2013_1120, Church in the home Wednesday evenings,
Isaiah Chapter 5, 2014_1120
Isaiah 5
Expanded
Bible (EXB)
Israel, the Lord’s Vineyard
1 Now I will sing for my friend [or beloved] a
song about his vineyard [Israel is the vineyard and God is its owner] My friend [or beloved] had a
vineyard on a hill with very rich soil [fertile hillside].
“My friend” is the Lord God, yes, Isaiah was singing a song to God. “On
a hill with very rich soil” the Hebrew word for “hill” is “Keren” which is always (75 itmes – Bulinger) translated “horn”,
and “very fruitful” can be translated
“Oil’s son” (Bullinger) or “son of oil” (Bible Professor).
2 He dug
[or fenced it] and cleared the field of stones
and planted the best grapevines there. He built a tower [watchtower; for
protection] in the middle of it and cut [carved] out a winepress as well [symbolizing God’s
protection of Israel]. He
hoped [expected; looked to see if] good grapes would grow there, but only bad
ones grew [it produced only wild/sour grapes].
How come when God does his best for the
vineyard, that it still produced only bad grapes? This is love, this is the
open view of God clearly depicted. God fully expected the vineyard to produce
good grapes and acted accordingly, preparing it meticulously. So what happened?
The fig tree symbolises Israel’s national
privileges
The olive tree symbolises Israel’s
religious privileges
The vine tree symbolises spiritual
privileges. (Bullinger)
Bullinger says winepress is a wine vat,
i.e. Heb. Yekeb. But there was no wine
to put into it.
3 [ The
vineyard owner now speaks:] “You people living in [residents/citizens of] Jerusalem,
and you people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard [the
scene changes from a love song to a courtroom indictment].
A sudden change in mood.
4 What more
could I have done for my vineyard than I
have already done? Although I expected [waited/looked for] good grapes to
grow, why were there [did it produce]
only bad [sour; wild] ones?
God expected good grapes to grow. God is ever positive, ever hopeful, ever
believing in his people. This is no different today. God pours out blessings on
us daily, and is genuinely surprised when people reject Him, not only that, but
turn around and bite the hand that feeds, actively working against God and His
purposes.
5 Now I
will tell you what I will do to my
vineyard: I will remove the hedge, and
it will be burned [be purged/destroyed; or become a pasture]. I will break down
the stone wall, and it will be walked
[trampled; referring to the Assyrian conquest in 722 bc].
God’s reaction to the bad grapes.
6 I will
ruin my field [make it a wasteland; leave it untended]. It will not be trimmed
[pruned] or hoed, and weeds [briers] and thorns will grow there. I will command
the clouds not to rain on it.”
Ok, Clear.
7 [ For;
Because] The vineyard belonging to the Lord All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s
Armies; of hosts] is
the nation [house] of Israel; and the people of Judah are the garden [vines;
plants] that he loves [delights in]. He looked for justice, but there was
[look; behold] only killing [bloodshed; or oppression; injustice; the
Hebrew words for “justice” and “killing” sound alike]. He hoped
for right living [righteousness], but there were [look; behold] only cries of
pain [cries of distress; or an outrcy; the Hebrew words
for “righteousness” and “cries of pain” sound alike].
V 7 states clearly, in case it was not
clear enough already, , namely the vineyard is the nation of Israel. The people
of Judah are the vines., the bad grapes are the killings, oppression,
injustice, cries of pain.
8 How
terrible (1st
woe) it will be for [ Woe to]
you who add more houses
to your houses and more fields to your fields [accumulating
wealth at the expense of others, in violation of God’s command that tribal
allotments be permanent; Lev. 25:23]until there is no room left for other people [no space is left]. Then you are left alone in the land.
Those who stole property, who made people homeless, took land unlawfully
and made it their own, will have to pay at some time.
9 The Lord
All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; of hosts] said
this to me [in my ears]:
“The fine
[The great; or Many] houses will be destroyed [become desolate]; the large and
beautiful houses will be left empty [of inhabitants].
The payment is destruction of the fine
houses, and they will be left empty, uninhabited.
10 At that
time a ten-acre [ten-yoke; unknown
measurement, though clearly a large area] vineyard will make only six gallons
[one bath] of wine, and
ten bushels [a homer] of seed will grow only one bushel [an ephah; one
tenth of a homer] of grain.”
Low yielding land and crops indeed.
11 How
terrible (2nd woe) it will be for
people [ Woe to those] who rise early in the morning to look for [run after; pursue] strong drink
[or beer; alcoholic beverage made from grain], who stay awake late at night [linger
into twilight], becoming drunk [inflamed] with wine.
How terrible it will be , also used in
verse 8 , unbridled partying has it’s downside.
