Isaiah 5
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CHAPTER 5
The Song of the Vineyard (5:1–7)
1–7 In this chapter, Isaiah’s prophecies of judgment against Judah continue: his first prophecy (verses 1–7) takes the form of a song, a parable.27 Isaiah plays the role of a lover singing a song to the one he loves, namely, God; the song is about God’s vineyard, that is, Judah (verse 1).
In spite of the great care God took with this “vineyard,” it yielded only bad fruit (verse 2). God calls upon the dwellers of Jerusalem and Judah to judge the cause of this failure (verses 3–4). But without waiting for an answer, God determines to destroy His vineyard and make it a wasteland28 (verses 5–6). Why? Because the cause of the “vineyard’s” failure was the sin of its people; instead of justice and righteousness, God found only bloodshed and distress (verse 7). Instead of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), God found only the fruit of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:19–21). Jesus told us to go and bear fruit (John 15:16)—to make disciples, to build up His church, to be His witnesses (Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 1:8). This is the fruit God is looking for when He comes to His vineyard, His church.
Woes and Judgments (5:8–30)
8–10 Following the song, God (through His spokesman Isaiah) details some of the sins of the people of Judah and His coming judgments against them. The first sin is the greed of the wealthy who keep taking the houses and fields of the poor until there is no place left for the poor to live (verse 8). This sin was particularly offensive to God because He alone was the true owner of the land and He intended that the poor have a share in it29 (Leviticus 25:23). Therefore God’s judgment would fall upon these wealthy people: they themselves would become poor and abandon their great houses; their land would cease to be fruitful30 (verses 9–10).
11–17 Here God judges the people of Judah for their drunkenness and debauchery. Their punishment: they will go into exile—both the leaders and the masses (verse 13). The masses will not escape the consequences of what their leaders have done. Many will die; the grave . . . opens its mouth without limit (verse 14). And so man will be brought low and God will be exalted (verses 15–16), just as Isaiah had prophesied earlier (Isaiah 2:17).
18–19 Here God denounces those who openly draw or “pull” sin along with them (verse 18); they care nothing for what God thinks. Indeed, they mock Him; they say, in effect: “Let God hurry up and do something about our sin if He’s going to” (verse 19). They are like the scoffers the Apostle Peter wrote about who thought that God wasn’t going to do anything about the ungodly (2 Peter 3:3–7).
20 Those who scoff at God also scoff at God’s values. They call good evil and darkness . . . light. People who do this have lost all sense of morality; they are depraved. The Jewish leaders in Jesus’ time were similarly guilty of calling good evil; they claimed that Jesus acted by the power of SATAN (Mark 3:22–30).
21 The next sin God denounces is pride; proud people are wise in their own eyes (see Proverbs 3:7). Their “wisdom” is of the world; it is opposed to God’s wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:18–30; 3:18–20).
22–25 Here God scoffs at the scoffers; they are heroes in drunkenness; they are perverters of justice (verses 22–23). Therefore, God’s judgment will fall upon them, just as fire burns up dry grass (verse 24). And God’s anger against Judah will continue until all wickedness has been purged from the land (verse 25).
26–30 God will use distant nations—such as Assyria and Babylon—to bring judgment upon His disobedient people; He will lift up a banner for those nations to gather around31 (verse 26). Isaiah then goes on to describe the speed and power and ruthlessness of the invading forces that will soon sweep over Judah (verses 27–30).