Isaiah 5:1-7 Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.
2 He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a wine press in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.
3 Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?
5 Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it. 6 I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.
7 The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the LORD of Heaven's Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.
observation
God has a vineyard that he planted in a perfect location "on a rich and fertile hill" but before he planted the vine he knew that he would have to prepare the soil. He had the best vines to plant but you know that you are wasting your time planting anything if the soil isn't in good condition. So he broke up the soil with his plow and took the rocks out of the field and then he patiently waited for the vine to grow so that he could enjoy the return for his labor.
What went wrong? Didn't God do everything that he could possibly do to ensure that he would have an abundant harvest of good grapes?
God set his people in a rich and fertile land and he gave them everything that they needed to prosper but his people rebelled against him, he "expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence."
Deuteronomy 13:4 Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.Through the ages God's people have not changed very much, we can be just as rebellious as they were back then. If we could love the Lord without compromise then we would be a prosperous vine in God's garden.
Joshua 22:5 But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
application
Loving the Lord without compromise can only happen if I stay in constant communication with him, I must be talking to him daily and listening for his voice by praying and reading his word daily.
prayer
I want to be a prosperous vine in your garden. I pray that our families, churches and our country will seek to love and serve you without compromise.
