Isaiah on Tuesday: A Vintner's Lament

Today we take up Isaiah 5:1-7 in which Isaiah pens a song of lament for the nation of Israel. This is a lament of one who has done everything to ensure the success of His children, yet despite the blessing of the Father, the children have become prodigal. It is, in the end, a call to justice and righteousness, a call that echoes through the ages even to us.

Isaiah sings a song - a metaphor of a vintner and his field in which we hear the Father's voice grieve for His beloved children. The farmer plants vines in a fertile field, tends the vines and guards them. He awaits good fruit, but none arrive. The farmer has done everything in his power to enable the success of his vineyard, yet the vines do not respond. Because of the unyielding branches, the vintner decides to remove the walls of protection, forgo tending the garden and allow it to become a field of thorns and brambles.

Isaiah spells out the metaphor in the last verse (7):

"The vineyard of the LORD Almighty
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are the garden of his delight.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress."

God had set Israel and Judah up for success. He had given them a fertile land, walls of protection, laws and judges. He had led them out of slavery and to a promised land, yet they forsook Him. Look at the indictment: injustice and unrighteousness. The victims of the crimes were not just people wronged, but people subjected to violence and oppression.

This was not the leadership God intended, it was not a reflection of Him. There was no compassion, no mercy, no justice, no righteousness. At last, God looked upon this nation and judged it unfruitful, and though it grieved Him, He could not deny Himself nor His truth. God would remove His protection and blessing from Israel and Judah. He could not continue to condone and allow these things in His name.

This should be sobering for us as well. God does not change His mind. His character is immutable and eternal. The expectation of justice and righteousness is upon us as it was upon ancient Israel. The Father looks down upon His children and desires no less of us, perhaps He desires more. We have been granted greater latitude under the mercy and grace of Christ, yet with the new covenant comes greater responsibility.

The Sermon on the Mount spells out the spirit law and brings into sharper focus its meaning. We are not called to strictly follow a set of rules in acts only, but we are to have transformed hearts and spirits. Our acts should only be reflections of our desire to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves.

I continue to wonder what Isaiah would be saying to us if he were alive today. I have the sense that his words would not be much different. He may look at us and sing the vintner's lament. Most certainly he would exhort us to justice and righteousness, encouraging us where we do well, but admonishing us where we fail.