The Song about the Vineyard
Isaiah 5:1-7
5 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watch-tower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people 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?
When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice, but saw bloodshed;
righteousness, but heard a cry!
This is a ballad, so it tells a story, a story about a vineyard – but it is not really about a vineyard, because not only is it a ballad, it is also a parable.
The land-owner, God, did everything so that the people of Israel were in a place where they could serve him by obeying his word and showing care and compassion for the least and the unseen. God gave them safety (the watch-tower), God gave them a good land, God gave them the resources needed to produce a good crop (choice vines and a wine vat). But the vineyard produced wild grapes, grapes that were no good. That this is a parable comes clear in vs. 7 – instead of justice there was bloodshed, instead of the hoped for righteousness there was a cry of anguish and despair.
A fruitful vineyard produces a crop that can be turned into wine, good wine. In the same way a nation, a people, a community, a group, or even individuals who have been made and blessed by God should produce a crop of righteousness and care, not a crop of anguish and despair. The passage warns that vineyards that do not produce a crop of righteousness and care will find that the blessings and protections of God are removed.
The question to be asked is, what kind of crop are we producing – as individuals, as a church, as a community, as a nation? The Bible states numerous times that part of the crop the people of God should produce is care for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. If these people are experiencing care and are being treated rightly then a cry of anguish and despair is not being heard.
PRAYER:
We thank you, O Lord, for creating/making us and for blessing us, so that we might serve you in the world. We pray that we would bear the fruit of righteousness and justice in the world, so that the widow, the orphan, and the stranger would experience care and compassion. In Jesus’ name. Amen.