Isaiah 7: 21-25

 

²¹ Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep;
²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.
²³ And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns.
²⁴ People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

In a day in America in which no issue is pricklier than the state of the economy, it is not surprising to see that it has been a hot topic since, oh, probably forever! Does God leave an imprint on a nation's economy? Today's verses closing out Isaiah, Chapter 7, certainly tell us so.

"And [because of the desolation brought on by the invaders] in that day, a man will [be so poor that he will] keep alive only a young milk cow and two sheep."

--Verse 21, Amplified Bible

Judah's primary economy in the days of Isaiah had been agricultural. Crops were grown in the lush, fertile lands. We recall "The Parable of the Vineyard" today, from Isaiah, Chapter 5, as we remember the nation's perfect conditions for the growing of grapes. A middle eastern "breadbasket," as well, if you will. But with the political and, ultimately, spiritual mistakes made by the nation, God would force a change of conditions.

"'So 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. I will lay it waste....For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, and a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain.'"

--Isaiah 5: 5, 6 and 10 (excerpts)

Judah's beautiful landscape would change from vineyards and farms to "briars and thorns." (vs. 23) Vines that used to be "valued at a thousand shekels of silver"--a year's rent, says commentator Matthew Henry--would now be trampled by "pasturing oxen and...sheep." (vs. 25) And, not great "pasturization" at that! It's the dregs from the once-overflowing Starbucks' cup. The crumbs in the plastic tray of Oreos that your kids should have thrown out instead of put back in the pantry. It's not even quite back-to-basics.

That cow and two sheep per remaining household in Judah needed to meet the needs of the whole household, which could have included not only children but extended family and servants of the has-been farm. Even in these times of desperation and desolation, God provided for those remaining, allowing the animals to produce enough milk for living:

"And because of the abundance of milk that they will give, he will eat butter and curds, for [only] butter and curds and [wild] honey [no vegetables] shall everyone eat who is left in the land [these products provided from the extensive pastures and the plentiful wild flowers upon which the bees depend]."

--Verse 22, Amplified Bible

I pulled out the Amplified Bible's version because of its expansion on what these pasture lands looked like. Note the reference to "bees." Last week, we revisited that bees were common to Assyria and are metaphorically mentioned in the Bible relating to the Assyrian Empire. The bees came at God's whistle to stake out positions in the ledges, cliffs and thorn bushes (Isaiah 7:19).

"The bees constructed their honeycomb and deposited their honey in holes in the ground; under rocks or in crevices between the rocks. They do the same today.... The Syrian bee is an especially hardy type and a good honey producer. It is carried to Europe and America for breeding purposes."

--International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

In the midst of "bee-dlam," there was honey.

Besides the product, the tools for commerce also had to change with the land. The hoe (vs. 25)--more specifically, a weeding hoe or 'mattock,' as used in some translations--would be exchanged for "bows and arrows." (vs. 24) The tidy farmers had to become hunters, as there were no fields of crops to tend but plenty of wilderness upon which wild animals would graze. Matthew Henry takes the wild nature of things a step further:

"The whole land having become briers and thorns, the grounds that men used to come to with sickles and pruning-hooks to gather in the fruits they shall now come to with arrows and bows, to hunt for wild beasts in the thickets, or to defend themselves from the robbers that lurk in the bushes, seeking for prey, or to kill the serpents and venomous beasts that are hid there. This denotes a very sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there which sin will not make with a people?"

 --Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Always love how deep Matthew Henry makes me think! Do we see what happens when we allow the sin in our lives to take over? I know I personally understand the feeling of being in a wilderness, letting anxiety and loss of control be my "bows and arrows." Foolishness to be there, I know, especially when I have been witness to those times of joy and spiritual prosperity. Not that there won't be trouble and tough times. But do I want my heart to become as King Ahaz's--lost to asking for a sign, or accepting and trusting the Word of God for my own situation?

"And see what folly it is to set our hearts upon possessions of lands, be they ever so fruitful, ever so pleasant; if they lie ever so little neglected and uncultivated, or if they be abused by a wasteful careless heir or tenant, or the country be laid waste by war, they will soon become frightful deserts."

