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Agape Bible Study
Isaiah 5 - 6
Chapter 5:1-7 ~ Yahweh's Vineyard
Isaiah 5:1-7 ~ The Song of the Vineyard
The theme of this parable is Israel symbolized as God's cherished vine that was chosen but because of its failure to produce acceptable fruit is now rejected. It is a theme that had also been introduced by Isaiah's contemporary, the prophet Hosea (Hos 10:1), and it was one of the reoccurring symbolic images of the Old Testament prophets. Notice that it is Isaiah speaking in verses 1-2 and then God speaking in verses 3-7.
In the symbolic imagery of Israel as God's vineyard, the prophets presented four different stages of Israel's relationship with God. Notice that Isaiah presents the three parts of Israel's relationship with Yahweh in his parable of the vineyard: Part I, covenant unity; Part II, rebellion; and Part III, redemptive judgment.
| Image Group | Part I Covenant relationship | Part II Rebellion | Part III Redemptive Judgment | Part IV Restoration Fulfilled |
| tVineyard or Fig tree [examples in Scripture] | Well-tended vineyard/fruitful fig tree Isaiah 5:1-4a; Ezekiel 19:10-11; Jeremiah 24:4-7 | Vines grow wild/failure to produce fruit Isaiah 5:4b; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 2:14; Micah 7:1-4; Joel 1:7, 11-12 | Weeds overgrow vineyard/ ruin and destruction Isaiah 5:3-6; Ezekiel 19:12-14; Jeremiah 8:13; 24:1-10; Nahum 3:12-15 | Vines are replanted/fruitfulness restored Promise: Hosea 14:2-9 John 15:1-2, 4-6 |
Isaiah begins by speaking about his "friend" who is the owner of the vineyard.
Question: Who is Isaiah's "friend", what does the "vineyard" symbolize? See verse 7. What has been done for the vineyard?
Answer: Isaiah's "friend" is Yahweh who has done everything possible to prepare Israel to be His fruitful vineyard.
Question: In the parable, what has the owner of the vineyard done to prepare his vineyard? See verses 1-2.
Answer:
- He has planted in a fertile hillside that will get full sun.
- He spaded the ground and cleared it of stones.
- He planted the best vines.
- He built a watchtower so servants can protect the vineyard.
- He dug out an in ground winepress to prepare for the fruitful harvest.
In the Bible the "winepress" is frequently used as a symbol of obedience or judgment (Is 63:3-6; Jer 48:33; Lam 1:15; Hos 9:2; Joel 4:13; Rev 14:19-20; 19:15). The "harvest" is frequently used as a symbol of judgment and the ingathering of souls into God's heavenly storehouse (Is 17:11; Jer 50:16; Joel 4:13; Mt 13:39).
The people of Israel were chosen out of all the peoples of the earth to be God's choicest vines producing "red grapes." The Hebrew word for "red grapes" in verse 2 is soreq; it is the name of a high quality plant designated by the blood-red color of its fruit (also see Gen 49:11; Is 16:8 and Jer 2:21). It was wine from these grapes that was used in liturgical worship at the Temple in the wine libation ritual at God's holy altar, and because of its color the wine was called the "blood of the grape" (see Sir 50:15). In our liturgical worship, it is the "blood of the grape" that becomes the "Blood of Christ."
In verses 5-7 God gives the terms of the covenant lawsuit and the redemptive judgments that will be inflicted upon an unrepentant people. These judgments are all the opposite of the covenant blessings God promised for obedience in Leviticus 26:1-13 and Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Instead, they recall the covenant judgments for disobedience promised in Leviticus 26:14-46 and Deuteronomy 28:15-69, including the judgment of invasion by foreign armies and exile (see Lev 26:32-35; Dt 28:49-52, 63-65). The words "thorns and briers" recall the covenant judgment against Adam for his sin in Genesis 3:18.
