The Fate of The Worthless Vineyard – Part 2
Isaiah 5:13-17; 24-30 (24-30)
April 2, 2023
This morning we discussed WHY listening to God’s word is so important.
FAILURE TO LISTEN RESULTS IN EXILE.
Listening to God is important.
• James said we should be “quick to listen”
• 16 times in the New Testament we see the phrase, “He who has ears, let him
hear”
Those who didn’t listen were exiled.
And this exile is necessary for HUMILITY,
For the GLORY OF GOD, and for JUSTICE.
THOSE WHO DIDN’T LISTEN WERE REMOVED.
It is an important lesson to learn:
People who don’t produce fruit
Because they don’t listen to the word
Eventually quit receiving the word at all.
TURN TO: MATTHEW 13:1-7
DO YOU REMEMBER THAT STORY?
• That farming parable which seemed to make no sense to anyone, including the
disciples.
And they asked:
• “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
And the answer of Jesus is absolutely shocking.
• “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”
They haven’t listened to what they’ve already been told,
Why would I give them more?
See, everyone Jesus spoke to could be categorized as that hardened soil.
Why would Jesus keep throwing seed onto the path just the birds could eat it?
And Jesus even applied to that crowd the same thing we’re going to read in Isaiah 6.
(READ: Matthew 13:14-15)
But it’s the eyes that see and the ears that hear that are blessed.
You understand the point here.
IF YOU FAIL TO LISTEN YOU WILL LOSE THE PRIVILEGE.
And that is why in Isaiah’s sermon, Exile is linked to knowledge.
Jesus is that light that is shining.
• Men are either accepting that light or ignoring it.
• If they accept His word, they get more.
• If they ignore His word, eventually they lose even what they have received.
LISTENING IS IMPORTANT.
And we would remind that how you listen directly affects your fruit.
Keep looking at Matthew 13
(READ: Matthew 13:18-23)
Jesus clarifies there what we’ve been speaking about.
That how one receives the seed
Directly corresponds to how one produces fruit.
The fruitfulness of the vineyard
Is directly proportional to the acceptance of the seed.
LISTENING IS IMPORTANT.
How can you produce fruit if you ignore the very seed which produces it?
Israel ignored God’s word in favor of the world’s entertainment
And produced no fruit and now they were headed to exile.
They were compared to a destroyed vineyard.
So THIS MORNING we learned that LISTENING IS IMPORTANT.
Tonight we’re on a similar point, but I would go a little further and tell you
NOT LISTENING IS DANGEROUS.
In fact, I would point out to you that
God takes it serious and as a personal insult.
AND THINK ABOUT IT.
Do you like it when you know something and the person you are talking to won’t listen to you?
How much more so for God, when His wisdom far exceeds ours?
I learned this learn early on as a child.
• You could say a lot of things to my dad but the word “No” was not one of them.
• If you wanted to unleash fury in a split second just tell him “No”.
In similar fashion, God takes the rejection of His word
Very personal and very serious.
And yet Israel made a practice of it.
Isaiah 28:9-10 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.’”
They actually mock the very words of God as baby gibberish.
Is it any wonder God is furious?
Isaiah 30:9-11 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
They in effect tell God to “shut it”.
Is it any wonder God is furious?
TONIGHT we’ll look at that fury.
So we’ve walked through the sermon.
#1 THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah 5:1-7
#2 THE SIN OF THE NATION
Isaiah 5:8-12; 18-23
#3 THE SOLUTON OF GOD
Isaiah 5:13-17; 24-30
We said this morning that this section of God’s response
Easily follows the 3 “therefore” statements in the text.
We saw:
1) THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF EXILE (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.”
2) THE NECESSITY OF EXILE (14-17)
“Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.”
And tonight we look at the 3rd and final statement.
3) THE FURY OF THE EXILE (24-30)
We are learning that
Ignoring God’s word is no laughing matter.
Just look at this 3rd “therefore”
(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.”
We remember of course the 4 “woes” that precede this statement.
• We had the indifference of those who drag their sin with cart ropes.
• We had the depravity of those who rewrote God’s standard and called what was evil good.
• We had the pride of those who thought they knew better than God.
• We had the corruption of those who compromised what God said to get ahead.
They all have to do with ignoring, rejecting, rewriting,
Or compromising the word of God.
And because of this sin God is sending the fire of judgment.
“Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become rot and their blossom will blow away as dust;”
Here God speaks of the judgment on their “root” and their “blossom”
• Their “root” is obviously their source of nutrient.
• Their “root” is the word they believe.