--Matthew Henry

"Damascus and Samaria Fall," as we open up Chapter 8 and God's Word through Isaiah is affirmed.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: photoeverywhere.co.uk

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Next week: Isaiah 8: 1-4

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 5: 24 and 25

  

²⁴ Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble
And dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust;
For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ On this account the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
For all this His anger is not spent,
But His hand is still stretched out.

With his use of dramatic imagery continuing, Isaiah speaks of the judgment awaiting Judah at the hand of God.

I thought about taking a picture of our backyard when I read about stubble and dry grass in verse 24. Appropriate in this scorcher of a Central Virginia summer! But the image above fits Isaiah's words better, as he describes what could be seen as tongues of fire "licking up straw" (New International Version) and dry grass practically melting in the flames. It's a fire that spreads like a hot post on Twitter!

"Sinners make themselves as stubble and chaff, combustible matter, proper fuel to the fire of God’s wrath, which then of course devours and consumes them, as the fire devours the stubble, and nobody can hinder it, or cares to hinder it. Chaff is consumed, unhelped and unpitied."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

The result is that the once-abundant vineyard that was Judah is facing rot at its core. And without roots, you have no shoots, much less blossoms, much less fruit.

 

"Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also has stumbled with them.
They will go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them....

Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
Because he was determined to follow man’s command.
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim
And like rottenness to the house of Judah."

--Hosea 5: 5, 6, 11 and 12

We read, again, in verse 24, that it is Judah's rejection of the law and despising of the word that brings about this incredible wrath from God. What has happened to the book of the law? Remember, Isaiah is writing of a time of extreme apostasy by the leadership and the people. Not that all who sat on the throne were spiritually lost, but more of them were unrighteous than righteous.

"'Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.'"

--II Kings 22: 13

King Josiah came to power after Isaiah's prophecy and death. He was one of the righteous who served prior to the fall of Jerusalem. God's wrath had been burning against the people, but Josiah hadn't quite figured out what the cause was. (He was 8 when he first took the throne!) In 622 B.C., some 18 years into his leadership, Josiah summoned his scribe to go to the high priest to work through a financial transaction--he wanted the workman repairing the house of the Lord to be paid. In that visit, the high priest uncovered the book of the law to share with the scribe, who shared it with the king. As his scribe read the word, Josiah tore his clothes--a sign that he understood the sacredness of the law and the resulting response from God against His people.

[Our merciful God showed Josiah grace from His wrath in that He told the king he would pass from this life (609 B.C.) before the initiation of captivity at the hands of Babylon (587 B.C., in or about).]

Picking up with verse 25, because of the blatant disregard for God's Word, upon which rests the foundation for the ongoing relationship His people have with the Lord, God is angry and is stretching out His hand against His people. One of the cross-references for this verse is in Exodus, with Aaron, holding up the staff that God gave Moses, and calling for Egypt's waterways to be turned to blood. This same hand that protected and provided for these people under so many circumstances is now to be held up against them. I just find the imagery so compelling.

"Mountains quake because of Him
And the hills dissolve;
Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,
The world and all the inhabitants in it."

--Nahum 1:5

I hadn't taken in the full meaning of this idea until reading this passage in Nahum. "Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence." Who was bringing that state of calamity upon Judah? God is fully responsible. His presence causes upheaval in our lives. And we can see this in a positive light [His people needed a wake-up call!] or a negative one [Captivity is painful, Lord!], but we need to understand that THINGS HAPPEN in the presence of God! Here, He says, "I'm angry! You will notice my presence!" Judah's road to hard times was being announced through Isaiah. Babylon was merely a tool in the Lord's battle arsenal. Captivity and the loss of their home will cause the nation to "be still and know that I am God."

Again, I note the frustration in the work of the prophet who would not see the times change with his warnings. That progressing work would come in exile, with the prophet Daniel bringing together all of these thoughts in his prayer to God on behalf of His people:

"Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice."

--Daniel 9:11-14

A "distant nation" is coming.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: thewe.cc

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Next week: Isaiah 5: 26-30

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 5: 6 and 7

⁶ “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.”

