ISAIAH 5:1-25

Isaiah 5:1-25
Good morning. If you have your Bible, please turn to Isa ch.5. As you’re turning, I’ll give you a bit of news that will make you either really happy or really sad. We have a lovely tall maple right behind our house that sits over our back porch. I noticed this week for the first time that a few of the leaves are beginning to turn red. What do you think? Is this good news or bad news? I know some of you (my wife) never want summer to end. But deep down, you have to love the fall. The days get a little shorter, the nights get a little cooler & everyone is filled with a deep sense of gratitude & joy. I know we still have a few months before we fully experience it, but the red leaves are a reminder that autumn is on the way.
The fall has always been a joyful time for humans – even more so in an agrarian society. So, as you get to ch5, I want you to imagine a crisp fall day about 2,700 years ago on the Judean hillside. During Isaiah’s early years of ministry, the nation was doing quite well under the leadership of King Uzziah. The Bible tells us that Uzziah was a brilliant leader who loved the soil. Can you imagine a king out in the fields, covered in sweat, with dirt under his fingernails, teaching the nation how to produce really good fruit? Under Uzziah’s creative leadership, the nation’s economy boomed, & it was especially good for the wine business. If you happened to be alive in those days & possessed a hardworking spirit, you would have done quite well. The wealthy landowners began to acquire massive estates, which yielded impressive returns. Wine flowed freely in the Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day. 
It was a good time to be alive. The fruit was abundant & beautiful, & the nation was happy. They were throwing one big party. The singing began early in the morning & lasted late into the night. They were gorging themselves on the fruit of their labor. Sure, they were a little bit tipsy, but everything was great. Didn’t God say that they would eat the fat of the land? Except that everything wasn’t great. Isaiah the prophet had been given a vision of God, and he could see what they could not. So, inspired by the Holy Spirit, I imagine him walking up & down the rows of grapes, diligently scratching out what would become one of his most influential sermons. Things are not what they seem. This manufactured joy is not what God had in mind, Israel, when he planted you in the land. Something is badly off.
That’s the message of Isaiah 5. Now, I told you last week that the first 5 chapters are most likely a theological introduction to the entire book. His ministry did not begin until he was called & commissioned in ch6, which we will study next week. But in these first 5chs, Isaiah is setting the table for the entire book. God will save this rebellious people in the future, but first their rebellion needed to be addressed & dealt with.
And it’s hard to imagine a more compelling way to do it than Isaiah did in chapter 5. This is prophetic preaching at its finest. Let me give you the structure of the chapter, & then we’ll dive in. Isaiah will begin this chapter with a good old sad song about a vineyard. The people obviously loved to be entertained over a good cup of wine, so it was easy to get their attention. But Isaiah was setting a trap. Once they were in his clutches, he would turn the tables & unleash a series of 6 woes against their rebellion. I want to spend most of the time on these woes in verses 8-25 because they are very appropriate for the world we live in. But first, let’s look at the song. Isaiah chapter 5, verses 1-7.
In the first 2 verses, Isaiah composed a simple song with a powerful punch. I don’t know if you caught it, but it’s not entirely clear in v1 who is singing the song. Who is the vineyard owner? Who is this beloved? We don’t know… it’s just a love song about a vineyard. That’s the point. Isaiah doesn’t want to show his cards just yet. He is drawing his audience into the story. Many of them owned vineyards, so they could relate.
The vineyard owner in Isaiah’s song did everything right. He was extremely diligent, & they would have admired his hard work. He first selected the right patch of land. It was raised up on a fertile hill, which was a perfect environment for grapes. He did the tedious work of digging up stones. Have you ever done this to a field? By hand? You can imagine how long this must have taken. As soon as the ground was broken up, he planted choice vines. This is a very rare word in Hebrew which indicates a very special type of grape. As soon as the plants were in the ground, he took the stones that he cleared and built a wall to protect it from animals or thieves. And then, going above & beyond the duties of most vineyard owners, he built a watchtower to protect it even further. Last but not least, he dug out a wine vat because why else do you plant a vineyard. The only thing left to do was to wait. There was nothing else that he could do. He did everything right.
As the harvest drew near, he inspected the grapes each day. They looked good, they felt good. But when the first grape became ripe enough to eat, the owner put it into his mouth and… have you ever bitten into a piece of fruit that was rotten or sour… – ! – he immediately spit it out. Wild grapes! This is not the best translation, because wild grapes were uncultivated. These grapes were extremely cultivated! The literal translation here is stink fruit. Isaiah created a word to describe how horrible these grapes were.
Of course, you can only ask one question: what should he do? You can hear the audience begin to answer: rip up the vines, tear down the walls, start over. This vineyard was an unsalvageable disaster. If the owner would ever get the wine he desired, destruction must come first. You cannot disagree with this analysis. It’s airtight.
Don’t you love the prophets? Isaiah just sang a song that could legitimately get him killed. But watch what he does next. He doesn’t drop his guitar & run for the hills. No, he stands tall & boldly defend his claim. In verse 8, Isaiah will begin to fire off a list of 6 woes that were targeted at their lavish & ungodly lifestyle. They didn’t think they were wrong. They were living their best life, but it was repulsive to God. This is an important sermon for us today because I think you will recognize a similar stench in our own “successful” world. Have we chosen a comfortable lifestyle over the righteousness that God desires?
