This chapter is the song of the vineyard, which portrays God’s planting of Israel as a vineyard in the promised Land,
Matthew 21:33-46 / Psalm 80:8-13. Sadly, it’s not a joyous song, Song of Songs 1:6 / Song of Songs 8:12, but a song of judgment against Judah.
Oswalt, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In a way similar to Nathan’s, when he used a story to get King David to condemn his own action, 2 Samuel 12:1-7, so Isaiah sets his hearers up to judge themselves.’
This is one of the most important products of Palestine. The first mention of it is in the history of Noah, Genesis 9:20. It is afterwards frequently noticed both in the Old and New Testaments and in the ruins of terraced vineyards, there is evidence that the Jews extensively cultivated it.
It was cultivated in Palestine before the Israelites took possession of it. The men sent out by Moses brought with them from the Valley of Eshkol a cluster of grapes so large that they bare it between two upon a staff, Numbers 13:23. The vineyards of En-Gedi, Song of Songs 1:14, Heshbon, Sibmah, Jazer, Elealeh, Isaiah 16:8-10 / Jeremiah 48:32-34 and Helbon, Ezekiel 27:18, as well as of Eshkol, were celebrated.
The church is compared to a vine, Psalm 80:8, and Christ says of Himself, ‘I am the vine’, John 15:1. In one of His parables, Matthew 21:33, our Lord compares His church to a vineyard which a certain householder planted and hedged around.
The preparation of a vineyard is the most costly and troublesome of all the operations of that primitive husbandry in Eastern lands, the methods of which have remained unchanged and unimproved from the earliest records. It is, in fact, the only branch of agriculture practised there that demands any considerable outlay.
In the first place, a permanent fence must carefully enclose the vineyard, which is required for no other crop. The pasturelands outside the villages are all unfenced, and the boundaries only are marked by well-known stones or landmarks. The grain fields are equally open or only protected by thorn branches strewn on the ground, whereas the olive yards nearer the town or village are equally unprotected.
When the vineyard has been consequently hedged, the next operation is to gather out the stones, not the small stones that strew all the hillsides and are indispensable for the retention of moisture in the soil but the larger boulders, which are heaped in long rows like a ruined stonewall. On these rows, the vines are trailed to preserve the fruit from dampness.
Next, there must be a wine press which is hewn out of the native rock, for the grapes are always pressed on the spot, lest they should be bruised and injured by conveying them a distance. These wine presses, or vats, are the most imperishable records of the past in the deserted land. They are simply two parallel troughs, one above the other, with a perforated channel between them. The bunches of grapes are thrown into the upper vat, where they are trodden, and the juice flows into the lower one.
These wine vats, found in abundance through the whole land and even far into the southern desert, are silent witnesses to its former fertility. Then, unless the vineyard adjoins the village, there must be a temporary lodge, or booth, erected on poles. But, more generally, a permanent tower, of which many traces may still be seen, was built for the watchman to use during the season, to guard the vintage against thieves or jackals.
Israel is God’s vineyard, the one He loves, Isaiah 5:1 / Psalm 127:2 / Deuteronomy 33:12, but it yielded nothing for its owner. Isaiah describes a parable designed to set forth the highly favoured position of the nation and her failure. He describes the vineyard and says God has done everything he can for his vineyard but it didn’t turn out right.
It was fenced, that is, it had a wall around it, it had a tower for watching and defending, Isaiah 5:2 / Isaiah 1:8 / Matthew 21:33. It had a winepress to squeeze the juice out of the grapes, Isaiah 5:2 / Matthew 21:33. Everything was done in order that faithfulness is produced and God’s name glorified.
Israel was planted with all the advantages but produced wild and useless grapes, Isaiah 5:2 / Deuteronomy 32:32-33. She was now useless for bringing glory to God. God asks those living in Jerusalem and people of Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard, Isaiah 5:3. What more could God have done for them, and yet they still produced only bad fruit, Isaiah 5:4.
God would just take down the hedge, Isaiah 5:5, that is, He took away His blessing and protection, and let the wild beast eat it up, Isaiah 56:9, which is a reference to the captivity of Judah. Their farms were laid waste, Isaiah 5:6, when thousands of Israelites were taken into captivity.
Every blessing would be withheld, even the rain, Isaiah 5:6. God looked for justice and righteousness, the fruit of the spirit of God but found only bloodshed and distress, Isaiah 5:7. There appears to be a play on word in Isaiah 5:7.
Hailey, in his commentary, says the following.
‘God looked for justice (mishpat in Hebrew) but received bloodshed, or oppression, (mispah in Hebrew). God looked for righteousness (tsedakah in Hebrew) but received a cry (seakah in Hebrew).’
There are six woes found within the song and Israel are described as six types of rotten fruit, drunkenness, sarcastic, liars, conceited and perverse. The sins of the people and the woe that will befall them are set forth and this is followed by the announcement of the Lord’s punishment.
The first woe is upon the greedy landowners who were so greedy they grasped everything on every side of them, Isaiah 5:8 / Micah 2:2 / Nehemiah 5:1-8. They crowded out small farmers who were driven to the cities as the poor, Numbers 27:1-11 / Numbers 33:54 / 1 Kings 21:3-4. Large landowners made no room for the poor to glean from the leftovers.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Buying additional land is not wrong in itself, but when it involves abusing other people it becomes wrong. Isaiah was not decrying large farms or estates per se; he was condemning squeezing out the small man to make oneself more prosperous, secure, and admired. Those who did this in his day ended up isolated, rather than enjoying the fellowship of their brethren, Matthew 16:25-26 / Colossians 3:5.’
