God’s Vineyard
“Now let me sing to my well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard, On a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a vinepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.” (NKJV) Isa. 5:1-2
You know the feeling when you see someone so sad and disappointed … we begin to pity him, and wonder why he’d been so dejected. What if you later find out you are the cause for his disappointment and sadness? That’s what Isaiah 5 made me feel while reading through it; I had goose bumps.
Isaiah metaphorically described the relationship between the Israelites and God of hosts. The way God had carefully planted the vineyard, chosen the best field for it, planted the choicest seed, and yet, the yield was “wild grape” instead of “good grapes”. Then in Isa. 5:7, he tells of these good and wild grapes among the house of Israel: “…He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help. A lack of justice and righteousness results in hardship and destruction. God’s action against the vineyard was to destroy it entirely (Isa. 5:5-6).
So sad, so pitiful, isn’t it? What if we find out that we, as Christians, are the vineyard of God today? Yes, I mean you and I are the Lord’s vineyard. What is more of a precious vineyard than for the Only Begotten Son of God to die for us and cleanse us with His blood? Yet, will God find justice, righteousness, love, joy, mercy, truthfulness amongst us? When He considers His vineyard today, will he find good or bad grapes?
Beloved, as God judged Israel for producing bad grapes, so He will judge us because we are His vineyard through Christ Jesus. May we be God’s vineyard that bears good grapes in Jesus name.