Turn in your copies of God's word to Isaiah chapter five. We're gonna conclude our reading. We'll pick up in verse 18. Isaiah chapter five will begin in verse 18. This is God's holy word. Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as with a cart rope that say, let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it and let the council of the holy one of Israel draw near and come that we may know it. 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 to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Woe to men mighty at drinking wine. Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink. who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man. Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like dust, because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despise the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, the anger of the Lord is aroused against his people. He has stretched out his hand against them and stricken them, and the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out still. He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the end of the earth. Surely they shall come with speed swiftly. No one will be weary or stumble among them. No one will slumber or sleep, nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, nor the strap of their sandals be broken, whose arrows are sharp and all their bows bent. Their horses' hooves will seem like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. Their roaring will be like a lion. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they will roar and lay hold of the prey. They will carry it away safely, and no one will deliver. In that day, they will roar against them like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold darkness. and sorrow, and the light is darkened by the clouds." Amen. This is God's holy word. May he add his blessing to it. Viniculture is the scientific study of grapes, specifically related to wine. And making wine is a long and arduous process. It begins with the acquisition of land, if you're even able to afford the land. It takes the right elements, the proper soil, sunlight, rain, not to mention cultivation. So a vine dresser is having to repeatedly prune the vine in order for it to maximize its production. Experts say that a vineyard takes anywhere from three to five years before it will start producing enough fruit in order to make wine. And by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah this morning uses this metaphor, this analogy of the vineyard to communicate God's displeasure with his people. And so we're gonna look at that this morning, three aspects of this vine. We're gonna consider it under three headings. The first is the righteous curator, the righteous curator. Number two, the rotten crop. And then finally, number three, the resulting crush. So the righteous curator, the rotten crop, and the resulting crush. Well, let's begin by looking at the righteous curator. This chapter opens in the first seven verses with this poem, this song. If you were hearing this for the first time, or maybe you just have read this for the first time in a while, if you didn't know any better, you'd think this was from the Song of Songs. It reads like a ballad. Verse one, now let me sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard. We're not told who is speaking. We can assume, if you flip back to chapter two, we have a prophecy given to Isaiah, the son of Emma's, and it's a vision. This is what he is seeing. So we can safely assume this is Isaiah that is speaking. We're not told explicitly. We are told who he's singing to. Look down at verse seven. For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel." Whose vineyard? The Lord of Hosts. Notice, Beloved, in your translation, in the New King James, it's capitalized. Capital B, Beloved. His well Beloved. Ultimately, this is God himself speaking. He's referring to his beloved son in whom he is most well pleased. His vineyard, you'll see this in verse seven, is the house of Israel, the men of Judah. This is his elect people, the church. And as we read this morning, kids, were you paying attention? Jesus uses this same parable that we're looking at here in our text in Matthew chapter 21. We're starting to get a glimpse of the symmetry, of the parallels between Isaiah's prophetic ministry and that of Jesus. We saw last week. We read through the woes in Matthew 23 to the scribes and the Pharisees, hypocrites, you remember? It was like a cadence, hypocrites, hypocrites. And here in our text, we're gonna look at six woes. Also, there's Psalm, and this poem in our text is an exposition of the Song of Moses from Deuteronomy 32. According to Matthew Henry, this poem is the fulfillment of what was foretold by God through Moses so long ago. I want you to hear this from Deuteronomy chapter 32. This is verses 32 and 33. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of Gaul. Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of cobras. According to the early church father, Jerome, which lived in about 400, he said that Christ himself sang this mournful song when he was looking over Jerusalem. You remember what he said? Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I would have gathered you to myself as a hen gathers her chicks, and yet you would not. So there's this connection between Jesus and his ministry and Isaiah and his ministry, and then it continues on back to the song of Moses. We're getting a glimpse, we're witnessing the glorious interconnectedness. of God's self-revelation throughout history. To see God and his plan and working all things together according to the counsel of his will. It's almost as if we have one author. But we see this beautiful symmetry between the ministry of Jesus and between Isaiah. The love song begins in verse Two, notice toward the end. My well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. I hope you remember, if you were with us last week, we have this imagery, these two peaks, Mount Zion, and the people are in this valley. And here we have, again, this imagery, this hill, Mount Zion, where God dwells in holiness. According to Alan Harmon, this is the only place in the Old Testament where this phrase is connected to a high mountain. So the Lord is wanting us to pay attention. What is he referring to? This is the dwelling place of God. This is where he's planting his vineyard. The phrase, on a very fruitful hill, And you may see this in the margin of your Bible. In the Hebrew, it's the son of oil, or that could be translated fatness, has the idea, the picture of abundance, fruitfulness beyond measure. Son in Hebrew is an idiom for a condition that describes something. So son of death, for instance, or son of rebellion. Here it means fruitfulness. Blessing. Oil in the Bible also is symbolized by the Holy Spirit. So we have a reference to the Trinity here in our text. With God the Father, the landowner, the vine dresser, who sings this song to the Son, the choicest vine, and then the work of the Holy Spirit, this oil of fatness that brings life, that brings abundance. This is the righteous curator who has prepared a special vineyard in a special place, and he expects a special harvest, which will take us now to the second point, the rotten crop. What was he expecting? And what did he get? After all God had done for his vineyard, for his church, he provided the choicest land, the most fertile soil, this dwelling place, the very dwelling place of God. He had chosen them. as a special people. He had set them apart. The scripture calls them peculiar. Did you know that you're peculiar in the world? Because if you live for Christ, you're gonna be a little strange, and that's okay, all right? Jesus said, they hated me, they will hate you. But he has set you apart. He has put his name upon you. He's protected them. Look at verse two. He removed all the stones. so they wouldn't hurt themselves. And really, in keeping with this metaphor, so there would be no hindrance to their fruitfulness. He's given them everything they need to bear fruit. Ultimately, and this was pointed out by Matthew Henry, and I think this is so good, ultimately, God had removed their stony hearts. He had given them a heart of flesh. Hear these words from Ezekiel 36, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. He fenced them in, verse five, he kept them under his special protection. He planted his vineyard with his most choice vine this is the church which is connected to the head this is what we might call a pure religion i thought of the words of paul in romans chapter 9 this the benefits of being a part of the church under age i want you to hear this paul writes about the privileges of the Israelites. This is Romans 9, four through five. To whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came. who is over all the eternally blessed God. Amen. He asked a rhetorical question. What else could I have done? And what does he find? Rotten fruit. Verse two, so he expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. That's the title of the sermon. Sour grapes. It puts your teeth on edge. It's like vinegar. But I want you to hear this from the Hebrew and children, you're going to like this. So in the Hebrew wild grapes can mean stinking or worthless things. Okay. This is from the concordance stink berries. That's what this means. where they should have had the most luscious, the most bountiful fruit, and yet the vine dresser picks it up and it's rotting, it's putrid. What more could I have done? Why then, verse four, when I expected to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth stinking grapes, rotten grapes? Isaiah summarized this rotten fruit at the end of this poem at the beginning in verse seven. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression. For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help. What was God wanting to hear? What was he wanting to see? Righteousness, but what does he hear? Wailing, the agony of the oppressed, crying out for mercy. And then now through the rest of the chapter, he unpacks, he reveals in vivid terms, what does this rotten fruit look like? And I want us to look at that. And this is listed in six different woes. The first in verse three, Eight is greed. Woe to those who join house to house. They add field to field till there is no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land. What is he saying here? Well, the wealthy were taking advantage, again, of the poor. And you remember God had partitioned the land. He had given it to each of the tribes. He had divided it among them based on their size. And here the wealthy were oppressing the poor, and they were buying up their land. Why? Because they needed food. They needed money. What does this remind you of? the children of Israel in Egypt. You remember during the famine, the Egyptians were selling all of their land to Pharaoh. And what happened? He put them in bondage. He enslaved them. And that's the picture we have here. Not only were they disregarding that every piece of land is God's land, they were disregarding the inheritance of the fathers. And they were putting and they were subjugating their fellow Israelites. So literally, the Israelites were working their own land as slaves to these wealthy oppressors in Israel. Greed. The second woe, verse 11, drunkenness. Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink, who continues until night, till wine inflames them. You remember how the mighty men of David were described? They're listed in the Old Testament as doing marvelous things. They were called mighty. And yet here, God is mocking. He's being sarcastic. Because what are these mighty men known for in our text? They're known for their ability to drink. They have tolerance. They're good at bartending. They like to make mixed drinks. Look at that in verse 22. They are described as mighty and valiant in drinking alcohol. Listen to these words from John Favel. He was a Puritan, an English Puritan. He writes, drunkenness is a sin by which you greatly wrong and abuse your own body. The body is the soul's instrument. It is as the tools are to a skillful builder. This lust both dulls and spoils it so that it is utterly unfit for any service of him that made it. It's an abuse. It's taking what God has given to us for benefit, for delight, for joy, and it's using it to an excess. You're violating your own body, as it were. We know that sexual sin does that, but alcohol compromised your ability to be fruitful, no pun intended. The third example of their rotten fruit are twofold. We have defiance and contempt. Verse 18, woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as with a cart rope. So their defiance, they're so enslaved willfully to their sin, they're pulling their sin around as if it was on a cart. I think about Jacob Marley, with all the chains on him. And this is that imagery, that the sin that he's amassed over a lifetime of greed, and how he is pulling his sin, as it were, with ropes about him. The word picture here is that of bondage and enslavement. As I said, willfully, they are so attached to their sin that they They announce it prominently and drag it with them. The second part, look at verse 19, is contempt. Their speech is dripping with sarcasm. That's what that means there. They are putting God to the test. Let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it. What does this remind you of? You think about the religious leaders in Jesus' day. They had seen miracle after miracle. and it was never enough. They wanted Jesus, like a dog on command, to do a trick for them. They had become so hardened by the sacred, they couldn't see it anymore. And this is exactly what we have in our text. He saved others. He can't save himself. Why don't you come on down? What did Jesus tell his disciples, even if someone were to rise from the dead, they would not believe. Defiance and contempt are indicators of a hard and stony heart. And this is where we need to be really careful, especially in the Reformed church. because we are so blessed with the riches of theology, understanding, our confessional standards, that we can become contempt or have contempt for the sacred. Familiarity breeds contempt. You've heard that before. Oh, may that not be true in your life this morning. The fourth woe, another evidence of rotten fruit, is perversion. They are utterly devoid of all morality. They're so wicked that they inadvertent. Evil is good and good is evil. Don't we see this in our culture today? Abortion is a sacrament to some. This evil, this offering of a child to Molech, as it were, is now righteousness. And how dare you touch my body? I saw on a bumper sticker yesterday, instead of don't tread on me flag, it was a uterus. Don't tread on me. Perversion. Evil is good and good is evil. The fifth woe, pride, verse 21. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. What was the original sin? You too can be like the most high God. That's really the God of our age, the zeitgeist today, is autonomy. No one will tell me what to do. The seven things that God hates. And that list begins with a haughty look. It's an abomination. Revelation 3, 17 and 19, because you say I am rich, have become wealthy, and have no need of nothing. And do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. The sixth woe, the final woe, is injustice. He reiterates the sin of drunkenness if you look at verse 22, but yet in this case, it's related to the perversion of justice. They're so inebriated, they're so intoxicated, that they can't even rule. Not to mention, and you add to that, if you look at the text there, they are in a pay for play scheme. So justice goes to the highest bidder. And if you're poor and you don't have any money, where's justice? How do I get justice? So God condemns them. He pronounces a woe upon them. that they are subverting justice, that they are oppressing the poor, and he condemns it in the most harshest terms. And this is a recurring theme throughout the book of Isaiah, oppression and injustice. And this is really ironic. How did the people get their start? They were delivered out of bondage. in Egypt, and what does God say again and again and again? Look out for the little guy, look out for the sojourner, look out for the foreigner, that was you. And yet, they had so hardened their heart against God that they are now oppressing the very people, they themselves, not 700 years before, have been delivered out of bondage into Egypt. The rotten fruit, the crop, it's piled high after all that God had done to cultivate his vineyard. This is the result, which takes us now to the third and the final heading, the resulting crush. In viniculture, crush is just another word for harvest. I'm crushing the grapes under my feet in order to produce the fruit of the vine. What is God's response? to this rotten crop, what are the consequences? Well, we have a summary in verses five and six, again, in this poetic section. Let me read this. And now, please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned, and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste, It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it. So this is that poetic form, that summary of God's displeasure, of his anger. And then now through the rest of the chapter, he unpacks this for us. What will that, what does that look like? Isaiah begins with an announcement in verse nine. This is interesting. In my hearing, the Lord of hosts said, as I mentioned, the prophecy begins, this particular prophecy begins in chapter two, verse one, this vision that Isaiah saw, and you remember what we said about a vision? There's interpretation required, right? It's not laid out for me. I don't have a text that I can read. I have to take what I've seen. I have to translate that and explain it to you. But that's not what Isaiah says here. He says, in my hearing, the Lord of hosts