Isaiah 5:8-24 ~ The Six Judgments of the Covenant Lawsuit Against a Rebellious People
In this part of the indictment, Isaiah calls down 6 curse judgment against 6 different groups of people in Israel/Judah. A curse judgment is one of the literary forms of prophetic preaching (see Amos 6:1-7 Jer 22:13-19; Ez 7:5-26; Mic 2:1-5; Hab 2:6-20; Mt 23 and Lk 6:24-26). Isaiah's cures judgments are:
- Against a covetous people (verses 8-10)
- Against a debauching people (verses 11-17)
- Against a vain and unbelieving people (verses 18-19)
- Against a people who pervert the truth (verse 20)
- Against an arrogant people who are wise in their own eyes (verse 21)
- Against a people who pervert justice (verses 22-23)
Isaiah 5:25 ~ Yahweh's Anger
Verse 25 is a summing up of the judgments. These sins of the covenant people in the woe judgments are the reasons God's anger has "blazed out" against Israel and Judea like an all-consuming fire. In response to His anger, even the mountains have shuddered and His anger is the reason why death is all around them. But divine judgment is only beginning. The image of fire in Scripture can be a symbol of purification and of judgment (Is 6:6-7; Jer 6:29; Ez 22:18-22; Mal 3:2-3; Mt 3:11; Acts 2:3). In this case, it is the fire of divine judgment that will purify the covenant people of their sins to prefect the faithful remnant who will continue Israel's mission to bring forth the Redeemer-Messiah.
Isaiah 5:26-30 ~ Yahweh summons the Invaders
Sometimes God uses pagan armies as His instruments of judgment. The first set of invaders Yahweh has summoned is the Assyrians. Their highly trained, professional army is equipped and ready.
Question: What two metaphors does Isaiah use to describe the fierceness and unyielding advance of the invaders?
Answer: Isaiah uses the metaphors of a lioness and the roaring sound of the waves of a stormy sea breaking on the shore to describe the fierceness, strength and determination of the enemy. Even nature in the darkness of the sky signals the doom that is coming to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Chapter 6: The Call of Isaiah to His Prophetic Ministry in c. 740 BC
Having delivered the first part of his covenant lawsuit indictment against Israel and Judah, the prophet now tells of his experience in his call to prophetic servanthood. It is from Isaiah chapters 6 - 12 that come the majority of the messianic oracles that earn the title for this part of Isaiah's work, "the Book of Immanuel" ("immanuel" is a Hebrew word meaning "God with us" from the Hebrew words immau = with us" and el = God; see CCC 612).
Isaiah 6:1-7 ~ Isaiah's Vision of the Heavenly Court
Isaiah received a theophany of God and experienced his prophetic call in c. 740 BC (some sources list the date as 742 BC), the year of King Uzziah's death. It was the year that Uzziah's son, Jotham, succeeded him as king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Menahem was king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (reigned 743-738).
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; his train filled the Sanctuary [Hekal].
In his vision, Isaiah is taken up into the heavenly Temple. He saw God sitting on His throne like an earthly king, but Yahweh is the sovereign King over all humanity.
2 Above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to cover its face, two to cover its feet and two for flying... The seraphs (seraphim is the plural in Hebrew) were a class of angels. The word seraph means "fiery ones" or "burning ones." They are the attendants or guardians who stand before the divine throne who have human shape and are equipped with six wings: two of which cover their face to shield their eyes from the magnificence of the Almighty, two to cover their bodies in modesty, and two wings for flying. They are believed to be the same supernatural beings that carry Yahweh's chariot-throne in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10. Later tradition gave the names seraphim and cherubim to two classes of angels. Cherubim guarded the entrance to Eden after Adam and Eve were exiled (Gen 3:24), and two statues of cherubim adorned the lid of the Mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:22; 33:7-11). The seraphim are also described by St. John in Revelation 4:6b-9.
Question: When had men been privileged in the past to be the first to view the heavenly throne room and what did they see? See Ex 24:9-11.
Answer: At the covenant ratification ceremony, Moses, Aaron, two of Aaron's sons and the seventy elders of the tribes of Israel viewed the heavenly throne room from below (looking up through the sapphire pavement) and ate a sacred meal in the presence of Yahweh.
Question: Is the hymn the heavenly beings sing at the throne of God in the presence of the heavenly assembly familiar to you? Why?
