by Larry Ferrell | December 29, 2017
In this last section of his preface Isaiah faces the seeming inevitability of divine judgment. The choice of the vineyard metaphor is significant. In 1:8 the vineyard reference pointed to a remnant which the Lord preserved; in 3:12-4:1, when the vineyard was plundered, the Lord intervened to pass judgment on its behalf and against its plunderers. Now, however, the vineyard is the place where total destruction must be pronounced (vv. 1-7). The future seems like a great question mark, for even the Lord has come to the point where He asks what more is there that can be done (v. 4). In 1:2-31 though sin blighted life yet a bright hope was sketched in 1:26-27 for the future; in 2:1-4:6 though sin marred life’s highest purposes yet cleansing and new creation was held in view (4:2-6); but now sin takes even hope away and nothing is left but the gathering darkness (v. 30).

Isaiah lives always with the tension between what will be and what is; between the glorious destiny which beckons Israel and the awful reality of its present condition. It’s a tension which ultimately only the Lord can resolve. Here, once again, as in 2:6, we plunge from the heights to the depths as the prophet returns to the thankless task of exposing the sins of his fellows and warning of judgment to come. But it will not be easy for him to gain a hearing for such an unpleasant message.

According to Ezekiel 15:2-5 a vine is either good for fruit or good for nothing and since the Lord’s people are His vine, the same truth applies. By the Feast of Tabernacles the vintage would be gathered in. It may have been on such an occasion that Isaiah invited the crowd to hear him sing, first of his friend (vv. 1-2), then as his friend (vv. 3-4), then revealing who his friend is (vv. 5-6) and finally revealing who the vineyard is (v. 7). Skillfully he draws his hearers on to the point where they can only utter a condemnation and discover that they have condemned themselves.

Item by item Isaiah penetrates the façade and gathers the offensive fruit from the Lord’s vine and pronounces a woe on each in turn (vv. 8, 11, 18, 20-22). The structure of the passage is interesting and important. The first two ‘woes’ (vv. 8-12), dealing with abuse of the material benefits of life, are followed by two ‘therefores’ (vv. 13-17); the final four ‘woes’ (vv. 18-23), dealing with failure in the moral and spiritual obligations of life, are likewise followed by two ‘therefores’ (vv. 24-30). The ‘therefores’ match each other. In each case the shorter of them (vv. 13 & 24) explain how the judgment is suited to the foregoing sin, and the longer (14-17 & 25-30) describe an act of God in total judgment. At the center of Isaiah’s ‘anatomy of Judah’ lie his exposure of sin and the reversal of moral values (vv. 18-20). When life consists of the following of sin, denial of the living God and rewriting the moral code, there is no stopping place short of complete devotion to self-pleasing.

The destroyer of the Lord’s vineyard is to be a foreign invader, and he is to come at the Lord’s express command (v. 26). It was the message of Isaiah and other prophets that it was the Lord, not these nations, who called the tune. It’s a biblical revelation about how history has always worked and still does today. The first Christians, in their time of testing, cried out to God in full confidence that the worldly powers ranged against them, both Jewish and Gentile, could do nothing but what God, by His power and will, had decided beforehand should happen. Even Herod and Pontius Pilate, in conspiring to bring about the death of Jesus, had merely played roles that God had scripted for them. “The authorities that exist”, Paul tells us, “have been established by God” (Rom 13:1), and the book of Revelation points us with complete confidence to the day when God’s lordship over the nations will be manifested in final judgment (Rev. 11:15). Isaiah was absolutely certain of the Lord’s sovereignty over history; He was using the nations to accomplish His purposes and would continue to do so. It’s a theme that will be developed more fully as the book proceeds.

Isaiah 5:1-30 Reflection Questions:
Has your religion become passionless? How passionate are you about sharing the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ?
After studying these verses, do you hear God speaking to you about your life?
Do you see God using nations and people groups today for His purposes? What about how God is using you or the people in your life?

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