Isaiah 5 Devotional

Lavish Care, Sour Fruit

“For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.”Isaiah 5:7 (BSB)

Isaiah sings a love song that turns into a lament. A man clears a fertile hillside, plants choice vines, and builds a watchtower and winepress, then waits for good grapes. The harvest is sour (5:1-2). The LORD asks the listeners to judge between him and his vineyard and to name anything he left undone (5:3-4). Then he explains: the vineyard is Israel and Judah, and where he looked for justice and righteousness he found bloodshed and cries of distress (5:7).

Six woes follow, against land-grabbing greed, drunken feasting, scoffing, calling evil good, self-made wisdom, and bribery (5:8-23). In all of it the holy God shows his holiness by doing what is right (5:16). His judgment is not impatience; it comes after lavish care. Jesus drew on this same picture of a planted, walled vineyard in his parable of the tenants (Matthew 21:33-41). The God who looks for fruit also supplies everything fruit needs, so you can bring him the sour places in your life.

To think about: Which part of your life has received much of God's care but produced little fruit, and what would it look like to bring it to him today?