said. He makes a distinction. This is what he heard. He's taking notes, and this is what we should be paying attention to. This is important. The consequences The crush will begin with desolation, verse nine. They're described as great and beautiful, these enormous houses. Why are they empty? Where did everybody go? Where there were sounds of children playing in the streets, now there's nothing. It's only silence. The second crush is famine. Verse 10, for 10 acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield one ephah. What the Lord is saying there, if you do the measurements, the outcome, the production, will only be a fraction of what it produced before. Literally, it's one-tenth of what it used to produce. The third consequence, exile, and this is all interrelated, but now where he's been implicit, he's becoming explicit. What is he talking about? What is he referring to? These empty houses, what does that mean? Verse 13, therefore, my people have gone into captivity. Why? Well, what do we always ask when you see a therefore? Why is that there for? Well, look at the previous verse, end of verse 12, but they do not regard the work of his hands, nor consider the operation of his hands. A Hebrew parallelism, he's saying the same thing, but it's just tweaking it just a little bit to emphasize, to repeat what he is saying. Why is it that they are in exile. What does he mean? Nor consider the operation of his hands. Well, the next verse tells us, look at verse 13, because they have no knowledge. Doesn't mean that they're ignorant, that they don't have the truth. We know that they've been given the truth. What does the text say? No, they do not regard the work of his hands. This is the sin of unbelief. What are they doing? Echoes of what Paul writes in Romans 1, they're suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. It's like a big beach ball. You've seen these? Have you ever tried to hold one of those underwater for long? Doesn't take long, that thing pops right back up. You can't hold, you can't suppress the truth of God underwater for very long, but that's what they're doing. Hosea writes something similar in Hosea 4, verse 6. Listen to this. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for me. Speaking of them as a nation, a holy nation. Because you have forgotten the law of your God. I will also forget your children. Why is he bringing judgment upon them? Because they will not hear. They have stopped up their ears. They do not regard God or his word. The remaining consequences of this crush are all related to their captivity by the Assyrians, their exile in a foreign land. Their honorable men, verse 13, are hungry. Think about that, the contrast. They were so proud. They were so full of themselves. They were wearing the nicest clothes. They lived in the largest homes, these homes that are now empty. And what does the text say? They're famished. They have no food. They don't have any water, enough water, verse 13. Isaiah describes their living conditions as hellish in verse 14. Literally, he uses the word sheol. In the Hebrew, the place of the dead or hell. And the picture here is death swallowing them whole. Have you ever seen a boa constrictor who's eaten a pig? That's the idea. His stomach, sheol, death stomach is engorged with God's people because they will not listen to him. Once, Proud and haughty people are now humiliated. Verse 15. Skip with me to verse 24. The Lord describes their predicament in captivity as a fire that will consume everything. Look at verse 25, and this is so humbling. The anger of the Lord is aroused against his people. He has stretched out his hand against them and stricken them, and the hills trembled, their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. You know, if you showed up this morning and you heard these words for the first time and you're thinking, wow, God is a really angry guy. What's going on? Why is he so angry? This seems really imbalanced. For 700 years, God has been calling his people to holiness, to faithfulness. They continued to reject him, to reject him, to reject him. And what we can forget when we look at a text like this is that this isn't grace, this is all judgment. But hear me this morning, the fact that you're hearing me, the fact that we're studying this together is a grace of God. Because God is calling you out of your lethargy, out of your sin, to put that behind you to repent, to turn 180 degrees and to follow after Christ. That is a mercy, that is a grace. and God bringing judgment upon his people, why? So that they might turn and that they might return to him. It's a scary thing, God's judgment. We don't need to fear God in the sense that we are crouching in a corner and we're hovering and shivering with fear. No, the fear that we should have for God is that of ultimate reverence. Not only as God, but as Savior. The triune God, the righteous curator, is judging his vineyard. Where it should have brought forth good grapes, It has brought forth sour grapes. And it's easy for us to be thinking about someone else right now, but I want you to think about you. You know, we are so proud. We read the accounts of the disciples and we're like, come on guys, what's your problem? Or we read about the Israelites, but that's you, that's me. We're sinful again and again and again. And God is calling you to holiness this morning. Why has he created this vineyard? It's to produce fruit. You were made to produce fruit for your Savior. Are you connected to the vine this morning? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? The only way you can be fruitful is by being connected to him. I want to close from John 15, 8, and 16. And remember this as I read, vineyards have one purpose, and that is to produce fruit. Jesus said, by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. You did not choose me. but I chose you and anoint, excuse me, appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. Amen, let's pray.