Isaiah 5:1-10
Isa 5:1
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:
In this chapter the LORD is bringing a parable of the
love between a husband and wife.
The vineyard being the nation of Israel from where the Messiah will come from.
This parable is like the Song of Solomon.
The LORD planted Israel in a very good land which is fertile and rich
soil for growing things.
For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a
good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of
valleys and hills; (Deuteronomy 8:7)
The fruitful hill also speaks about the kingdom of God bearing the fruit
of precious souls. A hill in
Scripture often likened to a kingdom.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the
hills, from whence cometh my help. (Psalm 121:1)
It is the Kingdom of God that helps the believer and not physical hills
and mountains.
Isa 5:2
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: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes,
and it brought forth wild grapes.
God built a fence around Israel, that is, he protected
them from their enemies. He also
took the stones out of the ground.
Before one can plant agricultural products they must remove the stones from the
soil. That is what God did in the
time of Joshua when he removed the false religions and the pagans from the land
and gave Israel a place to live in thus fulfilling his promise with Abraham.
The choicest vine would be the spiritual descendants of Abraham that
included Isaac and Jacob and eventually the Lord Jesus Christ.
The tower may pointing to the temple on Mount Moriah where the LORD chose
to place his name and pointing to the LORD himself.
The name of the LORD
is a strong tower: the
righteous runneth into it, and is safe. (Proverbs 18:10)
The wine press was the altar in the temple where the sacrifices were done
and the blood flowed upon it and the result was that it was to produce holy and
righteous people but instead it brought forth wild grapes which symbolized the
people who have taken up sinful lifestyles and instead of good grapes which
would have been the keeping of the law, they went after false religions and
idols making them wild grapes, people with a corrupt nature.
Isa 5:3
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
Then the subject is interjected as to what to do with
them since they have sinned mightily against the LORD.
The LORD tells them to judge their own situation and the judgment should
be according to their own findings.
This was to be between God and them, no one else and no false nation surrounding
them.
Isa 5:4
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?
Then the LORD poses questions to them.
The way he has guided them and cared for them for hundreds of years, what
more could he have done for them to show them how much he loved and cared for
them? Then the LORD looked at them
and instead of bringing forth good grapes, that is, the grapes of righteousness
they became grapes of wickedness and the LORD wanted to know why in light of all
that he did for them.
Isa 5:5
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:
Since they would not return to the LORD now states what
he plans on doing to the vineyard owing to their sinful obstinacy.
He is going to take away the hedge, that is, he is going to remove his
hand of protection from them making them vulnerable to enemies.
Since their protection will be eaten up which means they will be consumed
by their enemies such as the Babylonians.
The wall of protection will be gone and now anyone who sees the land of
Israel will be able to come in and attack them without worrying about God’s
protection of them. To be trodden
down means they will be crushed or tread upon like ants which are stepped on by
people.
Isa 5:6
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.
The vineyard will become a wasteland for seventy years.
For plants to grow properly, they must be pruned and the soil dug up for
stones so the plant will not suffocate.
Here the LORD is telling they will not be pruned, that is, they will not
be guided or chastised in a smaller sense of the term to help them stay on the
straight and narrow. It shall not
be digged or cultivated which means the stones will stay in place and affect the
plants. Remember what God warned
them about in Isaiah 1:18 that if they did not deal with their sinful ways then
they would reap what they have sown.
Here the vineyard will reap briers and thorns which means they will be so
sinful that the only thing they would be good for is the fires of judgment.
Since the LORD is in charge of the weather he will not command the clouds
to rain on the vineyard which means they will get no nourishment which would be
spiritual nourishment. They will
increase in their dryness which means they will increase in their sin until the
time they are judged.
Isa 5:7
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.
Now the plain meaning of the parable is made known to
them. The vineyard constitutes the
entire house of Israel which at this time may also include the northern ten
tribes which may not have been taken yet by Assyria.
Then the men of Judah were the vine in the vineyard which was supposed to
be the fruit bearing plants. The
LORD looked for judgment among them, that is, to see that the poor and the
widows and orphans were given the same treatment in legal matters.
Instead, he found oppression of the poor people by the rich and judges
who were bribed. He searched for
righteousness among them instead he found the cry of the poor who had brought
their situation to the LORD and heard their cries.
This poor man cried, and the LORD
heard him, and saved him out of
all his troubles. (Psalm 34:6)
Isa 5:8
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay
field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in
the midst of the earth!
Here is Isaiah’s third woe which condemns the wealthy who
make an attempt to buy more houses to build up their holdings and increase their
wealth and also they purchase vineyards and attempt to monopolize themselves in
purchasing them so no one else has the opportunity to buy a house or vineyard
and would have to pay the rich people rent for living or leasing a field.
The last phrase carries with it the meaning of the wealthy people will be
the only ones on earth and no one would be able to live close to them as they
sequester themselves from the poor people.
This verse is apropos for today as wealthy people live behind walls in
their estates and attempt to dictate policy and rules for the people who are not
wealthy.
Isa 5:9
In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth
many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
Then the LORD states in responses to the poor people of
the land that many houses shall become desolate and then he points to two
classes of homes. The great homes
will be the ones who are the king and the princes and the fair homes will be the
ones will be the ones that the wealthy people live in.
These homes shall be desolate because one of the main reasons that the
Babylonians are going to desolate the land is because of the wealthy who have
abused the poor. They will be
removed from their homes and taken to Babylon where they will experience the
same treatment as the poor folk who are taken to Babylon.
Isa 5:10
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the
seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.