Isaiah |
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Notes on Isaiah 5
We see here someone planting a vineyard and growing grapes. Much care was taken to remove stones and cultivate it to grow the finest of grapes and yield a good harvest. The best vines were chosen to plant within the vineyard. A tower was built to protect the vineyard from being overrun by those who would trample the vines. Everything was done to insure a good crop of fruit. Instead of good grapes it brought forth wild grapes. This is a symbolic prophecy of the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. God brought them out from the bondage in Egypt. He fed them food and water in the wilderness. He gave them victory over the enemies. He brought them to a land flowing with milk and honey. Best of all, He showered them with His very presence in the Tabernacle built in the wilderness. That is awesome to think about. God in our midst. He gave them judges to enforce the laws after the death of Moses. Yet they rebelled and wanted a king like the other nations around them. Later they came under bondage to the same nations that they wanted to mimic. This is why I stopped watching television one time. I'm not saying watching TV is wrong, nor am I making it some kind of commandment but I don't want to think like the world and pattern after them. The media can be used for good or evil but slowly through the years along with public education, our mindset changes to whatever we are taught through these channels. If I don't want to become like the world, I need to have my mind focused on God's word. I like education especially history; because if we do not learn from history, we will make the same mistakes that they made in the past, but I like the kind that makes us think and search, not make assumptions that what is taught is truth without exception. Israel could have walked with God totally and brought the message of the gospel of God's salvation to everyone. This will occur in the future latter days but at the time of Isaiah they were in rebellion against God. They along with all of us that start out serving God, need to keep our minds and hearts focused on God. We need to focus on His word and constantly seeking His will instead of seeking to be like the worldly crowd that surrounds us. We need to be an influence on them instead of the other way around.
The Lord pleads with the people of Judah here. He reminds them of His loving care and protection. He marvels that they are producing wild grapes instead of good fruit.
This foretells of the destruction of the vineyard. It makes sense. If we planted a garden on a patch of ground, made a hedge about it, kept out the weeds and rocks; then planted it with the most expensive seeds. Next we made sure that it was cared for daily; then after doing this year after year, it did not yield good vegetables, soon we would stop either using the plot of land for something else. We might even let it lie there and go to waste. It wouldn't be long for ruin to set in.
Now the Lord reveals what He is talking about here. The vineyard represents the house of Israel and the men of Judah is the plant. What grieves God is that instead of a land with good judgment and righteousness they produced oppression and crying. God is grieved when we mistreat those weaker than we are. I believe He grieves when He sees people living in oppression and misery. I don't believe God is pleased with slavery, robbing people of their land, oppression the poor, overtaxing, cheating in business deals, and selling inferior products at high prices thereby cheating the buyers. Whether the government does these things or individuals, it is not living by the principle of "Love your neighbor as yourself." If we could only live by these guidelines, these two commandments planted within our hearts would solve the problems of the whole world. "Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all they soul and all thy might and Love thy neighbor as thy self." Think about it. If we could do just these two commandments, we could keep the whole bible and live in righteousness. God made a way for us to be able to do that; by receiving the gift of God, His Son Jesus Christ into our lives and letting the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth by abiding within us. Only when we daily yield to the Holy Spirit can we possibly love anyone or love God.
This looks as if someone is buying up land and property so that others can't buy it: A sign of covetousness. They want it all to themselves. Then again is may mean building cities and joining houses to houses that no one has any private property or any place where they can be by themselves. However, if we walked in love and put God first in our lives; if He was on the throne of our hearts continually, then we would not be neglecting our worship and time alone with God. If we loved our neighbor as ourselves we would not be guilty of covetousness. Like I said, if we can keep just two commandments we can keep the whole law of God. People jammed up in cities do not have a place to grow their own food and build strong familes. They have to depend on the businesses within the city.
The judgment will be that the houses will become without inhabitants and vineyards would not yield much fruit. A bath was about .625 bushels. A homer was = to 10 baths. Ten acres would yield only 8 gallons and 3 pints. After 70 AD when Israel was destroyed by the Romans, that land became barren and unfruitful. Starting in 1948 Israel started blossoming like a rose again. Without God this is what happens to our soul. We are dry as a dessert without Him just as Israel did not prosper without the presence of God.
This is a picture of drinking heavily from morning until night. Merry making, feasting and much entertainment but neglecting the most important part of their lives. They did not regard the Lord or His works. No time for worship, no time to seek His counsel. No time for God. This is a picture of a life without the spirit of the Lord within it. It is compared to a hopeless alcoholic and lives only to drink until he is drunk. His life amounts to nothing until it finally kills him. God will give us a way out of that mess if we seek Him and come to the way of salvation He has provided us through faith in His Son, Jesus the Christ. Many times we spend more time on other things in this life rather than spend time with the one that gives us eternal life. This should not be. Jesus Christ paid a big price for us to be saved and have eternal life, this should cause us to rejoice and praise Him always.
