INTERPRETATION of ISAIAH 5: 1-7
Isaiah wrote “The Song of the Vineyard” in Isaiah 5: 1-7 imploring Israelites in Jerusalem and Judea to repent of their wicked ways, obey the LORD and produce good fruit for His Kingdom. To spur them to action, he spoke sharply of God’s impending judgment on those who enjoy His provision yet produce only bad fruit. Gifted with His words (6: 8-10), he prophesied: “Now I will tell you what I am going to do with my vineyard: I will take away its hedge…I will break down its wall…I will make it a wasteland…I will command the clouds not to rain on it (v. 5-6).”
Stated five times consecutively, Isaiah’s declaration “I will” attested to the severity of God’s looming discipline. However, detailing the story’s symbolism remained necessary for him to make his point. Therefore, he specified: “The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in (v. 7).” This provided important yet distressing context to the figurative content preceding it. Further, it had retrospective significance for his Jewish audience, as King David’s post-exodus imagery was synonymous: “You transplanted a vine from Egypt…You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land (Psa 80: 8-9).”
Israel’s historical cycle of faithless disobedience and subsequent discipline also provided an agent for this parable’s relevance. Following the aforementioned miraculous exodus from Egypt, for example, the Israelites complained about God’s provisions for food (Exo 16: 17) and questioned the certainty of His covenant to deliver them to the Promised Land (Num 14: 1-4). Cognizant of their stubborn unfaithfulness, Moses prophesied: “But those who hate Him He will repay to their face by destruction… Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today (Deu 7: 10-11).” This caution carried pertinent substance, as the success in inhabiting Canaan was contingent on following God’s instructions (Deu 7: 2-5).
Much occurred between the above warnings of Moses and those of Isaiah in this passage. Most importantly, the Israelites had taken possession of the land under Joshua’s leadership (Jos 21: 43-45), but their continual rejection of God’s decrees (Jgs 1: 27-36) resulted in a series of further exiles (Jgs 10: 7-17, 13: 1). Isaiah hoped his harsh prophecies would lead the Jews to repentance, obedience and production of good fruit (4: 2, Gal 5: 22) en route to a peaceful, prosperous and permanent stay in their homeland.
To provide an encouraging counterbalance, Isaiah opened and closed this prophecy illustrating God’s love, provision and hope. His own intimacy with God is revealed in verse 1: “I will sing for the one I love, a song about his vineyard.” He underscores God’s care of the vineyard in verse 2: “He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.” Finally, in verses 2 and 7 he spoke of God’s looking for “good grapes” and “justice,” respectively. In the original Hebrew text, the specific word Isaiah used for “looking” was “qavah,” denoting hopeful expectation.
Woven throughout Isaiah is the interplay between God’s justice and grace in the context of Israel’s disobedience. Sadly, the Jews continued to struggle with infidelity to God both during and after Isaiah’s writing, just as we do today. Several hundred perplexing years passed until the arrival of Jesus Himself, an event Isaiah didn’t mention specifically in this passage. However, whether directly or indirectly, it is Him as salvation for humanity to which all of Isaiah’s writings point (42: 1, 52: 13-15, 53).
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