12 At their
parties [banquets; feasts] they have lyres, harps, tambourines, flutes, and
wine. They don’t see [or have no regard for] what the Lord has done or notice
[see; comprehend] the work of his hands.
Parties are intrinsically good as long as the they are to celebrate the
and praise the Lord God and the Lord Jesus Christ. These parties were
absolutely not in honour of the Lord God. Ltes not be too prudish here, God
wants his people to have fun, have parties, enjoy life, but there comes a point
when the party becomes bigger than God and Jesus, when the consequences of the
party, (drunkenness, loss of self control, hijacking of the party event by
those who would pervert God’s way)
13 So my
people will be captured and taken away [be deported; go into exile/captivity],
because they don’t really know me [or lack understanding] All the great people
[Their nobles/men of honor] will die of hunger, and the common people
[multitudes; masses] will die of [or will be parched with] thirst.
This does not sound like a very plausible reason for being captured, and
to be taken away into exile, because the people did not really know
God! What does Hosea say, “My
people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” Hosea 4:6. Even the wealthy
(even those made so on the backs of the poor) will die of hunger.
14 So the
place of the dead [or the grave; Sheol] wants more
and more people [opens wide/enlarges its throat], and it opens wide its mouth. Jerusalem’s [Her] important
people [nobility] and common people [multitude; masses] will go down into it, with their happy and noisy ones
[noisy revellers; drunken mob].
The KJV says “Hell has enlarged herself”, but the Exp and others
correctly use Sheol, = the place of the dead, or gravedom. What imagery,
gravedom opening her mouth wide, the Adversary’s lie of “thou shalt not surely
die” (Genesis) is shown to be exactly tha, a lie.
15 People
[Humanity] will be humbled, everyone [each person; mankind] will be brought
down;
those who are [the eyes of the]
proud [haughty] will be humbled.
“People”, is also translated as, the
masses, (complete Jewish Bible) humankind, (Lexham) the mean man (KJV),
16 The Lord
All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; of hosts] (But Yahweh of
Host, http://bibleprofessor.com/files/Isaiah.pdfs)
will receive glory [be exalted] by judging fairly [his justice]; the holy God (The
mighty God that is holy, ‘El with article http://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/OT/Isaiah.pdf)
will show himself holy by doing what is right [righteousness].
How we, God’s people will share in glory if we judge fairly and do what
is right?
1 Peter 5:1
[ To the Elders and the Flock ] To the elders among you, I appeal as a
fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the
glory to be revealed:
1 Peter 5:4
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory
that will never fade away.
1 Thessalonians 2:12
encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who
calls you into his kingdom and glory.
2 Thessalonians 2:14
He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:43
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness,
it is raised in power;
NIV
17 Then the
sheep [or lambs] will go anywhere they want [feed as if in
their pasture], and
lambs [or strangers; foreigners] will feed on the land that rich people once
owned [among the ruins of the rich].
18 How
terrible (3rd
woe) it will be for [Woe to] those
people! They pull their guilt (iniquity acc. Bullinger, ‘avon, heb = perverseness from the root to be bent or crooked) and sins (chata, heb, acc to Bullinger, = to miss the mark, to stumble and fall) behind them as people pull wagons with ropes [wickedness
with the ropes of emptiness and sin with cart ropes].
Cart loads of sin, According to
Bullinger, http://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/OT/Isaiah.pdf
19 They
say, “Let God hurry; let him do his work
soon [quickly] so we may see it. Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel [1:4]
happen soon [approach and draw near] so that we will know what it is.”
The impatience of the mockers and scoffers, they say, Why doesn’t God do
a miracle here, right now, while I am here watching, so I can see with my own
eyes, and … and if He does, then I may
still not believe !!!
20 How
terrible it will be for people [Woe to those (4th
woe)] who call good things bad and bad things good [evil good and good evil], who think darkness is [or make
darkness] light and light is [or make
light] darkness, who think sour is [or turn sour/bitter to] sweet and sweet is sour [or to sour/bitter].
21 How
terrible it will be for people [Woe to those (5th
woe) ] who think they are wise [are wise in their own eyes; Prov. 3:7;
26:12; 27:1; 28:11, 26] and
believe they are clever [clever/understanding in front of themselves].
Wise in their own eyes is a well known
and understood figure of speech, Bullinger translates “eyes” as being
“face”, thus is a Fig. Metonmy (of Subject)
“face” being put for themselves or their own view of matters) http://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/OT/Isaiah.pdf
22 How
terrible it will be for people [Woe to those (6th woe) ] who
are famous for [heroes/champions at] drinking wine and are champions [valiant
men] at mixing drinks [beer; v. 11].
