Isaías 5

Isaías 5

MacDonald explains that… Instead of the harvest He (Jehovah had) expected (obedience, thanksgiving, love, worship, service), He found foul-smelling, wild grapes (disobedience, rebellion, idolatry). Spurgeon pondering the advantages outlined in this passage writes… I have been thinking of the advantages of my own position towards the Lord, and lamenting with great shamefacedness that I am not bringing forth such fruit to him as my position demands. Considering our privileges, advantages, and opportunities, I fear that many of us have need to feel great searchings of the heart. He expected (Isa 5:2KJV - "He looked") - (Note the same phrase in Isa 5:4 with same Hebrew word, also used in Isa 5:7 = "looked") The Hebrew verb qavah conveys the idea of hope, not in the sense of "I hope so" but with a eager look with confident expectation of future fulfillment. Worthless grapes - KJV renders them "wild grapes". The word in Hebrew is literally "stink fruit" or "Stinkberries! Wild grapes can have a sour or bad taste of wild grapes compared to the sweetness of the cultivated grapes. Stinkberries conger up the picture of the foul smell of sin in the nostrils of the Lord. In spite of Jehovah's provision and protection for His vineyard, it still became unproductive. What were the worthless grapes? The answer is found in the six woes that follow, each woe naming sins that brought judgment on the vineyard. Adam Clarke calls these grapes… Poisonous berries… not merely useless, unprofitable grapes, such as wild grapes; but grapes offensive to the smell, noxious, poisonous. J A Motyer comments… Delitzsch notes that the difference between a wild and a domestic vine is only in the matter of care. This is exactly the point: what can now be done for the people of God when a total work of grace has been lavished on them and yet they remain as if grace had never touched them? (The Prophecy of Isaiah- An Introduction & Commentary … Is 5:2) (Bolding added) Bultema makes a strong comment… We are dealing here with something worse than unfruitfulness. The New Testament also speaks of a faith that brings forth fruit, but the fruit is dead works, which pollute the air like a cadaver. The wolfs bane, or wild vine (2Ki 4:39), does bear beautiful berries, but they are bitter, foul-smelling and poisonous in nature. This is a precise description of the self-willed and false religion of the unfaithful covenant people. A B Simpson… The peculiarity of the wild grape is that it is purely natural, an ungrafted fruit. Therefore it represents most fittingly the quality of all mere natural and human goodness. Human nature can only produce wild grapes; luxuriant and beautiful the vine may seem, but the fruit is worthless. So are all the fruits and graces that grow upon the stalk of humanity. It is only when it is cut back and Christ is grafted into the stalk of our old human nature that there is any good in us. All the failures of the Old Testament were intended to demonstrate this fact, and still men are looking for the development of goodness through education and Christian endeavor instead of through fellowship with the cross of Jesus Christ and entering into His death and resurrection life. (A. B. Simpson. Christ in the Bible - Isaiah) Lesson (from Rich Cathers) - Sometimes it’s not the parents’ fault. This vineyard was in a "very fruitful hill". There was no problem with it being in the wrong "environment". Everything was done for it to make it succeed. Parents – it’s not always your fault. Sure, there are going to be times when a child’s disobedience is directly related to a sin or mistake of the parent. But there are also going to be times when you’ve given them everything they need to succeed, and they’re still going to choose the way of sin. Look at God’s record as a parent with Adam and Eve. Could there have been a better Father? (Isaiah 5) Isaiah 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard: Ps 50:4-6 51:4 Jer 2:4,5 Mic 6:2,3 Mt 21:40,41 Mk 12:9-12 Lk 20:15,16 Ro 2:5 3:4 Isaiah 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Jerusalem and Judah - This supports the premise that this chapter is directly primarily to the Southern kingdom. Judge between Me and My vineyard - The scene shifts to a courtroom (cp Isa 1:2-17; Isa 3:14, 15), and this time the human hearers are to act as assessors as the owner of the vineyard speaks. In essence, God is saying that despite every provision, the vineyard was fruitless. Who is to blame for the harvest of only wild grapes? There are only two possible explanations. Either He did not keep His end of the bargain or the vineyard failed to yield fruit. In the next verse God opens Himself to the readers to find fault with Him! Scripture tells us, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” (Lk 12:48).