The Worthless Vineyard
Isaiah 5:1-7
March 5, 2023
This morning we come to the 3rd sermon of Isaiah.
I always think it is good to give you a “bird’s eye” view
Of what is going on to help better understand the pieces.
In this 3rd sermon of Isaiah
A terrifying and tragic announcement is being made.
In the first 2 sermons Isaiah spoke of GOD’S DEFINITE DISPLEASURE with Jerusalem and Judah.
• We’ve seen their bloody hands and lack of care for the helpless.
• We’ve seen their lack of justice and unwillingness to reprove the ruthless.
• We’ve seen their impotent religion which did more to irritate God than pacify
Him.
• We’ve seen their pride and propensity to trust in idols and men and even their
own beauty.
And in all these instances we’ve listened to God tell this people
That the only way redemption would come is through justice.
That is to say, there is only ONE OPTION for these people if they are to satisfy God and appease His anger: THEY MUST REPENT.
The first 2 sermons have both ended on the same note of redemption.
And both of them point out that redemption
Only comes through the justice of repentance.
Isaiah 1:25-28 “I will also turn My hand against you, And will smelt away your dross as with lye And will remove all your alloy. “Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; After that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city.” Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness. But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, And those who forsake the LORD will come to an end.”
Isaiah 4:4-6 “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.”
God is expecting His people to hear of His displeasure
And to repent of their bloody hands, their empty religion,
And their persistent arrogance.
God is expecting His people to repent and return to Him
That they may once again enjoy His favor.
BUT THE PEOPLE HAVE REFUSED TO REPENT
The warnings of God have gone in one ear and out the other.
They are not listening.
And while God has spoken generically of a coming TRIBULATION
Or time of peril which will purify and smelt away the dross of Israel,
In this 3rd sermon God is about to get specific.
This 3rd sermon comes with a bone-chilling announcement.
EXILE IS COMING.
Isaiah 5:13 “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.”
Isaiah 5:26 “He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.”
God has repeatedly offered redemption through repentance.
God has repeatedly offered redemption through turning from sin.
But when a people won’t repent
God brings about redemption through judgment.
The KEY PHRASE of the entire sermon is found in:
Isaiah 5:16-17 “But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.”
That is what this 3rd sermon of Isaiah is about.
It is a message from God regarding
How He will deal with the sin of unrepentant Jerusalem.
MORE THAN THAT IT IS A TRAGEDY.
It is a sermon about WASTED GRACE.
• It is a sermon which first recalls all the benefits which God had done for Israel
• And what little return He had received from them for His investment.
They are a waste!
And if Israel continues to refuse repentance
There is only one option on the horizon.
REMOVAL FROM THE LAND.
Isaiah 5 reveals to us that God will whistle for a distant nation
To come and lay waste to Jerusalem, burn that city with fire,
And thus purify this land from her sin.
It is certainly a drastic message,
But if you learn nothing else from this 3rd sermon of Isaiah
Then know that with God it is: RIGHTEOUSNESS OR BUST.
His grace is poured richly upon His people with the expectation that
They will return with an offering of justice and righteousness.
There is no compromise on the part of God
When it comes to righteousness or holiness.
God has said it:
Leviticus 11:44-45 “‘For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. ‘For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
Jesus confirmed it:
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
The apostles preached it:
1 Peter 1:16 “because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
I realize that much of our world seems to think
That God grades on the curve and that when push comes to shove
We’re all sinners and God won’t care.
THAT SIMPLY ISN’T TRUE.
This entire ministry of Isaiah was built off a vision that he had of God.
Isaiah 6:1-3 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
Isaiah tells the people that “I saw the Lord”
• What was He like?
• What did you see?
• How would you describe Him?
And Isaiah has but one answer
Which overwhelmingly described who God is to the people.
“Holy, Holy, Holy”
And nothing less than that will be accepted.
WE SAY IT ALL THE TIME,
If you’re not holy as God is holy you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”
It is RIGHTEOUSNESS OR BUST with God.
Here we are reminded just how serious God is with that expectation.
THAT IS THE 3RD SERMON OF ISAIAH.
Well, this sermon begins in a unique fashion.
• It begins with a parable of sorts.
• It actually begins with a song.
It is the first of 4 points to be made in this sermon.
#1 THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah 5:1-7
Here you see clearly that
We are dealing with a poem or song of sorts to begin.
(1) “Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.”
