SIX INFORMATIVE VINEYARDS OF SCRIPTURE
VINEYARD NUMBER ONE:- THE VINEYARD OF HUMAN FAILURE
{{Genesis 9:20-24 “Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard Gen 9:21 and he drank of the wine and became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. Gen 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside, Gen 9:23 but Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. Gen 9:24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.”}}
[1]. Right after the most wonderful covenant had been given to Noah, he failed miserably. Check out the elements of this covenant with its boundaries – Genesis 9:1-17:
* They were to be fruitful and repopulate the earth.
* Man is given dominion over all the earth and over all nature and life.
* All creatures on earth can be food for man as well as all vegetarian produce.
* All creatures that are for food must be bled.
* The death penalty is instituted for murder for it related to the image of God.
* This covenant of God, He establishes with man and with all earth’s creatures as well.
* The rainbow is the sign of this covenant.
[2]. What is the reason for Noah’s failure? Well it is because human beings are sinful and have that sin orientation in their lives. It was from the heights of a close walk with God that the door opened to failure. The highs to the lows. So often the case – “take heed lest you fall”. Beware of an attitude that grasps at a spiritual satisfaction bordering on being smug before God. The greater the awareness of God, then greater must be the humility that accompanies it, and greater the dependence on God. Be very aware if God has used you because it is at that point the enemy chooses to strike.
3. Noah caved in to lust, and lust fed the desire to enter into sin, for drunkenness is sin. It and adultery are the two sins that seem most mentioned in Scripture in lists (as idolatry also, but that is outward, whereas the first two are inward). We can all fail. Remember there are consequences to failure –
* Causing others to sin (Ham).
* Even though forgiven, memories remain.
* It can become the source of satanic attack against you for enemies to accuse and negate your testimony.
VINEYARD NUMBER TWO:- THE VINEYARD OF DIVINE DISAPPOINTMENT
{{Isaiah 5:1-7 “Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill, Isa 5:2 and He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in the middle of it and hewed out a wine vat in it. Then He expected it to produce good grapes but it produced only worthless ones. Isa 5:3 “Now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. Isa 5:4 What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones? Isa 5:5 Now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed. I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground, Isa 5:6 and I will lay it waste. It will not be pruned or hoed but briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” Isa 5:7 The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.”}}
[1]. This is a parable demonstrating the relationship between Jehovah and Israel. As a parent makes everything delightful in a nursery for when the baby comes home from hospital, so did the LORD for His earthly people Israel. He did everything for Israel. In fact it questions what more could have been done. Nothing more could have been done. When all avenues had been exhausted, the LORD had to abandon them to their constant sin and wicked behaviour. The fate of the nation was inevitable with Nebuchadnezzar on the horizon in a matter of years. Judgement was the only option.
* “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
* Trace through in verses 1 – 2, the parallels God did for Israel.
* Note the disappointment and frustration in verse 4. God would not make them mindless robots for they had a choice, and God desires His creation to seek Him for fellowship. They were so perverse and could only produce worthlessness. They were reprobate.
* As a result the nation came under judgment and rejection for they had no justice or righteousness. God broke down the wall of protection.
* This Israel-specific vineyard does have a type in the nations of the world for they all relate to verses 4 and 7. The world is every bit as perverse and worthless as Judah was in Isaiah’s time.
* I want you to think about worthless Christians. What is God desiring for us? Verse 4. What is He getting from us? Is there care for fellow Christians, and justice shown to fellow members of the flock? Are you shining for the Saviour? Are you pleasing the well-beloved (verse 1).
* Disappointment is something that results from failure. God has done so much for His redeemed, but what has each one done for Him? What will the judgement seat of Christ reveal?
VINEYARD NUMBER THREE:- THE VINEYARD OF LUST
I have called this one The Vineyard of lust because when lust has conceived there are consequences – {{James 1:14-15 “but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. James 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”}} Ahab was overcome by lust and it consumed him, and prompted by the most wicked woman in the bible, he, like Macbeth, pursued his lust to the end when it demolished him. Lust brings forth death.
