveal?
Get your copy here.
Every book purchase helps support this ministry. Thank you!
Let me know what you think.