Here we see Isaiah speaks of a friend who had a vineyard.
“My well-beloved has a vineyard on a fertile hill.”
So we are entering a simple story from Isaiah
Regarding this friend and his vineyard.
Let’s break this song down into 4 parts.
1) THE DISAPPOINTING HARVEST (1-2)
So we already saw that his friend acquired a vineyard
And we see that he was very devoted to making this vineyard productive.
(2) “He dug it all around, removed its stones,”
We call that PLOWING.
• This man worked the soil well.
• He prepared the ground.
“And planted it with the choicest vine.”
He didn’t just throw random seed into his vineyard,
He selected what he thought to be the best seed.
He gathered seed from a choice vine
And was going to use that here in his vineyard.
He is not cutting any corners.
“And He built a tower in the middle of it”
This speaks to the PROTECTION of the vineyard.
• This is where the guard would sit so that he could see the entire vineyard and protect it from those who might threaten it or ruin it.
“And also hewed out a wine vat in it;”
He has an expectation of gathering a grape harvest and making wine.
• He has done everything he needed to do,
• The expectation is that if all goes according to plan he’ll soon have wine.
Which is what we see:
“Then He expected it to produce good grapes,”
WHY WOULDN’T HE?
• He did everything he was supposed to do.
• He did what other farmers have done.
And so now he sat back and waited for the harvest.
But we read something SHOCKING:
“But it produced only worthless ones.”
This is clearly NOT what Isaiah’s friend had expected.
Throughout the Bible farmers are analogous of hope.
All that they do is done in hope of a coming harvest.
2 Timothy 2:6 “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.”
But here that was NOT the case.
• The vineyard failed.
• He was left only with worthless grapes.
• The Hebrew word actually suggests “stinking grapes”, they are rancid.
No mention of drought.
No mention of insects.
No mention of any other outside problem.
HE JUST DIDN’T GET GOOD GRAPES.
It was a disappointing harvest.
2) THE DISCERNING QUESTION (3-4)
So after presenting the problem of his friend and the disappointing harvest Isaiah now looks to the congregation for insight.
It’s as though Isaiah is saying, “I’d like to go back and give some insight to my friend as to why his vineyard failed. Would any of you like to weigh in?”
(3-4a) “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?”
• Did I not do something I should have done?
• What more could I have done?
And what is the answer to that question? Nothing.
If we are to judge the farmer here we have to find him innocent.
• He plowed, he planted, he protected, he prepared.
• He did everything he should have done.
Well that brings up a second question.
“Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?”
What are we to discern was the problem?
It had to have been bad seed.
In fact, the farmer said, “Judge between Me and My vineyard”
He gives you the two options.
It was either my fault, or it was the vineyard’s fault.
Which one?
It has to be the fault of the vineyard.
You cannot lay the blame of fruitlessness
Upon the back of the vineyard owner.
So Isaiah has outlined the disappointment of his friend
And the congregation has rendered a verdict against the vineyard.
So let’s look at the response.
3) THE DECISIVE ACTION (5-6)
And this only makes sense.
(5-6) “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; 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.”
Why would you continue to PROTECT a vineyard that won’t produce?
Why would you continue to PLOW a vineyard that won’t produce?
Why would you continue to WATER a vineyard that won’t produce?
YOU WOULDN’T.
Hebrews 6:7-8 “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”
If you plow ground and plant ground and water a field and get produce then that’s one thing. You’re prone to continue.
But if you do all that work and receive no fruit for your labor, then you won’t keep putting yourself through all that labor.
So no one here can blame the vineyard owner for His decision.
In fact, his decision makes perfect sense.
And EVERYONE in Jerusalem and Judea who heard Isaiah’s song
WOULD AGREE that this is the proper course of action.
But Isaiah has one more thing to say regarding this vineyard.
He has yet to identify the friend, or identify the vineyard.
4) THE DIRECT APPLICATION (7)
Now we know who the vineyard owner is, it is “the LORD of hosts”
And we know who the vineyard is, It is “the men of Judah”
And we know what the preferred fruit was, it was “justice” and “righteousness”
And so when we look back over the song, it makes perfect sense to us.
• “my well-beloved” is the LORD.
• He “had a vineyard on a fertile hill” which is the Promised Land and even more specifically Jerusalem.
• “He dug it all around, removed its stones” – that is to say he removed all the nations from that land and gave it to Israel.
• He “planted it with the choicest vine” – which is of course the descendants of Abraham, the chosen one.