{{1Kings 21:1-16 Now it came about after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria, 1Kings 21:2 and Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place. If you like, I will give you the price of it in money,” 1Kings 21:3 but Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers,” 1Kings 21:4 so Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him, for he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers,” and he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food. 1Kings 21:7 Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now reign over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,”
1Kings 21:15 and it came about when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead,” 1Kings 21:16 and it came about when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.”}}
This story has so much revulsion in it. If we are offended by the actions of Ahab and Jezebel, then God is much more offended. When action was taken against Cain because he was a murderer in rage, this Jezreel meditated murder and theft is so offensive, God stepped in to avenge the blood of just Naboth. A vineyard was meant to be a place of rejoicing and delight, but Ahab turned it into a place of shame and dishonour.
Naboth was correct regarding the inheritance – it was enshrined in the Law, but Ahab was lawless, and to trample over the inheritance of the ancestors was nothing to this evil king.
Today the world sees wickedness trample all over goodness and righteousness, greatly honoured by our ancestors. Marriage has been murdered as has children’s gender and sexuality; creation had been slain and possessed in the name of evolution (just like Ahab killed and possessed); resources God gave us to use are considered vile things and are being locked away by great delusion (climate change); freedoms that are paramount in the sight of God have been either curtailed or eliminated; humanism dictates laws, beliefs and behaviour these days.
God will avenge His murdered laws and principles as happened in our story, and this world rushes to the time of the Tribulation.
VINEYARD NUMBER FOUR:- THE VINEYARD OF RESTITUTION
{{Exodus 22:5 “If a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed bare and lets his animal loose so that it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the BEST of his own field and the BEST of his own vineyard.”}}
This is God’s law of restitution and what is repaid is to be the best, not some moth-eaten substitute.
* This instruction is contained in the Law of Moses.
* Some people live in a deluded state of irresponsibility.
* People are selfish and want others to pay for their selfishness.
* To allow a field or vineyard to be grazed bare in the first place is recklessness, but the immoral soul expects others to pay.
* That behaviour has not escaped God.
We have a situation where I live of great irresponsibility on behalf of the State Government which allows the following to happen without penalty. Aboriginal kids aged between 8 and 15 are constantly breaking into homes, stealing property, and cars and smashing them. Some reoffend many, many times. Nothing happens in the courts, and socialist magistrates appointed by the State Government never take any action. All the damage these people do, has no restitution attached to it. There is no accountability whatever. It is exactly the opposite of what God instituted in Exodus 22 verse 5. Many people – victims - here have suffered loss, and the authorities do not care less. We know lawlessness will increase in the last days, but there is something very obnoxious when the correct authorities allow it to happen and look the other way. It is like the times people cried out for justice to God because there was no justice with man. Crime is out of control.
VINEYARD NUMBER FIVE:- THE VINEYARD OF SUPPLY
{{Leviticus 19:9-10 “Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Lev 19:10 Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.”}}
God instructed the Jews in the land of Canaan (once they got there) to follow this instruction and we might wonder why.
* God is the One who gives the harvest in the first place and men are merely stewards.
* When the nation followed and feared God, He made the land produce abundantly.
* The one who cares will obey God’s instruction and do what is honourable and correct for the Lord.
* There will always be poor people, needy, and foreigners passing through, all known to the Lord and He makes provision for them. They can glean.
* Poor people have a special place in the heart of God.
God has given more than enough in this world but it is misappropriated by man’s greed. Christians must take note from this passage. The ministry to the poor and depressed is very important. When churches do something to care for the poor and underprivileged it must not be done out of a sense of duty for that is useless, but from a conviction of service to the Lord.
At our small fellowship we do not have a paid ministry but use the gifts that are among is, that God has given. All monies given by the Lord’s people go into missionary endeavours such as Voice of the Martyrs and the Barnabas Fund. These help suffering Christians in persecution and the poor of many lands (especially Asia because of our geography).
