Class Notes on Isaiah 5:3-7

Isa 5:3-7 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah,  // judge between me and my vineyard.

4 What more could have been done for my vineyard // than I have done for it?

When I looked for good grapes, // why did it yield only bad?

5 Now I will tell you // what I am going to do to my vineyard:

I will take away its hedge, // and it will be destroyed;

I will break down its wall, // and it will be trampled.

6 I will make it a wasteland, // neither pruned nor cultivated,

and briers and thorns will grow there. // I will command the clouds

not to rain on it."

7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty // is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah  // are the garden of his delight.

And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; // for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. NIV

 

• First of all, the song addresses who is at fault.  Is it the owner or the vineyard itself?
• The owner had done all he could for the vineyard
• Therefore the fault for the bad fruit lies on the vineyard itself

• What is the owner's response to the bad fruit?
• He will take away the hedge and the wall
• It will be destroyed and trampled
• It will become a wasteland

• In verse 7, Isaiah names the vineyard and the owner.  Who is it?  The vineyard is Israel and Judah.  The owner is the Lord Almighty
• In 722, the Northern kingdom is destroyed by Assyria
• In 586, Jerusalem (capital of the Southern kingdom, Judah) and its walls are destroyed by Babylon
• The land becomes a wasteland

• What is the reason?
• No justice; bloodshed
• No righteousness; cries of distress