Answer: It is similar to the hymn of praise we sing in the Liturgy of the Mass. We sing the same hymn because in the Mass, Heaven and earth are joined in liturgical worship in praise of the Most Holy Trinity.
4 The door-posts shook at the sound of their shouting, and the Temple was full of smoke.
The smoke that filled the heavenly Temple reminds us of the manifestation of God's divine Presence in the Glory Cloud (leading the children of Israel in the Exodus in Ex 13:21-22; at Sinai in the Theophany of Ex 19:16-19 and recalled in Dt 4:11-12; the desert Sanctuary in Ex 40:34-35; and the Jerusalem Temple in 1 Kng 8:10-12 and Ez 10:4).
Question: What was done to purify Isaiah of his sins?
Answer: A seraph touched his lips with a burning coal from the heavenly altar.
Imagine Isaiah's relief. Crushed by self-despair brought on by the weight of his sin in God's presence and fearing his immediate destruction, he has received a complete and unmerited cleansing and is ready for the next step in his journey. Notice how each event leads to the next:
- The king's death prepares the way for the vision of God.
- The vision of God leads to self-despair and self-despair opens the door to spiritual cleansing.
- Spiritual cleansing makes it possible to enter into God's service.
Isaiah 6:8-13 ~ The Commissioning
For the first time it is God who speaks: Who will go for us? The same plural form in relation to the Godhead is found in Geneses 3:22. Isaiah's immediate response is that he is prepared to go, even before he knows what that mission will be. All baptized and confirmed Christians are called to provide the same willing response. None of us can know the mission until we first say "yes' to God.
Isaiah 6:9-10 is somewhat difficult to comprehend. Does God intend that the people not repent; does He want them to be destroyed? No, because we know that God destined every man and woman to come to eternal salvation; it is only their exercise of free-will to reject God that causes their downfall (1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Pt 3:9). The fact is that the more the people who are deeply persistent in their sin hear the prophetic word of God's prophet, the angrier and harder their hearts become, and their judgment is part of God's divine plan that will teach its climax in the Resurrection of the Messiah. Therefore, the command to Isaiah is to continue relentlessly to preach God's word, even though it only causes the sinners to more tightly close their eyes and ears to the truth, contributing to their ultimate downfall.
The remnant will be the people who survive the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem who will be sent into exile. In Isaiah 4:2 Yahweh promised that "seedling/branch or shoot [tsemach] will flourish among Israel's survivors. The "holy seed" will the remnant of their descendants who will return to the Promised Land after the 70 year exile (2 Chr 36:17-23). But it is also a promise that more perfectly fulfilled in the "holy seed" of David +++
CHALLENGE:“The Bible does not teach that the Holy Spirit is God.”
DEFENSE The Bible may not contain the words “The Holy Spirit is God,” but various passages in Scripture do imply this truth.
One of the most important passages in Scripture concerning the doctrine of the Trinity contains the formula that Jesus indicates is to be used in baptism: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). This passage places the Holy Spirit alongside the Father and the Son.
Other passages also associate the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16–17; John 14:16–17, 25–26; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Pet. 1:2), but the trinitarian formula used in baptism is particularly clear, as it speaks of them directly, in sequence, in a simple formula.
Such passages indicate that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have something in common. The question is what.
It is universally acknowledged that the Father is God. Elsewhere we cover the fact that Jesus, the Son, also is God (see Day 137). But if the first two persons in the trinitarian formula are God then this strongly suggests that the Holy Spirit is God.
Further, as we observe elsewhere (see Day 28), the Holy Spirit is not an energy or force but a
Person. The trinitarian formula thus indicates that, like the Father and the Son, he is a divine Person and thus God. This is what all three have in common.
The deity of the Holy Spirit is also indicated by the passage in Acts in which Ananias and Sapphira present a partial offering to the apostles and lie about it. Peter first asks Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?” (Acts 5:3). He then tells him, “You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4). The two statements, made in parallel, identify the Holy Spirit with God.
The divinity of the Holy Spirit is also indicated by the fact that he is said to be “the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11) and the fact that he is eternal (Heb. 9:14). God’s spirit can only be God, and only God is eternal.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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