The first part of chapter 5 of
Isaiah is about a vineyard planted and tended by YHWH which did not produce
good fruit. In His parable about a vineyard (Matt 21:33-46), wicked servants
stole the fruit and were punished. In this chapter, slothful workers fail to
produce good fruit and are punished. In both cases, the thieving and slothful
workers are national Israel and God is the owner of the vineyard.
Isaiah 5:1-2 (HCSB) "I will
sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love
had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He broke up the soil, cleared it of
stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of
it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but
it yielded worthless grapes."
This is God speaking; the One He
loves is the Son Who did the work. In verses 3 & 4 the residents of
Jerusalem and Judah are identified as witnesses of what is happening.
Isaiah 5:3-4 (HCSB) "So now,
residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between Me and My
vineyard. What more could I have done for My vineyard than I did? Why, when I
expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes?"
In the next two verses the judgment
of God is revealed. He will reduce the vineyard to wasteland, just as He cursed
the fig tree that did not bear fruit (Matt 21:18-22).
Isaiah 5:5-6 (HCSB) "Now I
will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge,
and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I
will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers
will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall
on it."
The end of this passage testifies
to the power and authority of the One created all things and judges all things.
And it reveals who is represented by the vineyard.
Isaiah 5:7 (HCSB) "For the
vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the
plant He delighted in. He looked for justice but saw injustice, for
righteousness, but heard cries of wretchedness."
YHWH owns the vineyard which is
the national Israel (north and south kingdoms mentioned). They do injustice and
are wretched and judgment will fall on them. This is the nature of the law
covenant: temporal blessedness for obedience; judgment and punishment (often at
the hands of pagan nations) for disobedience.
Contra is the New Covenant,
wherein every branch will abide in the Root and bear good fruit (Matt 21:43).
Note this: in Matt 21, Jesus has been telling many things to the leaders of
national Israel and to His disciples, telling them of the disobedience of
Israel and the judgement to come. This last reference, verse 43, is a critical
passage, for we see here that ethnic Israel was a temporary people, just as the
Mosaic Covenant was a temporary covenant. These things served their purposes as
shadows and types. But in due season, the kingdom was revealed as spiritual and
eternal and it was taken from the temporary, temporal "guardian" of
ethnic Israel and given to the eternal, spiritual heirs of spiritual Israel.
Verses 8-17 depict the first 2
woes pronounced upon apostate Israel.
Isaiah 5:8 (HCSB) "Woe to
those who add house to house and join field to field until there is no more
room and you alone are left in the land."
This "woe" must be seen
in its context. YHWH had given His covenant people land, tribe by tribe, with a
provision for the Levites. In this way, no child of Abraham (according to the flesh)
would be homeless. But. Sinful men who accumulated power began to take
advantage of the poor. This was a comment charge of God against national
Israel. This one comment in verse 8 may be reflective of King Ahab's taking of
Naboth's land as recorded in 1 Kings 21.
The prophet Isaiah then records:
Isaiah 5:9-10 (HCSB) "I heard the LORD of Hosts say: Indeed, many houses
will become desolate, grand and lovely ones without inhabitants. For a ten-acre
vineyard will yield only six gallons, and 10 bushels of seed will yield only ⌊one⌋
bushel."
Judgment from God upon those who
put their trust in things of this world. Recall how He would not allow Gideon
to win the battle with many men, so all would know it was YHWH who had won the
day. Recall how the children of Israel declared "some trust in horses and
chariots but we trust in the name of our God!" Yet like so many of us,
they grew comfortable and, like the farmer in the parable who went to sleep
planning to build bigger barns, the Hebrew nation would find out their crops could
not be depended upon if the Lord of the harvest did not bring in the produce.
Isaiah 5:11-12 (HCSB) "Woe
to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the
evening, inflamed by wine. At their feasts they have lyre, harp, tambourine,
flute, and wine. They do not perceive the LORD’s actions, and they do not see
the work of His hands."
The second "woe" -
revealing another way in which the Hebrews had betray their God. They had grown
comfortable living for today, engaging their fleshly senses with all sorts of
stimuli. In the midst of so much luxury, they had forgotten Who had made all
this possible, they had lost sight of their creator.
Isaiah 5:13-15 (HCSB) "Therefore
My people will go into exile because they lack knowledge; her dignitaries are
starving, and her masses are parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol enlarges its
throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her
masses, her crowds, and those who carouse in her! Humanity is brought low, man
is humbled, and haughty eyes are humbled."
Because of their rebellion in
seeking security in their stuff, God would send them into exile; the grave
would consume many of them - all who sought satisfaction in goods. And we see
the same refrain from chapter 2 - man is humbled, humanity is brought low.
Pride cannot stand before God.
Isaiah 5:16-17 (HCSB) "But
the LORD of Hosts is exalted by His justice, and the holy God is distinguished
by righteousness. Lambs will graze as ⌊if in⌋ their own
pastures, and strangers will eat ⌊among⌋ the ruins of
the rich."
Contrary to sinful man, who seeks
assurance from other men, YHWH is above all and is exalted and glorified by His
justice and righteousness! In that day, lambs (perhaps those Hebrews who had
not gone the way of the flesh) will graze in peace and strangers - Gentiles -
will be satisfied with what has been left behind. God will comfort and provide
for His own.
Verses 18-22 reveal the final
four "Woes" pronounced upon national Israel, wherein we see why the
Lord will bring judgment on His covenant people. Note this: In the law
covenant, failure to comply brought punishment. Biblical history of national
Israel shows this cycle repeated countless times. In the New Covenant, which is
a grace covenant, all the punishment for our rebellion and sinful neglect were
laid upon the Lord Jesus. Because we are in Him, all that He has been given is
ours and will be realized in the world to come.
While we sojourn in these fleshly
tabernacles, let us learn from ethnic Israel's failures and let us be humbly
awed at being brought into spiritual Israel and given true rest by the Son of
Man.
Isaiah 5:18-19 (HCSB) Woe to
those who drag wickedness with cords of deceit and ⌊pull⌋
sin along with cart ropes, to those who say: “Let Him hurry up and do His work
quickly so that we can see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take
place so that we can know it!”
These people mentioned in this
woe are wicked, trying to deceive others and drag then along. They are kin to
the folks who demanded a sign from Christ Jesus; not believing in God unless He
does what they expect and can see with eyes of flesh. Woe on those who demand a
sign! It is a wicked and evil generation - whether in the days of the Old
Covenant or now. We can see and believe on Him only with spiritual eyes, which
He must give us.
Isaiah 5:20 (HCSB) Woe to those
who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light
for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Is this not commentary on natural
man's condition in every generation and nation? Natural man cannot help but
suppress his knowledge of the truth by his own personal unrighteousness. People
in our day call abortion and homosex good and they call law and order evil.
They work hard to snuff out the light of truth on every news and social
platform, because their deeds are evil and their depraved consciences accuse
and excuse them.
Isaiah 5:21 (HCSB) Woe to those
who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight.
Here we see another common
affliction of natural man. These people think they can hide their sin (and
Jerry Epstein didn't kill himself!) by their cleverness. From tax cheats to
porn addicts to lying politicians - woe!
Isaiah 5:22-23 (HCSB) Woe to
those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are fearless at mixing beer, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive
the innocent of justice.
This fifth and final (for this
passage) woe is pronounced on those who live to satisfy their fleshly desires
and pervert justice for their own gain.
All of these behaviors in this
passage that provoked these woes are common among natural man - and, at times,
among the redeemed. Let us who claim Christ see this clearly and repent of what
we know to be sin and plead for the grace to walk as children of the light
day-by-day.