Isaiah 5

Verses 1-4

1. “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?”

It seems the best vineyards grow on the side of hills. God is reminding His chosen people that they were given the best of everything, including a ‘land of milk and honey’. Their vineyards were in the best places (“in a very fruitful hill”), producing superlative wine. God made sure everything was right – He fenced off the vines, removed the stones, gave the best vines, built a watch-tower in the middle of each vineyard and even supplied a wine press. And yet, the grapes turned out to be wild. Wild grape vines grow fast and high, maybe up to 50 feet tall, but have woody roots spreading everywhere. Some call these grape vines ‘weeds’ because they overtake all other species of plants and are hardier than cultivated grape vines: even today people pick the fruit for all kinds of dishes, though mostly they taste sharp. Does this not sound much like sin? It mimics the God-given minds and hearts of God’s people, and erodes what is good, replacing it with what is not of God. Just like tares.

God is indeed angry for He demands to know what else He could have given to His people, when He had already given them everything needed for a fine life. If, He says, He planted good grapes, why is the vineyard now filled with wild grapes? The same can be said in any age in any country – God gives only what is beneficial for us, so why do we do what is bad for us, with sin uppermost? Why develop a taste for what is not beneficial when we have been given choice food? And in the churches, good teaching founded on His word.

Verses 5-16

5. “And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6.  And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
8. Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
9. In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
10. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.”

Expressing His anger, God tells the people through Isaiah – He is going to dismantle the vineyard He made and remove the hedges and fences, letting animals in to feed on the best fruit. The vines would be untouched and not pruned, and the earth would be undug. And to make sure His punishment is made plain, He will command that rain does not fall. Or, He will not fill preachers and teachers with wisdom, for the content is being ignored.

Israel and Judah are God’s vineyard. The people are His pleasant plant. But, their minds and hearts are turned bad, oppressing others just as they were oppressed years before. And He heard the people cry out against Him! He gave them everything and their hearts became as stone. How true today… this chapter is about the people of Israel and Judah, and it also applies to us today. Much of this is work done by bad vintners (pastors, preachers and teachers) who destroy the finest vines with wild woody vines… falsity and crafted substitutes. And the people allow it to happen, for they, too, love sin. See how the people quickly turned to paganism when Moses was in the mountain receiving God’s word? See what happened afterwards?

The people join house to house, field to field – God’s people join with pagan nations until everything is turned to one field of evil. But, says God, the finest of houses will fall to nothing and the people will move away. The vines will yield next to nothing as the vinters slowly ruin what God gave. Look at people today – there is a manic rush to accept everything evil and to throw aside what is righteous, even in our churches. And so we invite our own doom as well as God’s wrath. Do you think God will stay silent?

Verses 11-16

11. “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
12. And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.   
13. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
14. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
15. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
16. But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.”

There is no doubt about what God thinks of drunkards (called ‘alcoholics’ today, to reduce stigma!). Isaiah says ‘woe’ to such people – God allows no excuses, but condemns drunk behaviour – drinking in the morning and into the night. Alongside this behaviour is the use of music to dull the senses… exactly what we find today – especially younger people devoted to their favourite bands to the ruin of their souls… chasing bands, listening to rock music on ear-phones all day and never thinking seriously of anything else, and jumping up and down like zombies in night clubs… when, that is, they are not outside vomiting or falling down paralytic. What a waste of life. And the perfect way to be seduced by idiocies and worthlessness. Knowledge disappears and honour is unsatisfied because of mindless pursuits. And so a whole nation dribbles away into a drain. This encourages hell and its ways to increase enormously, glorying in its own sin and inviting everyone to join in the demise of truth and good. Whether in ancient Jerusalem or in modern UK.

The common man, full of self, will be ruined, and those who are mighty will diminish to nothing and those who think they are special will be humbled before everyone. Without God, nothing matters and there is no progress. At that time God will show His might and power, and His decisions shown to be right and powerful. His righteousness will be contrasted against evil and proved to be clean and holy. Whenever God’s people live righteously and stand up to be counted, God is amplified in the nation and it is protected against evils.

Verses 17-23

17. “Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
18. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
19. That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
20. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
23. Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!”

At that time weak people will eat wherever they can and find solace in their old ways, and the places once owned and enjoyed by the wealthy will be taken over by foreigners. Just like Britain today. Woe to the people at that time, for punishment must follow – as people accept anything, big or small, that encourages their sins.

Those supposedly of God will try to hurry Him to show His hand, and no time is spent on accruing knowledge and wisdom. Instead, spectacle and visceral excitement will take the place of study, prayer and reality. Just as happened when charismaticism spread like a cancer around the world. Charismatics wanted instant satisfaction rooted in their own selves and the wiles of Satan. In Isaiah’s day the people, versed in His laws, took to waste and famine, unrighteousness and vile activity.

The same people think good is bad and bad is good, proving their souls have been penetrated by evil. What was once dark is now pretending to be light, and vice versa. Whatever is opposite to God’s virtues is made paramount, the grubby and rotting taking the place of freshness and cleanness. Is this not homosexuality today? And the fast rise of Islam, the cult of the moon god? These are things thought to be good by the unwise, who think themselves to be superior or being modern. And, again, Isaiah condemns drunkards whose minds and bodies are filled with falsity and degeneration. Their drunken moods and muddled thoughts are a substitute for goodness, and yet silly Christians come alongside drunks giving them money and food and shelter… without needed change or loss of alcohol.  Sadly, it seems that even the holiest of men fell to the lure of strong drink in Isaiah’s day… just as some do today. Sin is never new!

Verses 24-30

24. “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25. Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
26. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
27. None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
28. Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
29. Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
30. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.”

Just as the unusable chaff and stubble are burnt to nothing, so will be the lives of these unrighteous men and women. Anything good they once were known for will go up in the flames, when God comes to discover their evils…. Even though, at one time, they were godly servants of the Most High. Watch and beware, men of earth, and stand alongside God, not your own desires or strength. Any good they once did will disappear because they deliberately threw away the law of God. As so many do today. They even hate God’s word and try to change it to suit their own human evils. Men today despise God’s word and try to get rid of it. Their evil will rebound on them with great force.

Because of their sins, God’s wrath is kindled and trouble must come. He has personally caused them to suffer and has Himself been the cause of their fall. And even when His people die in the streets, He continues to humble them… when God begins punishing He will not stop until His anger proves the people to be destitute of morality and truth, their own sins inviting judgment.

Though God hates strangers who do not love Him, He will call upon them to do His bidding, to bring judgment upon the people. So, those He protected against will now come in through the front gates to ruin sinners. When God is not protecting people, hordes will come fast to enjoy destroying them. They will spend all their strength and effort to bring down those who were once of God. And God will not just allow the ruin, He will demand it, giving the enemy great strength as they come. They will come with bows and sharp arrows, their horses hoofs will strike cobble stones causing sparks, as chariots clatter through once pleasant streets.

They shall cause a great tumult and noise as they rush wildly through the city killing and ruining. And worst still, God will not help His people to survive or to fight back… once He begins His judgment nobody can stop it. The whole land will be awash with enemies and the sounds of war. The land will be filled with darkness and trouble and even the light from God will be unseen. Is this not our condition today? Are not strange pagans taking over our lives and government?

© 04 May 2025

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