⁷ For 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.

Although there is more to come from Chapter 5, the Parable of the Vineyard ends with our last two verses today, Isaiah 5: 6 and 7. In verse 6, Isaiah completes the picture of the vineyard as it will stand under God's providential care--neither pruned nor hoed, and rife with briars and thorns. 

I've just come back from my extended family's yearly trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We always pass by a vineyard, well cared for with its vines staked and its bases clear of weeds. Tiny globules forming off the vine in the hot sun. Not the time to see ripened grapes, but I can sense that the excellent care of the vine and foundational grounding will allow for the best possible fruit at harvest.


Not so the vineyard in the parable, as God says that He will "lay it waste," going so far as to order the clouds "to rain no rain." [I love that phrasing, even though I'm not sure what else God planned for the clouds to rain down.] The point is that God is in charge of this entire effort, and His intentions are purposeful and non-negotiable.

"'Have You completely rejected Judah?

Or have You loathed Zion?

Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing?....

Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?

Or can the heavens grant showers?

Is it not You, O Lord our God?

Therefore we hope in You,

For You are the one who has done all these things.'"

--Jeremiah 14: 19 and 22, excerpts

God gave Jeremiah a prayer for mercy during this time of proposed drought that God shared through Isaiah. The "waste" that was to land upon Judah would certainly appear as a rejection by God. But, this was a nation that, for all intents and purposes, didn't acknowledge that God brought the rains in the first place. Their sin and its consequences would be as the stinging briars left behind in their land, though felt in their hearts all the way to Babylon.

"Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. Those who had escaped from the sword he [Zedekiah] carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia...."

--II Chronicles 36: 19 and 20

Isaiah closes out the parable by explaining what the symbols are: the vineyard being Israel (Israel and Judah), and the men of Judah, "his delightful plant." But, as we know from reading earlier, what God had planned to be a plant of great personal enjoyment and productivity had become a vineyard of stinkin' bad fruit. His care in the staking, pruning and tilling of the perfect soil had been contaminated by worldly bugs, rampant unbridled growth and a resulting yield of sour grapes. This was a vineyard that would face complete devastation, but not at the hand of a God who had run out of grace in His storehouse.

 

"Note, God, in a way of righteous judgment, denies his grace to those that have long received it in vain. The sum of all is that those who would not bring forth good fruit should bring forth none. The curse of barrenness is the punishment of the sin of barrenness, as Mark 11:14 [Christ's cursing of the fig tree]."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

God waited in expectation of fruitfulness, but the wages of sin is death--death to a vineyard! God had given His grace in abundance, but the field of thanksgivings to Him and His Name lay barren. His people had turned against Him and against themselves. [Isaiah 3: 14, "It is you who have devoured the vineyard...."]

"It is very sad with a soul when instead of the grapes of humility, meekness, patience, love, and contempt of the world, which God looks for, there are the wild grapes of pride, passion, discontent, malice, and contempt of God—instead of the grapes of praying and praising, the wild grapes of cursing and swearing, which are a great offence to God."

--Matthew Henry

"Woes for the Wicked," as we leave our parable for an exposition on six judgments facing Judah.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: publicdomainpictures.net

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Next week: Isaiah 5: 8-12

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 5: 3-5

³ “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
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?
⁵ “So 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.

As God is telling His story in Isaiah, Chapter 5, He turns to His listeners and says, in verse 3, "And now...," what do you think the ending should be?" We have read in the first two verses of this chapter of this beautiful vineyard, established and cared for with the greatest of skill and love. But the plot in the story turns to "sour grapes." And what is the ending? Isaiah left the decision to the "inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah." (vs. 3)

Will you follow God or will you follow the "vineyard," the chosen people of God who have turned away and against Him? "Judge," discern, reason, go figure, given the information provided, how this story could end any way but how God spells it out in verse 5. In rhetorical questions, really, God asks, "What more was there to do....?" Had He not provided for everything and shown incredible grace to His people, even in their waywardness? Psalm 80, once again, appears as a cross-reference:

"You removed a vine from Egypt;

You drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground before it,

And it took deep root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shadow,

And the cedars of God with its boughs.

