The Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt and cared for her in the wilderness and prepared a special place for her in the Promised Land. He had provided for her all she needed and went before her and with her to make sure all was in suitable condition and furnished and supplied for her. God loved Israel very much. Israel was God’s vineyard, that He cared for and tended.
Isaiah chapter five begins, “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.” (verses 1 through 2a) We know the vineyard refers to Israel because verse seven says, “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant…”
Israel was special to God, His well-beloved. Since this was the case, why was He so grieved with her? The last part of verse two explains more, “…and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” God had tended the vineyard, God had cared for the people, God had taught them His law and His way. He expected that the nation would bring forth fruits of righteousness. Instead, it brought forth wild grapes. What were these wild grapes? The song referred to above can be found in Deuteronomy 32:1-44. It told of the love and care God had for Israel, of His special provisions for them; it prophesied their disobedience and rebellion and the judgment that would come to them. Their wild grapes were sins of materialism and immorality. Deuteronomy 32:32 says, “For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter.” Ezekiel 19:49,50 describes their iniquity as pride, fulness of bread, abundance of idleness, neglect of the poor, haughtiness, and committing abominations before God.
When God saw the wicked condition of His beloved people, it made Him sad. He pleaded with them, wondering what more He could have done for them. He had given them all they needed and provided abundantly for their cares and wants. “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?” (Isaiah 5:3,4)
Because Israel had turned its back on God, therefore God would withdraw His hand of protection from them. “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.” (verses five and six) Strangers would come in and eat up the land, enemies would come through and trample it down, rain would not fall upon it. The land would be barren and desolate. There would be no more fruitfulness in the land or protection from enemies or from natural disasters. How sad would be the state of the land!
Even though God was grieved with Israel and would judge the land, Israel was still His beloved. “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.” (Isaiah 1:7a) God had a remedy for His people. This remedy was the same as it was in Moses’ day, “45) And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: 46) And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. 47) For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 32:45-47) The remedy was to return to the Lord and to walk in His way and to live in the ways that they had been instructed by the Lord their God.
God’s way is always right and always best. Those who reject it and choose their own way will have trouble and sorrow, and the end of their own way is death. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Man’s way leads to death. God’s way leads to life. Which will you choose today?