The Vineyard (5:1-30)
Neal Pollard
The tone of this chapter is decidedly darker than the few verses in chapter four. It begins with a parable of a vineyard, planted by God to produce grapes but which yielded wild grapes (2). He planted with hope and optimism, but was extremely disappointed. That vineyard was the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel (3,7). There was a problem, but it was not His care, expertise, or the soil. It was the fruit! With this analogy, God paints the picture of the rebellion and disobedience of the people. As Isaiah explains his parable, “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” (7). God was going to remove His hedge of protection from this vineyard, leaving it prone to being devoured (5). He would not tend it and it would it be overrun (6). He would not water it and it would dry up (6). Thus, God pictures the fate of the northern and southern kingdom, who refused to bring forth fruits of righteousness.
Isaiah then engages in what are often called “woe oracles” (8-23) followed by the idea that the Lord’s hand is outstretched, not in comfort but in judgment (24-30). Notice the reasons for these pronouncements of “woes”:
- Greed and covetousness (8-10). Despite their voracious appetite for land, God was going to remove them from their houses and make their land worthless.
- Debauchery and banqueting (11-17). Coupled with this is a lack of knowledge (13), which elsewhere God says bring destruction (Hos. 4:6). Loving the party life while hating knowledge would bring want, humbling, and loss. By contrast, “the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness” (16).
- Deceit and mocking God (18-19). They “draw sin…and sin” with falsehood, then taunt God by saying, “Let Him be quick and draw near.” Can you imagine taunting God to act if He dares? Sometimes, actions speak louder than words!
- Inverted morality (20). Perhaps the most-quoted verse in Isaiah 5 is this one. Many religious people are very familiar with it: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” It describes a people who reject knowledge and pursue the desires of the flesh and the mind.
- Human wisdom (21). If anyone doubted how smart these folks were, all they had to do was ask them. They vested such confidence in their own wisdom and shrewdness, but God says, “Woe!” How timeless!
- Injustice (22-23). Woven into several of these “woes” is drinking wine and strong drink. These seem to symbolize their reliance on something other than the sober and valuable commodity of Divine guidance. Perhaps the thought is that their heavy drinking contributed to their oppressing of the innocent and exoneration of the guilty, but the bottom line is that they perverted what was just.
After these six woes (8-23), Isaiah shares this leaden, twofold “therefore.” Reviewing the unrighteous conduct of the people, God speaks of what He will do in response. First, His anger will be kindled in response to their rejection of God and despising of His Word (24). Second, He will bring about retribution for such sin (25-30). He will work through an enemy of the people that will show no mercy, weariness, or hesitation in attacking and overcoming them.
It is unsettling to read God’s mind about how He feels about and deals with a nation who so thoroughly rejects Him. Keep in mind, these are the descendants of Abraham, God’s chosen people–the Jews. At this time, they are His covenant people. Yet, they turned away from Him, and here is how God responds.
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