It was sending out its branches to the sea

And its shoots to the River."

--Psalm 80: 8-11

It should have been a fabulously fruitful grape. But there was no fruit worth picking! Sour, stinking, worthless, nothing of a grape.

It will not be the only time Judah and Jerusalem are compared with a vineyard in Scripture. As Jesus shares what we know as "the parable of the landowner," He talks with his critics about the end that faces the vine-grower who selfishly and at no cost whatsoever tends his vineyard.

"'Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?' They said to Him, 'He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.'"

--Matthew 21:40-41

What the chief priests and Pharisees determined to be the ending of Jesus' story is the same conclusion that God reaches with Judah and Jerusalem. And, what we learn over time is that this storyline plays out in Israel over and over throughout history into modern times. From my study Bible, "As punishment for her unfruitfulness, Israel became desolate and accessible to any nation wishing to invade her, such as happened in the Babylonian invasion of 586 B.C., and will happen repeatedly until her national repentance at the second coming of the Messiah."

The hedge of protection has come down and the walls of Jerusalem next, says the Lord in verse 5. With this calamity comes the revealed vulnerability of a nation that will not receive God's gracious protection in the manner in which it had known it until a time yet to come.

"Why have You broken down its hedges, so that all who pass that way pick its fruit? A boar from the forest eats it away and whatever moves in the field feeds on it."

--Psalm 80: 12 and 13

When the chosen vineyard yielded bad fruit, something had to change. The "boar from the forest" might well be King Nebuchadnezzar, who came in to devour Judah, selecting his kinsman Zedekiah to rule as the Babylonian captivity began. Even in this tumultuous time, as God tried to speak to Judah, the people seemed to be lost, pondering God's question from Isaiah 5:3, looking back and forth at their choices: Him or the vineyard? Him or the vineyard?

"The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.... Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

--II Chronicles 36: 15-16 and 19 (italics mine)

Isaiah spoke to a people who did not hear him. How much, I'm sure, he was hoping to be the "remedy" of which II Chronicles speaks. Isaiah would be told a great deal more by God, and we will soon read of his calling by God in Chapter 6. We know that more is to come from Isaiah on the true Remedy. But His message would be one that would leave the Jewish nation continuing not to hear, yet open the way for you and me.

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it."

--Matthew 21:43

Official study break! Enjoy a peace-filled week....'Til Wednesday in 2 weeks!

Photo: culinae.wordpress.com

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In 2 weeks: Isaiah 5: 6 and 7

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 5: 1 and 2

Isaiah 5:1-2

Parable of the Vineyard

¹ 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.
² He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.

When I was looking at the upcoming weeks' schedule for study a few weeks back, I noticed the title of the beginning of Isaiah Chapter 5: "Parable of the Vineyard." My first thought was, "A parable? In the Old Testament? A prophet's words?" Very excited! 

We hear 'parable' and we think Jesus. I do, anyway. In some of His teaching, Jesus used these stories, these metaphors, to explain concepts and truths he was trying to teach. Though commonplace language and expressions were used, still, not everyone understood them. Even now, culturally displaced as we are in 2012, we may not understand them without helpful resources. But for those Jesus was trying to reach, parables explained a mighty bit. 

In the Greek, the word literally means "a throwing beside," from para- "alongside" + bole "a throwing, casting, beam, ray," related to ballein "to throw." [Dictionary.com] Jesus did not originate the parable. He used it as an effective teaching tool, as it was often used by others in that day and in the days before Jesus arrived. It should not surprise us, given what we know of Isaiah's creative writing, that God would use this approach through him in this prophecy. Not surprising, either, that Isaiah would set his parable around a vineyard, as the growing of grapes and the production of wine would be something the entire nation of Israel would know something about.

As we begin with verse 1, Isaiah is the one singing. The keeper of the vineyard--if not given away by the NASB's use of 'His' in verse 1--is clearly apparent by the end of verse 7 as "the Lord," meaning Jesus. This is a song about the Lord "touching his vineyard," as the King James Version reads. What is the vineyard?

"You removed a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it."