The first woe is found in verse 8. They were living for the next big thing. [8] Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land. [9] The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. [10] For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”
So, Isaiah pronounced judgment on the greedy landowners. You are building massive homes, but you won’t get to enjoy them. Pay close attention to the type of judgment they would suffer because it’s brilliant. Isaiah simply acknowledges that this type of greedy lifestyle has its own form of poetic justice built into it. Bigger is not always better. If you buy up all your neighbor’s property, you will certainly have more room, but you won’t have any neighbors, which means you will be forced to dwell alone. So, when you kill the fattened calf to celebrate God’s blessing, you will have to eat it by yourself at your sad & lonely table. The return on your investment is isolation.
My family has always been fascinated with the Biltmore house in Asheville. I love to visit, but I think it would be a curse to live there. Isn’t it amazing that the family only lived in that home for a few decades? Let this be a warning. You can build a lifestyle so big that you can’t possibly live in it. Most of us are sacrificing our lives to get a bigger lifestyle but why? Jesus said that whoever gains his life will lose it. This lavish lifestyle did not produce the righteousness that God wanted from his people.
Let’s look at the 2nd woe: they were living for the weekend. [11] Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them! [12] They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.
These verses make me shudder, because it is a picture of our world. The only difference between 8th C Judah & 21st C America is that everyone in America is part of the leisure class. We have credit cards now, so the promise of unending pleasure is instantly available to anyone who can sign their name. We are amusing ourselves to death.
These verses also make me shudder, because it is a picture of my own heart. I love a good sporting event or concert. I love a good vacation. I am usually already talking about next year’s vacation as I drive home from this year’s vacation. I love eating a good meal out. These blessings aren’t evil in themselves, but we need to listen to Isaiah’s warning. When we gorge ourselves on God’s blessings, we will lose the capacity to enjoy them. The judgment in v12 is that they could no longer regard the Lord’s work or see his hand. That’s a sad place to be. This is why we pray before we eat. We want to make a strong connection between God & his blessings. When we seek the blessings before God, we will lose both. But when we seek first the kingdom of God & his righteousness, all these things will be added to us.
In verse 18, Isaiah picked up the pace significantly, so we will too. Perhaps he could see his audience picking up stones, so he throws these last four out with no commentary. But I believe they are all geared toward their utter lack of regard for God. They did not fear him. They had become very arrogant. In v. 18, they were dragging sin along behind them like a cart. It’s one thing to fall into a trap of the devil; it’s entirely different to drag your sin along with a rope & mock God as you do it. Success often leads to pride.
Look at where their pride had taken them by verse 20 – [20] Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
After I got Covid for the first time, my smell came back but the wires were crossed. It was so weird. For an entire year, my morning coffee smelled like trash juice. It tells you how addicted I was to keep drinking it. What was good suddenly tasted repulsive. This is the world we live in. The good things in God’s creation are no longer good to our sinful world. Who would want to get married & start a family? Who would want to belong to a church? That’s a restrictive lifestyle – some would even call it evil. But the inversion happens both ways & we are seeing it play out in Paris. The dark & evil things – the things that God despises – are in the limelight. And the sweetness of Christ is made bitter to the world. Friends, this is what happens to an indulgent society. May the church never surrender her vocabulary. We must be willing to call the evil things evil, not because we declare them evil, but because God declares them evil & we fear God. And just as importantly, we must call good things good! This lost & dying world needs fearless Christians who will joyfully speak of the goodness of God, & the sweetness of Christ!
Let’s look at one last woe in 22. [21] Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! [22] Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, [23] who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!  This one makes me angry. God has given us creatures an amazing capacity for courage & bravery. He wants us to use that strength for justice. To rescue the orphan, to break the fangs of the wicked, to make the widow’s heart sing for joy, to share our food with the hungry, to lay down our lives for the sake of others. The righteous life is a costly life, but who cares? This is what valiant & brave men do! We bring God’s blessings to others & we protect his blessings. But in Isaiah’s day, and in our own, the men were wasting their strength on stupid games. They were heroes at drinking wine, & valiant men in mixing drinks. Woe to you!
How should we respond to a sermon like this? Is this just one more example of a stuffy Christian sermon, where God will condemn you if you have any fun? No. Of course not. In fact, as dark as this sermon is, I don’t think it’s primarily about judgment. Do you remember how it started? God was singing a love song! He was out in the field, covered in sweat, joyfully cultivating his pleasant vineyard. He was in search of good fruit, and he wasn’t about to let one bad crop deter him from his quest. It’s a frustrating story, but it is a love story. The judgement is just one sad, but necessary chapter, in the whole book.
As Isaiah continues his story, we will discover that God remains committed to his vineyard. He will get the fruit. He will get the righteous nation that he desires. Isaiah cannot fully see how God will accomplish this impossible task, but he gets pretty close. In ch.11, he will tell us that a shoot of Jesse will rise up from the earth to rule the world in righteousness. In some mysterious way, God will get the fruit he desires by offering himself.
And so, this morning, we are going to strengthen our faith by celebrating communion. The vineyard owner got the wine he desired, and it was found in the precious blood of Jesus. This morning, we get the joy of partaking of this fruit & sharing in his righteousness. I hope that you were able to get a cup on your way in, but if not, please raise your hand & we’ll make sure to give you one. If you are a believer, we welcome you to join us in this meal. If you are not a believer, I want to ask you to simply watch this time, but I hope that you will soon join us in this family meal.
Brothers & sisters, as we eat & drink this morning, we are asking Jesus to strengthen our faith so that we can live righteous lives & bear the fruit that God desires. May we abide in him. And so, please take the side of the cup that has the bread in it. (Open it). I will read the passage from 1 Corinthians 11, and then we’ll eat together.
[23] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Let us eat together).
Open the side with the juice. [25] In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (Let us drink together).