Welcome to the Thursday Quick Study of Isaiah. It was difficult to make it short today. Wow is this chapter worth reading in its entirety. But quick is the promise so quick it will be. Thanks for coming to study with me.
Lord Jesus, our Beloved Lord, lead us to see the lesson in the parable. Help us see it quickly, Lord as this is supposed to be a quick study. Thank You for writing and sharing these lessons with us. In Your Name, I pray.
Isaiah 5 – Amplified Bible
Please read verses 1-2a.
Parable of the Vineyard
1Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord]
A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people).
My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope
(the promised land, Canaan).
2 He dug it all around and cleared away its stones,
And planted it with [a]the choicest vine (the people of Judah).
And He built a tower in the center of it;
And also hewed out a [b]wine vat in it.
Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes,
Can you imagine? This must have been a beautiful vineyard.
Please read verses 2b-4
But it produced only worthless ones.
3 “And now, says the Lord,
O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard (My people).
4“What more could have been done for My vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to produce good grapes,
why did it yield worthless ones?
What a disappointment. We’ll see in a few verses how awful it was, but oh my that this ‘vineyard’ didn’t ‘produce good grapes’. Be careful what you do. Live in the way that God wants you to walk, the fruit bearing way.
You know that song, O be careful little eyes what you see?… It’s not just the young that need heed those words. Be careful what you see and what you hear. Be discerning and walk in the Spirit as the Lord Himself is near. We are His beloved and He is our Prize, our very Present and always seeing Lord.
Please read verses 5-6
5 “So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up;
I will break down its [c]stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies].
6 “I will turn it into a wasteland;
It will not be pruned or cultivated,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”
Destroying it, that’s what He will do. Turn it into a wasteland. Oh that we would walk through our lives as the Lord asks us and expects us to.
Please read verses 7
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house (nation) of Israel
And the men of Judah are His delightful planting
[which He loves].
So He looked for justice, but in fact,
[He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness;
[He looked] for righteousness, but in fact,
[He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.
Justice, Righteousness, Good Fruit.
Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts].
Galatians 5:22-24
22 But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:2 Lit a bright red grape.
- Isaiah 5:2 This was the lower of two hollowed-out reservoirs made in the soft rock, one above the other, connected by a channel that allowed the juice pressed out in the upper reservoir to flow to the lower.
- Isaiah 5:5 The wall was usually made up of loose stones that had been cleared from the field.