VINEYARD NUMBER FIVE:- THE VINEYARD OF OFFICIAL GREED
{{Nehemiah 5:1-7 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers,
Neh 5:3 There were others who said, “WE ARE MORTGAGING OUR FIELDS, OUR VINEYARDS, and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.” Neh 5:4 Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for THE KING’S TAX ON OUR FIELDS AND OUR VINEYARDS, Neh 5:5 and now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children, yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and SOME OF OUR DAUGHTERS ARE FORCED INTO BONDAGE ALREADY, and we are helpless because OUR FIELDS AND VINEYARDS BELONG TO OTHERS.” Neh 5:6 Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words, Neh 5:7 and I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, “You are exacting usury, each from his brother.” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them”}}
The people had returned from the captivity in Babylon, and in time some bad things were happening. Nehemiah was the Governor, a man who served God with absolute resolve.
* The ordinary people of the land are in dire straits.
* Because of the government taxes and the interest rates and GREED of the nobles and officials these people were destitute.
* They were losing everything. They were being forced into mortgage. Another case of the defenceless being walked over. God hates it.
* Their children were being taken away in payment as slaves; they were losing their vineyards.
* God saw and Nehemiah intervened.
Today people talk about the capitalist system, but the capitalist system is one of greed and extortion and where the rich get richer. The weaker and poor people suffer. What happened in Nehemiah’s time is relevant today. In fact with the greed and lawlessness and utter dishonesty and incompetence that abound today, it is getting really bad.
The alternative to capitalism is equally, bad, and actually a lot worse. It is that of socialism. It all proves what many Christians know – the systems of men are sinful and none of them work. The only system that is godly and just is theocracy and that will happen when Messiah sets up the Millennial Kingdom. Refer to the messages I have on The Restoration of Israel.
VINEYARD NUMBER SIX:- THE VINEYARD OF THE VINEDRESSER
{{John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. John 15:2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up, and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. John 15:8 By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”}}
This one could also be called, “The Vineyard of Fruitfulness”. That is the purpose of this account. Jesus is the Vine in whom all Christians are grafted, and the Father wants fruitfulness.
* This vineyard is the divine and eternal one and has only one Vine in it.
* We as Christians are branches attached to the Vine in that vineyard.
* The Father is the vinedresser. He does the pruning and the severing.
* The purpose of the pruning is to produce more fruit. The Father looks for fruit.
* It is essential to understand “abiding” in verse 4. How do you relate this to yourself? Well it means reliance, trust, following as in following the Shepherd of the sheep. In verse 5 we also have dependence, for outside of the Vine we can do nothing.
* In verse 6 “thrown away, dried up, gathered and cast into the fire to be burnt” is a very serious matter.
* The True Vine has branches for fruitfulness, and branches of fruitfulness.
This passage has been used wrongly to teach loss of salvation. The passage is not about salvation BUT fruitfulness. A Christian who is unfruitful is dismissed and another used in the service of God.
1Corinthians chapter 3 speaks of the testing by fire of our works at the judgement seat of Christ and how that connects with rewards of loss of them. The fire will burn up the worthlessness (John 15:6).
How can those branches remain fruitful? The Lord actually tells us in the passage in verse 4. It is all a matter of abiding which is resting and reliance. The parallel to this is the Psalm 23. The most profitable sheep were not those who showed initiative and slipped away from the path in exploration or personal quest, but those that simply followed the Shepherd. They were those who had an entire faith in the Shepherd and could totally rest in that fact.
There is no striving or human planning. All God’s sheep have to do is follow. They have unswerving trust in the Shepherd – that is what it means to abide in the Branch.
1. Down in the valley with my Savior I will go,
Where the flow’rs are blooming and the sweet waters flow;
Everywhere He leads me I will follow, follow on,
Walking in His footsteps till the crown be won.
Refrain:
Follow! follow! I will follow Jesus!
Anywhere, everywhere, I will follow on!
Follow! follow! I will follow Jesus!
Everywhere He leads me I will follow on!
2 Down in the valley with my Savior I will go,
Where the storms are sweeping and the dark waters flow;
With His hand to lead me I will never, never fear,
Danger cannot fright me if my Lord is near. [Refrain]
3 Down in the valley, or upon the mountain steep,
Close beside my Savior will my soul ever keep;
He will lead me safely in the path that He has trod,
Up to where they gather on the hills of God. [Refrain]
William Cushing 1911
ABIDE IN THE VINE BY FOLLOWING THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP!
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