--Psalm 80:8

God's chosen people--"the vineyard"--removed from the land of bondage in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land, Israel. The vineyard was planted on "a fertile hill" or a "fruitful hill," in other translations, which, in the margin notes is translated as "a horn, the son of fatness." In the Hebrew, 'horn' carries with it the idea of being a projection, as if sound coming from a horn or the end of the horn itself, which projects out to distribute the sound. "Fatness" or oil denotes the idea of richness. God's people were planted in a place of blessing out of "the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus," as Paul would later write in an epistle to the Ephesians (2:7). This planting was intended to be a growth opportunity, projecting the Word of God and His holiness from this rich beginning. (And I love the fact that 'grapes' in the Hebrew comes from an unused root meaning to bear fruit [Strong's]. More on this in a moment.)

Continuing with verse 2, the care taken by Lord in the planting of this vineyard is most notable. He prepared this soil with great intent, digging and removing stones that might otherwise cause the roots not to take hold. "He built a tower in the middle of it," implying a place of protection and watchfulness over the vineyard. He placed a wine vat, or winepress, in the vineyard. This aspect of the vineyard not only speaks to the fruit being put to good use but the idea of the firstfruits being returned to God as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. If those listening to Isaiah were led to think of their forefathers, these words would have spoken to them of a God who truly was their Beloved...once.

“Yet I planted you a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?"

--Jeremiah 2:21

"...The choicest vine" Isaiah uses in verse 2 to speak of the chosen people of God. A vine to yield the best possible, ripest, most delicious grape. "He planted it with the choicest vine, set up a pure religion among them, gave them a most excellent law, instituted ordinances very proper for the keeping up of their acquaintance with God," explains Matthew Henry in his commentary. What God had intended to be a vine that would grow, be fruitful and project His Kingdom out into the world had become, in Jeremiah's words, a "degenerate shoot." In Isaiah's words, "only worthless ones [grapes]," meaning, in Hebrew, "stinking or worthless things; poison-berries." [Strong's] Now you know where "sour grapes" comes from.

"For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
'Their wine is the venom of serpents,
And the deadly poison of cobras....'"

--Deuteronomy 32: 32 and 33

"This parable was put into a song that it might be the more moving and affecting, might be the more easily learned and exactly remembered, and the better transmitted to posterity; and it is an exposition of the song of Moses (Deut. 32:1-47), showing that what he then foretold was now fulfilled."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

God's expectation for His Son's vineyard was that it "produce good grapes" (vs. 2)--that it bear good fruit. It didn't happen! Everything was established to be just so, perfect conditions for growth, for fruitfulness, for the best kind of prosperity and success. Yet, it was not to be. As if to invoke the fall of mankind in the garden again, the vineyard that is God's people, Israel--Israel and Judah--would take matters into their own hands, cultivating success of their own will and following other gods. They did not heed the warning of Moses--the end of the song mentioned above: "Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life." (Deuteronomy 32: 45-47a)


As I write today, so many situations and thoughts of others come to mind. My church is in the midst of making decisions concerning its denominational affiliation. There are many issues and questions--unresolved issues of the past and questions we may have never explored answers to thoroughly enough, so that we are questioning our convictions. What is the church? What do we really believe? What would God have us do? How did we get here and where are we going? As overwhelming as it has been to address big questions with many worldviews, how marvelous an opportunity to do just that?! Look at that word in Deuteronomy: "For it is not an idle word for you...." God's Word is "living and active," says Hebrews 4:12. It continues to speak, guide, help in discernment--and, yes, to warn.


Where have we been planted? What kinds of "grapes" are we producing? Whose expectations are the most important to satisfy? Do we believe that the Lord is our caretaker and that He continues to be the watchtower of our vineyard, the clearer of stones from our roots? Do we recognize that our being grafted into the True Vine is not a position of idle connection but is a lifeline to growth, maturity and prosperity? Eternal fruitfulness? Do we believe and trust that He can "build us back" into a thriving "choice vine" on a "fertile hill" if we yield in all obedience and love to the One who planted us?

