Isaiah 5:1-30

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Summary

• Israel is compared to a vineyard that produces only bad fruits. And like such a vineyard, Israel would also be destroyed.

Details and/or Comments

• After the parable (or "song") that compares Israel to a vineyard, six "bad fruits" are described (each beginning with the word "woe"), as well as a description of the judgment that would come.

• Even though there would be individuals who did not commit these sins, the nation as a whole was characterized by them. And since this was a nation-wide issue, the judgment would also be nation-wide.

Scripture

Isaiah 5:1-30 – Woe to the land of injustice and oppression!

• See also: Extended Description - Wicked People.

A parable to describe Israel's condition:

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Isa 5:1 Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. Isa 5:2 He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in its midst, and also cut out a winepress therein. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.	Parables, Allegories, Proverbs A vineyard - The owner did everything possible to obtain grapes of the highest quality. In spite of that, the vineyard would only yield poor quality grapes.
Isa 5:3 "Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. Isa 5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?	Nothing more could be done with it!
Isa 5:5 Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down. Isa 5:6 I will lay it a wasteland. It won't be pruned nor hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it."	The only remaining option: tear it down and destroy it! Desolate Land Drought - one of the means by which judgment would come (crop failures - see below). Briars and thorns are a picture of the judgment (for sin) that would come upon the land. Thorns, Thistles, Briars, etc.
Isa 5:7 For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.	This parable refers to Israel/Judah. Why? Instead of justice and righteousness in the land, there is only oppression and distress. Oppression

WOE! Below are some of the "bad fruits" of Israel/Judah. A horrible judgment will come upon those who commit such sins.

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Isa 5:8 Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land! Isa 5:9 In my ears, Yahweh of Armies says: "Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied. Isa 5:10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah."	Woe #1 - Taking over houses and land, and "squeezing out" everyone else. The poor would be dispossessed of their homes and land, and have no place to live. In Israel, land was never to be sold (much less obtained by devious means), because it was permanently assigned to individual families by God (who is the ultimate owner). It could be leased temporarily, but would eventually revert back to the original owner. (Under certain circumstances, houses in walled cities could be permanently sold; but that is not the focus here.) Inheritance Issues Ownership of Land God would judge these evil landowners with death (or captivity) and crop failure. Sin on a National Level - Since this was occurring nation-wide, the judgment would also be nation-wide. Crop Failure This is also described in Micah 2:1-5, with some additional details.
Isa 5:11 Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them! Isa 5:12 The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don't regard the work of Yahweh, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.	Woe #2 - A prodigal lifestyle: More interested in parties, revelry and pleasure, than in the ways of God. (This would also be reflected in the way they treated - oppressed - other people.) Pleasure (as a Lifestyle) Even when pleasure is legitimate, the ways of God must take precedence and define the nature of that pleasure. Values Hierarchy
Isa 5:13 Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst. Isa 5:14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it. Isa 5:15 So man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled; Isa 5:16 but Yahweh of Armies is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness. Isa 5:17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.	Those with the “party spirit”... shall go to captivity and death, where there are no parties. This is the end result; but it all began with a "lack of knowledge" - knowledge of the ways of God. (As used here, "knowledge" implies a willingness to obey what is known.) Knowledge of God (in this case, a lack of it, resulting from their disinterest in it). War and Peace, Victory and Defeat (with an emphasis on the war and defeat). The proud will be brought low. In contrast, God will be exalted, and shown to be righteous and just. Pride and Humility God's Glory in Judgment
Isa 5:18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope; Isa 5:19 Who say, "Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!"	Woe #3 - Loving wickedness, and claiming that God is not at work. Of course, they would not call it "wickedness," because of what is mentioned in the next "woe." Did they really want to see God at work? It wasn't that they expected God to do anything. It was more like a mockery of the prophet's claim that God was going to judge them (v. 12). Disregard for God's Warnings
Isa 5:20 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!	Woe #4 - Distorted values - turned upside-down. Values
Isa 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!	Woe #5 - Thinking highly of themselves, proud and boastful. A matter of self-exaltation. Pride and Humility Human "Wisdom"
Isa 5:22 Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink; Isa 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!	Woe #6 - No regard for justice. Unjust judges. Not only is their judgment easily swayed by drink and bribery... but they love to have it that way! (See also the warning in Proverbs 31:4-5.) Proverbs 31:4-5, 8-9 Pro 31:4-5 - It is not for kings, Lemuel; it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to say, 'Where is strong drink?' lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted. Pro 31:8-9 - Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are left desolate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to the poor and needy. Injustice

Because of all this... there are consequences:

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Isa 5:24 Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Armies, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Isa 5:25 Therefore Yahweh's anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.	They will be destroyed; they will die. Why? Because they have rejected God's law; they have despised the words of the Holy One. Sin Has Consequences! Rejecting God's law means they have chosen lawlessness - the reason for all the injustice and oppression and wickedness. Rejecting the words of the Holy One means they have rejected what is holy and gone after what is ungodly and perverse. They rejected the covenant promise they made with God, centuries previously. Now the things God warned them about (the consequences of breaking that covenant promise) were beginning to take place. Covenant Breaking
Isa 5:26 He will lift up a banner to the nations from far, and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly. Isa 5:27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: Isa 5:28 whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. Isa 5:29 Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver. Isa 5:30 They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.	He would bring nations from afar to destroy them. Just as he did to the wicked nations of Canaan (when Israel originally went into the land), so would he do to Israel - as he had warned them. The only difference is that he would not totally destroy Israel, because of promises he made to their ancestors. (Compare to Deuteronomy 8:18-20 and Isaiah 1:9.) Deuteronomy 8:18-20; Isaiah 1:9 Deu 8:18-20 - But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day. It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you wouldn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. Isa 1:9 - Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah. Destruction of Wicked Nations

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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.