As a result, their houses became desolate, Isaiah 5:9, which is a reference to the punishment from God when the Assyrians and Babylonians took them into captivity and their enemies raided their homes and stole their goods. The land would also suffer, although ten acres would normally produce a lot of wine, here God says it wouldn’t even make a bath of wine, which is around eight gallons, Isaiah 5:10.
These verses speak against those who drink strongly, those who are living for pleasure, Isaiah 22:13 / Isaiah 28:1-8 / Hosea 7:5 / Joel 3:3 / Amos 6:6. It appears they get drunk in an attempt to drown their troubles, Isaiah 5:11 / 1 Thessalonians 5:7. The wealthy used most of their time at drunken parties, totally oblivious to the danger which was coming Isaiah 5:12. They didn’t think about anyone else except themselves and thought they could carry on living like this.
These words speak against those who are proud, the people who were spiritually dull, this is one of the reasons for Israel’s captivity. The high rank of society will die of hunger and the common people would be parched with thirst, Isaiah 5:13.
Death, that is, the grave will be filled with the dead to the point that the dead couldn’t be numbered, Isaiah 5:14 / Numbers 16:30. They refused to listen to God and as a result, all classes of people would be brought down from their stool of pride Isaiah 5:15. God shows Himself holy by His righteousness, God’s justice and holiness are shown in His actions, Isaiah 5:16. Notice that the sheep and the lambs are pictures roaming where Jerusalem once stood, Isaiah 5:17. This is a picture of complete destruction.
Rawlinson, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Isaiah 5:17.
‘Sheep shall feed on the desolated estates of the covetous and the last clause is a reference to the occupation of Israel’s lands by wandering tribes of Arabs and others.’
Here we read of a woe upon the materialists who have a false set of values. Their falsehood was the cords with which they drew their iniquity, Isaiah 5:18. In other words, common individual sins became cultural norms by which society conducted itself.
Scoffers doubted whether or not the day of Jehovah would come, they just made fun of God, Isaiah 5:19. Because of their arrogance and ignorance concerning God’s work, they brought judgment upon themselves. What they thought would be God’s good work in their lives was actually God working to bring His judgment upon them, Isaiah 5:19.
Here we find woes against the moral perverts. They attempt to be two-faced and some brag about how much they drink, Isaiah 5:20. Darkness, Isaiah 5:20, signifies ignorance, error, false doctrine, and crime, whereas light, Isaiah 5:20, signifies truth, knowledge, and piety. Bitterness, Isaiah 5:20, signifies sin, Acts 8:23 / Romans 3:14 / Ephesians 4:31 / Hebrews 12:15 / Jeremiah 2:19 / Jeremiah 4:18.
Wiersbe, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Moral standards were destroyed by new definitions of sin, Amos 5:7, people using God’s vocabulary but not His dictionary.’
It appears that they were a law unto themselves, each decided what was good and what was evil and they thought they were wise and clever, Isaiah 5:21 / Proverbs 3:7 / Proverbs 26:12 / Romans 1:22. However, they had totally rejected God’s laws, Mark 7:1-9. They took pride in themselves because of the amount of alcohol they could consume, Isaiah 5:22 / Isaiah 56:12. However, as a result of their drunken state, these judges had become perverted in their justice toward the innocent, Isaiah 5:23 / Zephaniah 3:3. Their drunkenness was affecting their thinking and judgments, Amos 9:8.
Here we have a warning against all evil workers and so, God calls and the nations of the world come to seek out Israel. This is a fiery judgment as God’s judgment on them would send thousands to death. They were corrupt to the root and so, brought forth blossoms of iniquity, Isaiah 5:24.
All this would happen because they had rejected God and His laws, Isaiah 5:24 / Hosea 4:6 / Mark 7:9. God is angry, Isaiah 5:25 / Isaiah 9:12 / Isaiah 9:17 / Isaiah 9:21 / Isaiah 10:4 / Isaiah 23:11, and because of their sins, God’s hand was stretched forth against them, Isaiah 5:25, which is bad news for them.
Hostile armies came from afar to fight against the people of God and here, God summoned the Assyrians to bring judgment upon His vineyard that had gone so bad. He lifts up the banner so that the army assemble for war against His people, Isaiah 5:26 / Isaiah 44:28 / Isaiah 45:1-7 / Isaiah 10:5-7 / Isaiah 9:11 / Isaiah 8:18. The Assyrian army would come quickly, Isaiah 5:26 / Job 39:19-25, fully prepared to carry out God’s judgment on His fruitless, sinful people, Isaiah 5:27-28.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Isaiah 5:29.
‘The extended metaphor of the lion, the lioness, and the young lions points squarely at the king of Assyria and his merciless armies as instruments through which the impending judgment of God’s rebellious and wicked people would be executed. A reading of Nahum 2:11-13, will quickly reveal how this lion metaphor constituted the universally known logo of Assyria, an identification that clung to that evil kingdom until their own final destruction.’
There is total darkness, Isaiah 5:30 / Isaiah 59:9 / Amos 5:18 / Amos 5:20 / Lamentations 3:2. It’s a distressing place and so, the Northern Kingdom of Judah would be no more. We must remember God doesn’t create evil, but He does use evil to bring about His purposes.