{"id":25137,"date":"2023-02-05T22:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T05:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-4_1-6-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-01-31T22:50:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T05:50:50","slug":"isaiah-5_1-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-5_1-30\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Not Your Ordinary Love Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 5:1-30 \u00a0 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 5:1-30.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 5:1-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The vineyard of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-7:\u00a0 A masterful communicator, Isaiah takes the message that God has given him and communicates it to the people of Judah in the form of a love song.\u00a0 But this is no ordinary love song.\u00a0 What is the point of this musical parable that Isaiah is singing?\u00a0 As Isaiah explains, the vineyard represents the people of Israel and Judah (v7), and the vineyard owner represents God.\u00a0 The point of Isaiah\u2019s parable is that God had done everything a person in his position could be expected to do to care for his vineyard \u2013 that is, the people of Israel and Judah \u2013 and to make them fruitful.\u00a0 As God says in verse 4, \u201cWhat more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?\u201d Yet the people of Israel and Judah still remained unfruitful, persisting in bloodshed, injustice and idolatry.\u00a0 So God intends to change His approach.\u00a0 Instead of caring so much for His vineyard, He\u2019s going to remove His protecting hand from the vineyard (\u201ctake away its hedge\u2026break down its wall\u201d – v5) and let the vineyard be destroyed (v6).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0It matters to God how we respond to His love.\u00a0 God is not some pushover who will keep letting His love be taken for granted.\u00a0 If we keep pushing God\u2019s love away, God will adjust His approach.<\/strong>\u00a0 If we disown God, God won\u2019t stick around where He is not wanted (see 2 Timothy 2:12).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 5:8-10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine, a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-10:\u00a0 \u201cWoe\u201d is a curse-invoking term.\u00a0 Another way of saying \u201cWoe to you\u201d is \u201ccursed are you\u201d.\u00a0 In verses 8 through 25, Isaiah points out different ways that the people of Judah have cursed themselves by sinning against God.<\/p>\n

Over and over Isaiah will point out the tragic irony of Judah\u2019s sins and how God intends to respond to Judah\u2019s sins.<\/p>\n

For example, in verses 8-10, the irony of Judah\u2019s sin is that they keep accumulating houses and fields that are meant to be lived in, and yet they are becoming more and more lonely, isolated and disconnected from real life (v8).\u00a0 So God\u2019s response to Judah\u2019s sin will be that, in the end, the mansions and fields that they put their hope in will become desolate, Isaiah says (v9-10).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 5:11-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the\u00a0LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite and opens its mouth without limit; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-17:\u00a0 In verses 11-17, the irony of Judah\u2019s sin is that they spend so much time and lose sleep chasing little things like drink and pleasure.\u00a0 Yet they don\u2019t value the much more important things, namely God and what God has done (v11-12).\u00a0 So God will respond by humbling the arrogant (v15) and sending them into exile (v13).\u00a0 In so doing, God will show His justice and righteousness (v16).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 5:18-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0to those who say, “Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it.”
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Woe 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.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore the\u00a0LORD’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-25:\u00a0 In verses 18-25, the irony of Judah\u2019s sin is that they deceivingly think that sin is so real and that God is such an illusion (v18-19).\u00a0 They call good evil and evil good (v20).\u00a0 They think themselves wise and God foolish (v19, 21).\u00a0 They exalt those who are not worthy of exaltation (v22).\u00a0 They acquit the guilty and condemn the innocent (v23).\u00a0 Because Judah\u2019s rebellion against God is continual, God\u2019s anger burns continually against Judah\u2019s sin (v25).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0\u00a0God loves us intensely and cares for us thoughtfully, but when we turn against Him, His anger against our sin is intense and unrelenting.<\/strong>\u00a0 Notice that even after sinners have perished, God\u2019s anger against Judah\u2019s sin is still not satisfied.\u00a0\u00a0 As verse 25 says, \u201chis anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised\u201d (v25).\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It\u2019s because God\u2019s holiness is that huge and God\u2019s anger against sin is that great.\u00a0 It is only the death of a blameless, spotless lamb that will satisfy God\u2019s wrath.\u00a0 That is where Jesus comes in.\u00a0 If we ourselves died for our own sin, God\u2019s anger would still continue because even our own death could not make up for our sin.\u00a0 But because Jesus is eternal and perfect, His death is able to extinguish God\u2019s wrath completely.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why the death of a perfect lamb \u2013 Jesus Christ on the cross \u2013 is necessary to turn God\u2019s anger away from us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Verses 8-25 shows us that\u00a0when we live in sin it\u2019s like we\u2019re living under a curse;\u00a0<\/strong>we spend our time, our bodies, our money, our lives on things that don\u2019t matter and don\u2019t satisfy, all the while missing the point of our lives.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God that Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection broke the curse of sin on our lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 5:26-30 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal thong is broken.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be darkened by the clouds.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 26-30:\u00a0 Over 100 years before Judah would be carried into exile by Babylon, Isaiah sees a picture from the Lord of this exile taking place.\u00a0 As Isaiah says in verse 13, \u201cTherefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst.\u201d\u00a0 Verses 26-30 vividly describe the nation that will come to ferociously attack Judah one day.<\/p>\n

Father, Your love is real.\u00a0\u00a0 Your holiness is real.\u00a0 And Your anger toward sin is real too.\u00a0 Thank You that only through Jesus\u2019 death on the cross did Your righteous anger turn away from us.\u00a0 I pray that I would never take Your love for granted.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 5:1-30.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 5:1-7 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-7:\u00a0 A masterful communicator, Isaiah takes the message that God has given him and communicates it to the people of Judah in the form of a love song.\u00a0 But this is no ordinary love song.\u00a0 What is the point of this musical parable that Isaiah is singing?\u00a0 As Isaiah explains, the vineyard represents the people of Israel and Judah (v7), and the vineyard owner represents God.\u00a0 The point of Isaiah\u2019s parable is that God had done everything a person in his position could be expected to do to care for his vineyard \u2013 that is, the people of Israel and Judah \u2013 and to make them fruitful.\u00a0 As God says in verse 4, \u201cWhat more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?\u201d Yet the people of Israel and Judah still remained unfruitful, persisting in bloodshed, injustice and idolatry.\u00a0 So God intends to change His approach.\u00a0 Instead of caring so much for His vineyard, He\u2019s going to remove His protecting hand from the vineyard (\u201ctake away its hedge\u2026break down its wall\u201d – v5) and let the vineyard be destroyed (v6).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25137"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25140,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25137\/revisions\/25140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}