• Their “root” is the knowledge they follow.
They have ignored God’s word, but they do believe someone’s word.
Rather it is their own logic and understanding
Or the reasonings of their culture.
They have a standard they follow, it just isn’t God’s.
That is their “root”.
• The “blossom” is NOT the same thing as fruit.
• The “blossom” would have to be their pride in what they do.
• It is how they display their happiness in the wisdom they follow.
God is looking at men
Who have rejected His word and the fruit it produces
For their own knowledge and the pride that comes with it.
AND GOD SAYS,
• “Have you ever thrown dry grass into a fire?”
• “How long did it last?”
• “Well that’s how long their pride is going to last.”
I’m going to cause their wisdom to “rot”
And their blosom to “blow away”.
If you reject God’s word in favor of your own, do you really suppose He’s going to let your word succeed?
We’ve read it before, but what a good reminder:
Jeremiah 5:30-31 “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”
• Do you really suppose God will let your own logic trump His?
• Do you really think you can disobey God and disregard His wisdom in favor of your own and God will just sit by and let you display your blossom?
FORGET IT!
Isaiah 30:12-15 “Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Since you have rejected this word And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them, Therefore this iniquity will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar, So ruthlessly shattered That a sherd will not be found among its pieces To take fire from a hearth Or to scoop water from a cistern.” For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,”
God will take those who ignore His word,
And though it may all look well for a while, their fall will come “suddenly”
God doesn’t allow disobedience to prosper forever.
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
THAT’S A GOOD REMINDER.
God is sending a fire to destroy their logic and scatter their pride.
He will not allow their wisdom and plans to succeed.
WHY IS HE SO ANGRY?
“For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”
Can you see how personal God takes this?
• He uses words like “rejected” and “despised” as synonyms.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 “Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.”
See what that word “rejected” means there.
What Saul did to God’s word, God did to Saul.
That word “despised” actually means “to spurn”
GOD TAKES THIS SERIOUS.
We talked about this years ago when we looked at
The doctrine of SOLA SCRIPTURA.
Remember the privilege that is revelation?
• God dwells outside of time and space.
• We dwell inside of time of and space.
The point is that God is beyond us
And there is no possible way that we could ever get to Him
To find out truth.
Divine truth does not come to us because of our EXPLORATION
• None of us never journeyed outside of time and space to find God and learn of
Him.
No, the only way we know anything of God
Is if God in His grace and mercy chooses to reveal Himself to us.
Divine truth comes to us because of His REVELATION
Now imagine the insult when undeserving man
Takes the gracious revelation of God and ignores it
Or wads it up and throws it behind his back.
Do you understand that God takes this personally?
• How arrogant!
• How prideful!
• How infuriating to God!
(25a) “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.”
You can see it.
GOD IS ANGRY.
“the anger of the LORD has burned”
“He has stretched out His hand”
He has “struck them down”
“their corpses lay like refuse”
How serious is it to God for one to spurn His word?
How serious is it to God for one to reject what He has to say?
GOD KILLS MEN FOR DISOBEDIENCE.
TURN TO: MATTHEW 21:28-42
That passage starts with a parable about obedience.
• And you can sense the obvious frustration of Jesus for those who find any
excuse not to obey.
• They just won’t listen to God’s word.
And then Jesus chased that point with another parable
• And you certainly see how relative this is to our study of Isaiah 5.
And we would do well to revisit
The end of what Jesus had to say on this subject.
(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.”
“bring those wretches to a wretched end”
Like what?
Strike them down and lay their corpses like refuse in the streets.
DO YOU SEE THE FURY OF GOD?
He is so angry at His people for neglecting His word that He is killing them and letting their dead bodies rot in the middle of the street.
THAT IS SEVERE ANGER.
But then look at this shocking statement at the end of verse 25:
“For all this His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out.”
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
• Even after killing them, God’s wrath is not yet satisfied.
• Even after letting their bodies decompose in the middle of the road, He is still not yet finished punishing them.
Well my goodness, what more can He do than that?
The writer of Hebrews says:
Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”
Jesus told us:
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
THERE IS PLENTY MORE THAT GOD CAN DO BESIDES DEATH.
And look at this:
DEATH DOESN’T SATISFY GOD’S WRATH
ON THE SIN OF DISOBEDIENCE.
DO YOU SEE THAT?
If you spend your life ignoring the word of God
You may think that once God kills you
that you are square with the house…WRONG!
God’s “anger is not spent”
God’s “hand is still stretched out”
Death is for a split second but judgment never ends.