• He “built a tower in the middle of it” – which is His temple
• And He “expected it to produce good grapes” – which is righteousness and justice.
All of those are expressions of God’s grace upon Israel.
All of those are things which God did for Israel
That He did not do for other nations.
• It is the beauty of election
• It is the beauty of providence
• It is the beauty of CHECED or loyalty or lovingkindness
• It is the beauty of sustenance and protection and provision
God poured His grace richly upon the nation of Israel
With the expectation of a harvest of “justice” and “righteousness”
IT IS THE EXPECTATION OF GRACE.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
God does not pour out the riches of His grace upon a human being
With the intention of leaving them in sin.
He expects that His grace will produce righteousness in their lives.
HE EXPECTED THAT FROM ISRAEL AS WELL.
So we return to the questions we again ask:
What more could God have done to prepare for the success of Israel?
NOTHING.
• He delivered them from Egypt with a mighty hand,
• He cleared out the nations before them,
• He planted them in the Promised Land,
• He protected and blessed them as He waited for them to honor Him with
righteous living.
BUT THEY DIDN’T
They did not respond as they should have.
“Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce only worthless ones?”
And the answer again can only be – IT IS A BAD VINEYARD.
Paul teaches us:
Romans 9:6 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”
These people may have a physical lineage which can be traced back to Abraham, but they are not true sons of Abraham.
• Abraham was a man of faith.
• Abraham became a man of righteousness and justice.
• These men are nothing like their father Abraham.
AND THE QUESTION NOW IS
Could anyone fault God for destroying this vineyard?
Could anyone fault God for bringing in a demolition crew to tear down the walls, destroy the tower, rip up the vine, and throw it away?
And of course the answer is again “NO”.
God demanded righteousness & justice and the vineyard didn’t produce.
“Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.”
Do you remember the “bloodshed” He spoke of?
Isaiah 1:15-17 “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”
God wanted them to walk in justice.
• He wanted them to “cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
But they oppressed the widow and the orphan, they neglected the poor
And God attributed that to their bloody hands.
He wanted “righteousness” but all He received was “a cry of distress” from those widows and orphans who were neglected by the people.
When you read in the Mosaic Law what I think is the greatest passage on benevolence in Scripture we read:
Deuteronomy 15:7-9 “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. “Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you.”
And here we see how dangerous that poor man’s cry is
For you if you have not helped him.
But all in all there is a simple point here.
GOD DEMANDS FRUIT FROM HIS PEOPLE
AND THAT FRUIT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
“You are to be holy, as I am holy”
Now, let’s take what Isaiah said and run to the New Testament
Because Jesus sang a very similar song to the people of His day.
TURN TO: MATTHEW 21
Now the chapter begins in the first 17 verses with one of the most despicable demonstrations of hypocrisy in the Bible.
• These people who are today shouting “Hosanna” will be in a few days shouting “Crucify!”
• It is phony worship and phony religion.
Following that demonstration we get a brief object lesson from the Lord.
(18-19) “Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.”
• What you should know about fig trees is that they put on figs before they put on leaves, so if this fig tree had leaves it was declaring, “I have fruit!”
The problem was, like Israel, it was a liar, and it had no fruit
So Jesus did the same thing God did to His vineyard.
He cursed it and it immediately withered.
From there Jesus enters the temple
And begins teaching where He again exposes a people who are phony.
And what I want you to see is that to this phony crowd of hypocrites Jesus gives a parable.
(READ MATTHEW 21:33-41)
You recognize the story don’t you.
Jesus references that same vineyard that Isaiah spoke of.
Only here Jesus gives us more information than Isaiah had given us.
• Here we find that when it was time for harvest our vineyard owner had hired hands whom He sent to gather the produce.
• But there were vine-growers in that vineyard who had corrupted the vineyard and started to beat the slaves and ultimately kill them, even the son of the landowner.
• It wasn’t just bad seed, it was also bad leaders.
But again, notice the main thrust of the vineyard.
(41) “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.”
What did he expect?
FRUIT! (“the proper proceeds”)
But there is ONE MORE POINT to be made by Jesus here.
(42-44) “Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? “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. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
So immediately following that new telling of Isaiah’s parable
Jesus immediately takes it to this new direction.
He says, “Did you never read in the Scripture, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER STONE; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’”?
• You are aware that Jesus is “the stone which the builders rejected”
• You are aware that He is “the chief corner stone”
• And you are aware that this was all the plan of God.