They had no knowledge of the Lord so they went into captivity to Babylon. Without the presence of God we are in captivity already. Sin brings bondage and slavery. God brings His salvation through His Son Jesus Christ that brings liberty. We can have plenty of knowledge but if that knowledge does not acknowledge God, the knowledge we have is in vain and will profit nothing. We go about striving for higher educational standards but if we leave out God the higher education will profit nothing. Do you realize that all our advanced technology still has not solved the crime problem, the drug problem, broken homes, poverty, hate, violence and all the other evils of the world. Technology without the fear of God will profit nothing. What profit is it if we gain the whole world and lose our souls?
This is the end of all those that reject God. There is more going to hell than to heaven. Yet we don't have to. God made a way out if we would only listen. Yet we continue to go on our own way and make light of His way of salvation. Too busy to attend believer's meetings, too busy to pray, too busy to read his word but we can go here and there and spend hours watching television and still be bored and depressed. It doesn't have to be. Jesus Christ makes us alive, vibrant, and gives us something to live for.
All the great heroes, the proud and the mighty will be humbled. All is vain without God. At the coming of the Lord, He alone will be exalted. His righteousness will be what wins in the end. Hey, I would rather be on the winning side.
This shows that no matter how great a person gets or how rich he becomes, strangers shall reap what he has built up if he built it without God. If he neglected to receive the Lord and did not regard the ways of God, if he neglected to help the poor and needy and lived all in selfishness; then it will be in vain. Further warning is given to those who sin abundantly with no repentance or change. Many sin today and don't even think it is sin. For instance: abortion, fornication etc. The ones the world considers sinners are the ones who warn against sin not the ones indulging in these kinds of sin. Sure they still recognize murder as sin but they don't recognize abortion as murder so in reality they are sanctioning murder. Yet if we continue to ignore God like this without repentance and change, we will suffer judgment. Living in sin and adding to it continually is like pulling a cart full of bad things with a rope. Abortion rights as they call it, is really the right to murder. They assume the little baby has no rights, he or she is given no right to choose to live. This is just one example. We know its wrong to steal but if the government decides they want your land (eminent domain), true they will offer you a price but not at a price you might want. If you happen to owe back taxes or the property is neglected in any way, they can just take it without payment. Isn't that stealing? So we get around the law of God by our own devices and call it good. The tradition of the elders that the Pharisees lived by is another example of changing the law to benefit those in power either by taking away from or adding to God's word. The more a nation gets away from God the more they sin and don't even know it is sin.
Verse 19, seems to plead that we should allow the counsel of the Holy One of Israel and draw close to Him and acknowledge His ways. Oh how the whole world needs God in His fullness. We need His direction speedily. Verse 20 is a picture of today's world too although is primarily refers to the land of Judah before the captivity of Babylon: Calling evil good and good evil. Like I have mentioned before. Our standards have become so confused that the ones protesting abortion are considered the outlaws while the ones doing the abortion is considered the heroes. Those warning against the danger of sexual immorality are considered bigots. Those that champion the right to live in sexual immorality is considered heroes standing of for human rights. Those that want bibles in the schools are considered troublemakers. Those that are against bibles in schools are considered heroes standing up for the freedom of the nation. Those that speak out against certain questionable literature in the schools are considered as censors while those fight against those that censor vulgarity, are considered heroes of free speech. They only want free speech for evil not good. We are all mixed up and this verse is the true picture of many nations that have lost the way of righteousness that only comes from God.
We need to recognize that we need God, we need His word and we need His direction. We can't do it without Him. Nothing will matter if we come to the end of our journey and even done mighty good works, if we let the salvation of the Lord and the Word of God pass by us without receiving it into our hearts and lives. Nothing we do will even matter. It would all have been in vain.
Drinking intoxicating beverages not only destroy the body but also impair judgment, it causes us to behave in a manner that we normally would not behave. Avoid anything that takes away our ability to think clearly. The bible says to avoid all appearance of evil. I don't even believe in social drinking on special occasions. Why fool around with a substance that has destroyed so many lives?
Again we see that the righteous living people are considered the outlaws and the wicked are exalted. They evidently were taking bribes to make judgments, which favored the wicked and went against the innocent. Are we not seeing this today? We need to pray for righteous and fair judges in our land. God sees and observes all these things. No one will get away with this without repenting and making things right with God.
Those that cast away the law of God and despise His word are compared to the stubble and the chaff that is burned with fire. We don't have to be that way: We can be free. That is why Jesus came. To give us power over sin, to free us from sin, to put into us a new heart and new spirit to enable us to love the word of God and desire to follow His teachings. This can be ours. I don't care what our past is, we can be free to begin again. We don't have to be destroyed and judged. Jesus Christ makes us free.
The Lord truly gets angry at sin. Especially among those that are not in ignorance and know to do good but does it not. There are many that are aware of God's plan of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, yet they esteem it lightly and ignore it. This nation of Judah at this time knew of the law of God, that were not innocent ignorant people. Yet they followed the ways of the heathen nations about them and desired to copy their ways. They soon began to marry strange wives and worship strange gods that were not gods. At any moment they could have stopped in their tracks and repented and our beautiful God would have saved them. That is why He sent prophets and teachers to warn them but they refused and suffered judgment. It is still the same today except we have access to the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. To believe in Jesus Christ and be filled with His Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome. We don't have to sin. Jesus did not just come to forgive sin but to free us from sin that we are not any longer under bondage. -DC
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