"A bare profession, though ever so green, will not serve: there must be more than buds and blossoms. Good purposes and good beginnings are good things, but not enough; there must be fruit, a good heart and a good life, vineyard fruit, thoughts and affections, words and actions, agreeable to the Spirit, which is the fatness of the vineyard (Gal. 5:22, 23) [fruit of the Spirit passage], answerable to the ordinances, which are the dressings of the vineyard, acceptable to God, the Lord of the vineyard, and fruit according to the season."

--Matthew Henry (italics his)

 More from this rich parable....'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: winesediments.net

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Next week: Isaiah 5: 3-5

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 3:13-15

God Will Judge

¹³ The Lord arises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
¹⁴ The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people,
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
¹⁵ “What do you mean by crushing My people
And grinding the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord God of hosts.

Short passage in Isaiah today, but one that my study Bible sets off by itself, with the title: "God Will Judge." After laying out the case in earlier verses and the presentation of evidence, as it were, God, as lead Prosecutor and Judge, calls His people on the carpet.

"Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,
For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is no faithfulness or kindness
Or knowledge of God in the land."

--Hosea 4:1

If you studied Hosea here in these pages, you'll remember us looking at the word contend. ("Contend with your mother," said Hosea 2:2, as the nation of Israel was grappling with its sinful stance against God.) In the Hebrew, it means to "grapple, wrangle or hold a controversy." [Strong's] God pleads, not in the begging way but in the "Do you see the controversy we have here?" way. The people were not following in obedience or reverence to God, and the leadership was making some drastically unloving, un-Godly decisions. In this Judge's courtroom, the questions asked are rhetorical, as there is nothing the defense can introduce into evidence that can stand.

In verse 14, we read that the elders and princes--those in power--are the ones called into judgment by God specifically. Isaiah began Chapter 3 with a dissertation on the problems with those in charge. In a statement, God says, "'It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.'" The King James Version uses 'eaten up' for devoured, which, more accurately means consumed by fire. Chapter 5 of Isaiah is "The Parable of the Vineyard," into which we'll look more at the metaphor of the vineyard that is Judah. 'Plunder' does not just mean collected items; there is an application of force suggested, whether actual physical theft or taken through deceptive means, such as by fraud. The leadership of Judah is held responsible for these offenses by God Himself.

"Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no man living is righteous."

--Psalm 143: 1 and 2

The above would have been a wonderful thought and prayer on behalf of Judah's leaders. But, it was not to be. God did enter into judgment, and, as Israel had failed to recognize, so, too, did Judah fail to recognize that "no man living is righteous."


Verse 15 is so powerfully worded: "'What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the face of the poor?'" In Hebrew, the word face literally means "that which turns." [Strong's] The face of the poor, which had turned to the leadership to be its earthly guide and support, would be "crushed" and "ground," with its resources devoured and plundered. I am saddened as I think about our worldview today, with the abundance of poor in so many places and hurting in so many ways. Systems that crush and plunder. Attitudes that devour self-worth.


We simply must remember the lesson of last week regarding the sin of showing partiality. "The shew of their countenance [their respect for persons] bears witness against them." (Isaiah 3:9) A champion of the poor, James must have breathed Isaiah's prophecy as air, given how he addressed the Christian Jews of his day:

 

"My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool, 'have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man....'"

--James 2: 1-6 (the sin of partiality; emphasis mine)

Judah's leadership had become a nation of "judges with evil motives." Is it any wonder God's words were intended to cut straight to their hearts: "What do you mean....?" If there's anyone rhetorically grappling for an explanation in this controversy, it's God.

"'What mean you, that you beat my people into pieces? What cause have you for it? What good does it do you?' Or, 'What hurt have they done you? Do you think you had power given you for such a purpose as this?' Note, there is nothing more unaccountable, and yet nothing which must more certainly be accounted for, than the injuries and abuses that are done to God’s people by their persecutors and oppressors. 'You grind the faces of the poor; you put them to as much pain and terror as if they were ground in a mill, and as certainly reduce them to dust by one act of oppression after another.'"

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

"And the people will be oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor...."

--Isaiah 3:5

"Moreover...." God continues. "Judah's women denounced".... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: izismile.com

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Next week: Isaiah 3:16-26

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).