The Vineyard Went Wild (March 25, 2015)

Isaiah 5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. 3 "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it." 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help. (NKJV)

THE VINEYARD WENT WILD

Text: Isaiah 5:1 – 7

“A Sunday school teacher was asking her students some questions after a series of lessons on God's omnipotence. She asked, "Is there anything God can't do?" All was silent. Finally, one boy held up his hand. The teacher, on seeing this, was disappointed that they had missed the point of the lesson. She sighed and asked, "Well, what is it you think God can't do?" The boy replied, "He can't please everybody." (Steve May. The Story File. [“One Thing God Can’t Do”.] Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000, p. 73). We might find humor in that child’s assessment, but we must also admit that the child is right when he said that God cannot please everybody.

Isaiah gives us a picture that at first seems to appear one way but proves to be the opposite of what the audience might have expected. Isaiah points out how God became disappointed with those to whom He gave a great privilege. God gave them all that they would ever need so that they could take it, invest it, cultivate it and make it prosperous in a way that God had intended. However, their privilege proved to be abused and their opportunity proved to be misspent---wasted and fruitless.

What is unique about this passage of scripture is that it is the only parable that I have read being described as being put in the form of a song. As someone (Geoffrey W. Grogan) has said, Isaiah assumes the guise of a folk singer. (Kenneth L. Barker & John Kohlenberger III. consulting eds. Zondervan NIV Commentary. Grtand Rapids: Zondervan Publishng House, 1994, p. 1049). The song resembles the emotion of joy as it engages the attentiveness of the audience that it will later condemn. How do God’s people incriminate themselves? It seems that is what this passage of scripture attempts to clarify.

EXPECTATION AND OPPORTUNITY

We have to remember that they (God’s chosen people) were a peculiar people. Consider Exodus 19:3 -5:

3 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure [peculiar people] to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel." (NKJV).

From this passage of scripture in Exodus, we can see that God had great expectations for them as a nation. What’s more is that God had destined them not only to be a great people but a privileged people with a great opportunity. What the New King James Versions calls “a special treasure” the King James Version calls a “peculiar people” which in the Hebrew context meant “property, wealth, private property, which is laid up or reserved … precious … prized … preserved”. (William Wilson. Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, n. d., p. 305). There can be no doubt that God had destined them for great things.

They had been given an opportunity to be God’s chosen people to make a difference. Though they had been called by God to be His people and make a difference, they proved to be a people who were indifferent, ungrateful and rebellious. Someone once said, “Man is responsible to God for becoming what God has made possible for him to become”. (E. C. McKenzie. 14,000 Quips & Quotes. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990, p. 448). How are we handling the possibilities and opportunities that God has given us to become what God wills for us to become? What difference are we making?