THE VINEYARD

Isa. 5:1-7, “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: 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: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.   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?   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: 

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.   For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.”

This is a song from Isaiah set in a parable.

I. DEFINITIONS

1) Well Beloved The well beloved is God. Paul used the title to speak of his closeness with one of his disciples, “Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well- beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ” (Rom. 16:5).

2) The Vineyard The vineyard is the Jewish nation. Jer. 2:21, “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?” Jer. 12:10, “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.”

Matt. 21:33, “Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.”

3) Fruitful Hill Hebrew ‘On a horn of the son of oil.’ The word “horn” used here in the Hebrew, denotes the “brow, apex,” or sharp point of a hill. Note that it was not just a hill, but a fruitful hill. Num. 14:8, “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.”

II. THE DEFENSE

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: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 

1) Fenced It The actual meaning is that he dug a trench around the vineyard to prepare it for planting. Israel didn’t make Israel, God made Israel. He planted the vineyard and offered his protection. Yet, they refused!

2) Gathered Out the Stones The Heathens, the seven nations that inhabited the land of Canaan, compared to stones for their hardness and stupidity, and for their worshipping of idols of stone (John Gill). Psa. 80:8, “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.” 

3) Planted the Choicest Vines The people that entered the promised land where the new generation of Hebrews. As their parents and grandparents died in the wilderness, this new generation crossed over the Jordan.

3) Built a Tower Matt. 21:33, “Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.” This similar parable expounds upon the care God gave to Israel. The tower personifies the Holy Temple that within the Holy of Holies is where God could be found.

4) Made a Winepress God made Israel self-sustaining. He wanted them to be totally depended on Him. He fed them, protected them, and gave them meaning. Yet, they rejected Him.

5. Wild Grapes “and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.”  This speaks of corruption. Mal. 2:11, “Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.”

III. DILUSION

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.   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? 

TWO QUESTIONS GOD WANTS ANSWERED 1) What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? No people had been better treated, yet so ungrateful! Col. 4:12, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”

2) Why did it bring forth wild grapes? God wants them to answer how they allowed themselves to be corrupted.

IV. DESTRUCTION

“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: 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.   For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.”

IDENTITY “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry” (Isa. 5:7). God reveals to Israel that they were His pleasant vineyard, and Judah were His precious plants. They were to render justice but were oppressive, and righteous but they were wicked.

It is never to be understood how a nation so loved by God could resist that affection. Like a wife so mistreated by her husband, or a good father hated by a son; so was God rejected by Israel and Judah.