Isaiah 5:1-30

Isaiah: God controls the nations

Isaiah declares how God’s people should be living

Isaiah Chapter s 1 to 9

Norman Hillyer

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 begins with a parable (a story with a double meaning).

A story about a *vineyard

v1 I shall sing a song about my friend’s *vineyard. My friend had a *vineyard on a hill where plants grew extremely well. v2 My friend dug the soil and he cleared out the stones. Then he planted the ground with the best *vines. He created a *look-out for a guard. He made a *winepress in the rock. He expected a harvest of good *grapes. But it produced bad *grapes.

v3 Now, inhabitants of *Jerusalem and people in Judah, give judgement between me and my *vineyard. v4 I did all that I could to benefit my *vineyard. I expected a harvest of good *grapes. But it has produced only bad *grapes. v5 I shall tell you what I shall do to my *vineyard. I shall remove its hedges. I shall break up its wall. I shall let animals walk upon the *vineyard and ruin it. v6 I shall make my *vineyard waste ground. Nobody will look after it. It will be full of weeds. I shall command the clouds not to rain on it.

v7 The nation called Israel is like the *vineyard of the *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies). The people in Judah are like the *vines that he looked after. The *Lord expected right behaviour. Instead there was murder. He expected his people to deal fairly. Instead there were cries of poor people who suffered.