So Jesus just spoke of a fruitless vineyard, but He DOESN’T blame the failure of the vineyard on a lack of work or a lack of effort.
Jesus blames the failure of the vineyard
On the fact that the vine-growers rejected the Son.
That is where He puts the massive failure.
• You rejected God’s corner stone.
• You rejected the One God sent.
• This is why your vineyard failed.
“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. “And he who falls on this stone (repentance) will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls (judgment), it will scatter him like dust.”
SO JESUS SAYS
Those who rejected Him and refused to repent at His preaching
• Will be excluded from the kingdom as fruitless vines
But those who trust in Him
• Will be given the kingdom because of their fruit.
DO YOU SEE THAT?
NOW, WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THIS?
There’s one more passage we must read an then we’ll fully understand this song of Isaiah.
John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
Pay special attention to this famous “I am” statement of Jesus.
“I am the true vine”
What does that mean?
• What did God expect from Isaiah’s vine? FRUIT
• What was the fruit God expected? “righteousness” and “justice”
But He never received it.
They were a bad vine.
But notice what Jesus says, “I am the true vine”
I am what God expected from His vineyard.
I have the righteousness and justice which God demands of His people.
That’s all well and good, but how does that affect us?
“Every branch IN ME that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
You must be IN HIM
John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
Now you understand why those who rejected this chief corner stone
Lose the kingdom and are tossed out of the vineyard.
Because the ability to satisfy God’s righteous demand
Only comes through Jesus.
Only He can clothe you in the righteousness which God demands.
ISAIAH TAUGHT US OF A VINEYARD
Which God expected righteousness from and that vineyard failed.
In response to their failure God annihilated that vineyard.
• He would send in Babylon to tear down its walls and towers and God would eradicate that faulty vine from His vineyard.
The only hope would be that He might find a “true vine” a “good seed”
• That was Jesus.
• He showed up and was everything God expected from His vineyard.
• He was the epitome of justice and righteousness.
• And He offered to make anyone who fell upon Him in repentance acceptable to the Father.
But Israel was so consumed with their own goodness
That they saw no need for the Son and they killed Him
Thinking they could seize the inheritance on their own.
BUT IT DID NOT WORK.
God promised to once again eradicate that bad vine.
Matthew 21:40-41 “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.”
• Which God did again in AD 70 when this time Rome burned the temple.
And then in a shocking move, God offered this righteousness which comes through His Son to a wild vine of which you and I are a part.
Romans 11:19-21 “You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”
It is yet again the same warning.
First given to Jews and now extended to Gentiles.
There is only one way to be the fruitful vineyard which God demands.
You must be in Christ Jesus.
• He is the only “true vine”
• His righteousness is the only acceptable righteousness.
• He alone can make you satisfying to God.
Romans 3:21-24 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”
BUT LISTEN FURTHER.
WE AREN’T just talking about justification here.
WE ARE talking about producing righteous fruit in your life.
In order to do that, you don’t just come to Him once,
You must remain in Him.
John 15:3-6 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
The problem with Israel is two-fold.
• It is a failure to receive Him
• And it is a failure to abide in Him
Church, the only way we will produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives is if we believe in Christ and abide in Christ.
HE IS OUR CONSTANT NEED.
And that is why we come now to partake of this Lord’s Supper.
We see here the symbolism of His body in which He lived a righteous life.
We see here the symbolism of His death in which He atoned for sin.
He came to satisfy our righteous requirement.
He came to satisfy our sinful debt.
AND WE EAT THIS SACRIFICE CONTINUALLY
BECAUSE ONLY IN HIM ARE WE RIGHTEOUS
AND ONLY IN HIM CAN WE LIVE RIGHTEOUS.
• Have you believed in Him?
• Have you been grafted into the vine?
• Are you remaining in the vine?
We’re going to see in the rest of this chapter all the worldly allurements
That have kept Israel from remaining.
Being fruitful before God is directly linked to your devotion to Jesus.
• Are you devoted to Him?
Let this Lord’s Supper be your declaration of devotion.
Maybe it is taken this morning in repentance.
• Jesus, I haven’t been devoted, but here today, I am confessing that and coming home.
Let this ordinance be a time of worship.
Let this ordinance be a time of repentance.
Let this ordinance be a time of commitment.
We’re going to have a time of preparation and then we’ll partake.
