Isaiah
5 reminds me of an old commercial that ended with Orson Wells looking
at the camera, saying “We will
sell no wine before its time“,
powerfully linking, the wine and the actor. This chapter should
serve as a caution that we represent God; we are His produce and His
brand. Isaiah pictures “a
vineyard on a fertile hillside”
that was meticulously created by God. “He
dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it
with the choicest vines. He
built a watchtower in it… He
looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit“.
The Vinedresser asked, “What
more could have been done… Why
did it yield only bad?“. Do
you call yourself a child of God? Numbers 6:27 says, “So
they will put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them“.
God does not like false advertizing and decides He will not let this
vineyard misrepresent Him. Instead of allowing the distasteful fruit
to ferment, God says, “I will
tell you what I am going to do…
I will take away its hedge…
I will break down its wall, and
it will be trampled… I
will make it a wasteland…
briers and thorns will grow
there“. He says very plainly,
“The vineyard of the LORD
Almighty is the
house of Israel“. Listen to
this observation, God “looked
for justice, but saw bloodshed“.
Does your life portray God’s righteousness?
The
prophet has sorrow for the nation and pity for the individuals.
Isaiah warned those that wear the logo of God, but he expresses deep
grief for those that disregard God’s authority completely. “Woe
to those who… stay up late at night till they are inflamed with
wine… who have no regard for the deeds of the LORD… who draw sin
along with cords of deceit… who call evil good and good evil…
who are wise in their own eyes… who are heroes at drinking
wine“. There is no joy in his
prediction, “So man will be
brought low… the arrogant
humbled. But
the LORD Almighty will be exalted by His justice, and…
show Himself
holy by His righteousness“.
When we are brought low, we are able to look up.
The chapter ends with an explanation that
God’s hand of protection can also be a hand of discipline. Isaiah
notes, “for they have rejected
the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One…
the LORD’s anger burns against His people; His hand is raised and
He strikes them down“. Those
that call God’s Word “hate speech” have no idea they are
protected by those they seek to abolish. Even scarier, Isaiah adds
this note to those that are trying to eliminate God from our society
and our government, “His hand
is still upraised“. Isaiah
describes how God uses the armies of the world for His purposes, “He
whistles for those at the ends of the earth… come, swiftly… Not
one of them grows tired or stumbles… Their arrows are sharp, all
their bows are strung“. I
believe God will remove His people and allow the enemy to invade.
Then, those left behind will be abandoned, “with
no one to rescue” them. They
will look at their nation and “will
see darkness and distress“.
God will replant His vine in Israel and graft in the wild vines that
receive salvation through Christ.
Here is the only hope for you
and me, “if My people, who are
called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I
will forgive their sin and will heal their land”
(2 Chronicles 7:14). Will you allow God to be Lord of your life? It
is time.