Lesson 95B – Isaiah 3–5 Vineyards and Ensigns

Isaiah 5 Set in three sections 1.The Parable of the Vineyard (vs 1-7) 2.6 Pronouncements upon wicked Israel (vs 8-25) 3.Promises of an ensign and gathering (vs 26-30) Many of the same themes as before – Pride and wickedness – The Lord trying to save His people – Eventually the righteous of Israel are preserved.

The Vineyard What is a vineyard? What is it used for? – Wine Where else has this symbolism been used? – By Christ: John 15:1-8 – In the Book of Mormon: Jacob 5 (Zenos) What are the symbols of the vineyard? – Fruit: the people, their works – Working in the vineyard: bringing the Gospel – Harvesting: Last Days Isaiah is the original vineyard parable

Isaiah 5:1-4 What’s the problem? – After everything the Lord has done, still wild fruit is brought forth. v5-6 – So what does the Lord decide to do? There are two ways to destroy a farm: – Active Destruction - Dig up plants, burn it – Passive Destruction - Stop protecting it, providing for it What does the Lord do? Why would he choose this way? – We need to understand that we rely on the Lord to protect us, without Him we would not last. – Mosiah 2:21

Some cool Hebrew… Isaiah 1:7 Doesn’t seem all that special in English “justice” = מִשְׁפָּט “bloodshed” = מִשְׂפָּ ֔ ח “righteousness” = לִצְדָקָ ֖ ה “cry” = צְעָקָֽה׃ This is “formal parralleism”. The rhyme makes it very memorable A similarly styled English translation – The Lord looked for true measures, but behold, massacres – the right, but behold, riots. mishpat mispach tsedakah tse’akah

Section 2: Listing of Wickedness 1.v v v v20 5.v21 6.v22-23 Read through your verses – What is the sin being described? – Think of at least one specific example of that sin today – (Footnotes can be helpful)

6 Sins v8-10 – “that join house to house” Why is the separation of land so important? – Remember, it is part of the Abrahamic Covenant v10 – what are those measurements? – acre – as much as an oxen could plow in a day (about a modern half acre) – bath – 4-8 gallons – homer – 6 bushels (should yield 10 ephahs) – ephah – 4 gallons Basically, the vineyard is only about a tenth as productive as it should be

6 Sins v11-12 – “they regard not the work of the Lord” – v12 – “neither consider the operation of his hands. v13 “because they have no knowledge”. – Where have we seen this before? – Isaiah 1:3 v18-19 – “draw iniquity with cords of vanity” (footnote) v20 – “them that call evil good, and good evil”

6 Sins v21 – “wise in their own eyes” President N. Eldon Tanner said that when people “become learned in the worldly things such as science and philosophy, [they] become self-sufficient and are prepared to lean unto their own understanding, even to the point where they think they are independent of God; and because of their worldly learning they feel that if they cannot prove physically, mathematically, or scientifically that God lives, they can and should feel free to question and even to deny God and Jesus Christ....“How much wiser and better it is for man to accept the simple truths of the gospel and to accept as authority God, the Creator of the world, and his Son Jesus Christ… He must be prepared to acknowledge that there are certain things—many, many things—that he cannot understand.” v22-23 – “justify the wicked for reward” v25 – “but his hand is stretched out still – Dual meaning (judgment and mercy)

An Ensign to the Nations What is an ensign, originally? – A flag, a post for people to look to, to unite. D&C 64:41-42 Elder LeGrande Richards: “Since there were neither trains nor airplanes in that day, Isaiah could hardly have mentioned them by name. However, he seems to have described them in unmistakable words. How better could ‘their horses’ hoofs be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind’ than in the modern train? How better could ‘their roaring... be like a lion’ than in the roar of the airplane? Trains and airplanes do not stop for night. Therefore, was not Isaiah justified in saying: ‘none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken’? With this manner of transportation the Lord can really ‘hiss unto them from the end of the earth,’ that ‘they shall come with speed swiftly.’” In all things, there is still a promise.

Notebook Ideas How can you live in the world with all the sin around us, yet not be of the world? What do you consider your “fruit of the vineyard”? What are your offerings to the Lord?