Mark 9:43-48 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”
Revelation 14:9-11 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
• Death doesn’t bring God’s fury on disobedience to an end.
• The words we read in Revelation are “forever and ever”
And we see a picture of that here.
For the death of God’s people does not end His fury.
(26-30) “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. No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at its waist undone, Nor its sandal strap broken. Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind. Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it seizes the prey And carries it off with no one to deliver it. And it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.”
• Here God is seen as holding up a sign and waiving it to a “distant nation”
• He is seen as whistling for it to come.
And just take a moment and recognize
Some of the aspects of this nation that He calls for.
THEIR SPEED
“And behold, it will come with speed swiftly”
THEIR STABILITY
“No one in it is weary or stumbles”
THEIR ALERTNESS
“None slumbers or sleeps”
THEIR FREEDOM
“Nor is the belt at its waist undone”
THEIR READINESS
“Nor its sandal strap broken.”
THEIR LETHALITY
“Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; the hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind”
THEIR EAGERNESS
“Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; it growls as it seizes the prey”
THEIR SUCCESS
“And carries it off with none to deliver it.”
THEIR DREAD
“And it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; even the light is darkened by the clouds.”
This is an invincible opponent.
• For the northern kingdom this opponent will be Assyria.
• For the southern kingdom this opponent will be Babylon.
In the end times we read:
Revelation 9:1-7 “Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.”
And we are just REMINDED AGAIN OF THE POINT being made here.
• Insubordination is a serious offense to God.
• He takes it personal when His people fail to obey His word.
• It brings out fury in Him.
• And even death is not enough to satisfy His wrath on those who ignore Him.
And just for a moment there now stop and ponder again
The wonder of what JESUS ACCOMPLISHED ON THE CROSS.
Isaiah is going to spend plenty of chapters
Outlining the terrible sin of the people of God.
But he will eventually come to a passage where we read about one
• Who is “crushed for our iniquities”
• And how “the chastening of God fell upon Him”
And we realize that on the cross Jesus did more than just die.
He bore the full fury of the wrath of God.
That fury which we cannot satisfy by spending an eternity in hell,
Jesus satisfied in a few hours on the cross.
HE BORE IT ALL!
That is remarkable.
But do not minimize how angry God is
At those who ignore His word in favor of their own.
HE DESTROYS THE FRUITLESS VINEYARD.
SO LET’S WRAP UP THIS 3rd SERMON OF ISAIAH NOW
God wants fruit from your life.
• That fruit is righteousness and justice.
To obtain that fruit
• He selected you,
• Plowed the ground,
• Planted you
• And has watered.
The seed which produces fruit in your life is His word.
Jesus said:
John 15:7-8 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
AND THE QUESTION IS:
WHAT AM I DOING WITH THE WORD OF GOD?
BUT LISTEN:
It’s NOT just what am I doing with the written word?
It is ALSO what am I doing with the Incarnate word?
Remember fruit comes from abiding in the vine.
Jesus is the true vine.
SO WHAT AM I DOING WITH THE WORD?
If you’ll remember this was the reason Jesus confronted the church at Ephesus.
Revelation 2:1-5
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.”
DO YOU SEE THE SAME ISSUE?
• A vineyard that produces no fruit has no value.
• When you quit abiding in Christ, your lose your fruit and your purpose.
SO WE MUST EXAMINE HOW WE HANDLE THE WORD
(both the written word and the Incarnate word)
Do I seek it or do I ignore it because I want the things of the world?
Woe to that person.
Do I run to it or am I more interested in the world’s entertainment?
Woe to that person.
Do I fear it and tremble before it or do I mock it and say God won’t do it?
Woe to that person.
Do I honor it and let it be the standard of my life, or do I replace it with my own standard of good and evil?
Woe to that person.
Do I submit to it and seek it out or do I instead follow my own logic an wisdom?
Woe to that person.
Do I stand upon it, or do I compromise it so that I might get ahead in the world and rub shoulders with the powerful?
Woe to that person.
THOSE ARE ALL WORTHLESS GRAPES
WE MUST ABIDE IN HIM.
He is the INCARNATE WORD
And it is not ok to ignore Him, reject Him, replace Him,
Or compromise on Him.
We must seek and submit to Him if we are to ever be a fruitful vineyard.
It is time to let go of the world and its hold on our lives.
It is time to let go of the world’s wisdom, logic, thinking, treasures, etc.
We seek Christ, the incarnate word
So that we might be the fruitful vineyard God desires.
For what use does God have with a vineyard that won’t produce fruit?
