Isaiah Chapter Five (Part One)

So this is a longer chapter!
I'm going to break it into sections again. There are two main sections: A song about the Lord's vineyard & Judah's guilt and judgement.
There seems to be a recurring theme -> judgement.
However in this post I will be focusing on the first section.

A Song about the Lord's Vineyard (verses 1 - 7)
Being written by Isaiah makes the first verse of this chapter quiet special. "I sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard"
How beautiful is that? Singing to the one he loves. Clearly Isaiah loves the Lord. Clearly this is a strong love and a love that has an element of adoration.
What the heck is a vineyard? -> This is not a silly question! A vineyard is a plantation - or a farm that's focused on the growing of plants - in this case where grapevines are grown. Usually for the production of Wine and I'm assuming that this is the case here.
The thing about vineyards, as with any sort of plantation or farm, is that they take a lot of hard work. Particularly because this is post curse time in the bible.
Lets go back a few steps...

Genesis 3:17-19

17 And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
    whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
    All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
    though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
    will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
    from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
    and to dust you will return.”

Here we can see that working the ground is a hard thing to do - as a result of the fall / the first sin. So this Lord (God) having a vineyard may entail in the first verse that some hard work, thought and effort has gone into the creation of this vineyard.

So lets continue with the rest of this section.
This section is very visual and quiet figurative. Isaiah is comparing Judah and Jerusalem to the Vineyard made by the Lord. I think that the passage is saying that Judah and Jerusalem are the vineyard. The people are looking at their land, the promised land of God; and judging it. This is a visual representation of whats been discussed in Isaiah previously and I believe what is continued to be discussed in the second half of this chapter. This vineyard was worked and loved. Its creator expected it to be prosperous (Verse 2-> Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.)
So even though this vineyard was cared for the results are not what was intended (kind of like the results in the garden of Eden).
I think when verse 3 is saying Judah judges between the creator and his vineyard its talking about how the people are thinking that because the crops are bad the creator is also bad. This idea is debunked in verse 4 "What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done?"
Its interesting that the author asks why the vineyard gave him bitter grapes. Its the vineyard that produced the bitter grapes so there is something wrong with the vineyard. The core of where the grapes are grown. There is something really wrong at the very roots. (Quiet similar to our sinful natures I think!)

Verses 5 and 6 - The creators response to the ruined vineyard. He tears it down to create space for a new one. I like the words "I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it." Controlling the weather is not something that humanity is capable of doing. This further proves how powerful this creator is.

Verse 7 - Isaiah reports what God says about what he expected his people to be like and what he really found. This is the literal version of the bitter grapes in the well tended vineyard. This is a prelude to the judgement that is to come. This judgement is discussed further in the next section of this chapter.

To finish this post I must say that the visual of the vineyard is very impressive and well thought out. A fantastic way to describe how God's intended creation was meant to be and what the result was.
The BIBLE is an amazing book. I never cease to be in awe of my God. Every chapter reveals or confirms more of my Gods character!

How wonderful it is to be able to know the Lord and God of the Universe!

Blessings!