My Beloved Had A Vineyard
“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.”
Isaiah 5 portrays a vineyard that is in trouble. All the right efforts have been made for full production. The fields have been cleared of stones and the choicest vines have been selected. Viticulture is no easy work. It takes time and care for the vines to develop and produce fruit. You hope that what is produced is worth the effort. Serious and continual pruning is necessary to produce better yields.
That’s the lesson behind John 15, about Jesus being the true vine and the Father being the vinedresser who prunes the vines for a better and fruitful yield. Pruning that does not produce more fruit means the branch pruned has no life in it or is defective in some way. Pruning means better yield or destruction.
The vineyard in Isaiah 5 has been carefully prepared. The soil is fertile and good. The right slope of the hill has been chosen. A watchtower has been built and vat is ready to receive the grapes so that the wine can runoff. The expectation is for a fruitful yield of good grapes. But when the clusters have developed, the vinedresser examines the grapes, expecting the most excellent grapes, only to discover that it has produced wild grapes. The phrase “wild grapes” means vile and stinking grapes. Worthless grapes! Grapes require a fermentation process and this always takes time. The grapes begin to give off a particular smell that indicates fermentation. But these wild grapes are way beyond the natural process. They are beyond hope. Nobody would want to eat them.
Isaiah 5 is a prophecy. The vineyard is Israel and Judah (see also Hos. 9:10; 10:1). Verse seven says “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!” The “beloved” in verse one is God. The vineyard is his. He has done everything for the vineyard to ensure its success. Instead of producing good grapes, it has yielded bad grapes. God states that he is not going to waste any time trying to fix the vineyard. It is beyond repair (vv.4-6). He is going to destroy it. It has not yielded what God designed it for.
Verse seven says that God looked for justice and the result was bloodshed. God looked for righteousness but there was an outcry. There is a similarity between the sounding of the words “justice” and “bloodshed,” and between “righteousness” and “outcry.” Isaiah uses a play on words to indicate that what was expected was not delivered. God always looks for justice and righteousness. They always go together and cannot be separated (Gen. 18:19; 1 Kings 10:9; Ps. 33:5; 89:14; 97:2; 99:4; 103:6; Prov. 2:9; 21:3; Eccles. 5:8; Isa. 33:5; Jer. 9:24; 22:3, 15; 23:5; 33:15; Ezek. 45:9). Micah 6:8 reminds us of what God expects from his people, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Isaiah 5:8-30 further explains the sins of Israel and Judah. The picture of the wild grapes in verses two and four is transferred to the literal reality of Israel and Judah’s sins.
There is a series of six woes in the chapter (vv. 8, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22). Four consequences to these woes are described in verses 13, 14, 24, and 25). These are all introduced by the word “therefore.” Judah was guilty of not letting the land enjoy its Sabbath rest every seventh year (Ex. 23:10, 11; Lev. 25:1-7). Sowing the field and pruning the vineyard was permitted for six years, but in the seventh year, no work was to be done, so that the land could recover (Lev. 26:34, 35; 2 Chron. 36:21). The land belonged to God and all blessings on the land came from him (Lev. 25:23). A failure to care for the land resulted in poor crops and was a violation of God’s standard.
The departure of Israel and Judah from God’s prescribed standard is a picture of how easily we deviate from God’s commands. Human nature rebels against God and his Word. It is amazing how much we think we know better than God’s ways. He promises fruitfulness and blessing in exchange for submission and obedience, and what do we do? We rebel and think we know better. Such was Israel and Judah. They had God’s Law yet went their own ways. This is the nature of sin and sinfulness Isa. 5:12).
A refusal to submit and yield to God results in exile. Exile is a barren place. It is a bitter place (vv. 13, 14). It is the result of despising knowledge and wisdom (vs. 13). This was what Judah experienced in Babylon. When God reduces man to the dust, he exalts himself at the same time (vv. 15, 16). Man in his pomp is like the beasts of the field (Ps. 49:12, 20; Isa. 14:11). Man loses the ability to discern between good and evil, calling evil, good and good, evil (vs. 20). When man rejects God and his Word, he despises God and his Word (vs. 24). The unleashing of God’s anger is far more terrible than the hurricane, tornado, or tsunami (vs. 25, 30). Spiritual decline results in spiritual apostasy. Isaiah 5:10 refers to the poor low yield in relation to the large acreage. A “bath” is only six gallons (also one ephah). This is what 10 acres produced (vs. 10). In today’s world, you need about 600 to 800 grapes to produce a bottle of wine. Vineyards usually produce between 2 and 10 tons per acre. One ton of grapes is usually about 2 barrels of wine, which is the equivalent of 60 gallons per barrel (about 300 bottles). You can easily see that God’s judgment on Israel and Judah in terms of production was devastating. They produced nothing. Ten acres should produce approximately 100 tons (one ton equaling 120 gallons). As you can see, not much reward for a lot of labor (10 acres giving 30 gallons).
God’s judgment was devastating. In the New Testament, the vineyard (Israel) is torn away from the wicked tenants (the Jewish leaders who are not producing the fruit of the kingdom) and given to a people who do produce the fruit of the kingdom (Matt. 21:41, esp. 43; Mark 12:9; Luke 20:16). Who is the vineyard given to? It is given to those who ultimately produce righteousness, justice, and mercy. These are the fruits of repentance and of the kingdom.
The New Testament also speaks of those who labor in the vineyard. In the parable of the two sons, the son who first refused to work then changed his mind and went (Matt. 21:28-32). He did the will of his father. The other son said he was going but never went. According to Jesus, this meant that tax collectors and prostitutes (the unrighteous) entered the kingdom before the Pharisees who never would. The prostitutes responded to John the Baptist’s ministry, but the Jewish leaders refused him. They, therefore, refused Christ. Elders (shepherds) are warned not to trample underfoot the vineyard of God (Jer. 12:10). Laborers are to be worthy of their hire, whether they are soldiers, vinedressers, or shepherds (1 Cor. 9:7).
In the Bible, wine is both a symbol of blessing and judgment. Jesus drank the cup of judgment in order that we might drink the cup of blessing. What are we producing in God’s vineyard? Is it of any value? Are our grapes wild or choice? What are you doing with the gifts God has given you? Is your life barren or fruitful? Are we submitting to the pruning work of God? If we are, the crop will only get better. No one wants to produce bad wine, and no one wants to drink it.