Isaiah chapter five moves into farming mode with a ballad. We are talking vineyards here and we get a glimpse at how God will take care of things. Check out the actions it gives us: It says “He
1. hoed the soil
2. pulled the weeds
3. planted the very best vines.
4. built a lookout
5. built a winepress
6. looked for a yield
but for all his pains he got junk grapes.” It sure looks like everything was done right. Soil prepared, planting done with good stock, careful watch and big expectations. But the yield was not what was expected – it yielded junk. Our text tells us that the vineyard keeper has done all possible to get the right results. But the fruit was bad. It didn’t turn out as expected. So what will be the result – “I’ll tear down its fence and let it go to ruin. I’ll knock down the gate and let it be trampled.”
God expects us to bear fruit – but not just fruit – good fruit. He calls out some things in this chapter that are not acceptable. Check out a couple of things He calls out as no no’s:
– “they’ll have nothing to do with the work of GOD, pay no mind to what he is doing
– think you’re so smart, who hold such a high opinion of yourselves
– line your pockets with bribes”
God is about making us holy – this chapter calls that out. He is going to remove these kind of things from our lives. If we get self centered, prideful, greedy etc, God is going to see that as junk fruit and make some changes. We can expect the fences to go down and the trampling to go up. He is going to make some changes in our lives. God will get rid of bad fruit. It is far better we prune and get the right things growing ourselves!