The sixth woe mockingly berates Judah’s corrupted courage. They were
heroes at consuming wine, but they had no moral courage to champion the cause
of the innocent. http://bibleprofessor.com/files/Isaiah.pdf
23 They
take money [a bribe] to set the guilty free [acquit the wicked] and don’t allow
good people to be judged fairly [deny justice/righteousness to the
innocent/righteous].
Bible professor says that there is an implied “woe” in V. 23. “Woe to
those who take money….”
20 Bible Verses About Justice
Leviticus 19:15
'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or
favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
Deuteronomy 16:20
Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the
land the LORD your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 27:19
"Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the
fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
Job 37:23
The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice
and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
Psalm 33:5
The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his
unfailing love.
Psalm 106:3
Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
Psalm 140:12
I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause
of the needy.
Proverbs 28:5
Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD
understand it fully.
Proverbs 29:7
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no
such concern.
Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the
cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive
decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the
oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
Isaiah 30:18
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you
compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
Isaiah 51:4-5
"Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The law will go out
from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws
near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the
nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm.
Isaiah 61:8
"For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my
faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Ezekiel 34:15-16
I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the
Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will
bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I
will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require
of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Zechariah 7:9
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice;
show mercy and compassion to one another.
Matthew 12:18
Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I
delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the
nations.
Matthew 23:23
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the
more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should
have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Luke 11:42
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint,
rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love
of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former
undone."
Acts 17:30-32
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all
people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world
with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men
by raising him from the dead."
Justice is Care for the Vulnerable
The Hebrew word for “justice,” mishpat, occurs in its various forms more
than 200 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. Its most basic meaning is to treat
people equitably. It means acquitting or punishing every person on the merits
of the case, regardless of race or social status. Anyone who does the same
wrong should be given the same penalty.
MISHPAT, THEN, IS GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY ARE DUE, WHETHER PUNISHMENT OR
PROTECTION OR CARE.
But mishpat means more than just the punishment of wrongdoing. It also
means giving people their rights. Deuteronomy 18 directs that the priests of
the tabernacle should be supported by a certain percentage of the people’s
income. This support is described as “the priests’ mishpat,” which means their
due or their right. Mishpat, then, is giving people what they are due, whether
punishment or protection or care.
Read the rest of the article below…..
http://bibleprofessor.com/files/Isaiah.pdf
calls this (V24) the 1st Judgment
picture.
24 [Therefore]
They will be destroyed
just as fire, tongues of fire] burns [devours] straw
and dry grass is consumed by [sinks in the] flames. They will be destroyed like a plant whose roots rot and whose flower
dies and blows away like dust. They have refused to obey [rejected; spurned]
the teachings [law; Torah] of the Lord All-Powerful [Almighty; of
Heaven’s Armies; of
hosts (Yehweh of Hosts, acc. to Bible
professor) ] and
have hated [despised] the message from the Holy One of Israel [1:4].
http://bibleprofessor.com/files/Isaiah.pdf
calls this (V25) the 2nd Judgment
picture.
25 So the
Lord has become very angry with [Lord’s anger burns against] his people, and he has raised [extends;
stretches out] his hand to punish [strike] them. Even the mountains are
frightened [shake; tremble]. Dead bodies [Corpses] lie in the streets like
garbage. But the Lord is still angry [In all this, his anger is not turned away]; his hand is still raised [extended;
stretched out] to strike down the people.
The open view of God would
content that the LORD’s anger is not
figurative, or anthropomorphic, but is real anger.
http://bibleprofessor.com/files/Isaiah.pdf
calls this (V26-V29) the 3rd Judgment
picture.
26 He
raises a banner [standard; signal flag] for the nations far away. He whistles
to call those people from the ends of the earth. Look [Behold]! The enemy
comes quickly [swiftly; with great speed]!
The signal
flag will act as a locator for the enemy armies to assemble, from the ends of the earth signifies
armies from afar,
27 Not one
of them becomes tired or falls down [stumbles].
Not one of them gets sleepy [slumbers] and falls asleep. Their weapons
are close at hand [No belt is loosened], and their sandal straps are not broken.
The enemy is motivated to attack, they are blood thirsty. What
motivation, what provocation does the adversary, the Devil need to attack us? He and his demons never tire of perverting
God’s plans for his people, for the environment, for justice, for good, for
loving people’s endeavors, for peace, for good health.
28 Their
arrows are sharp, and all of their bows are ready to shoot. The horses’ hoofs are
hard as rocks [or make sparks like flint], and their chariot wheels move like a
whirlwind [wind storm].
29 Their shout
is like the roar of [roar is like] a lion; it is loud [L roars]
like a young lion. They
growl as they grab their captives [prey]. They carry it off and no one can save
[rescue] it.
This imagery is very real. Many good people have been carried away and
an mortal life in God and Jesus Christ
has been stolen from them, even everlasting life, immortality has been snatched
from under their very noses. How painful for them and God and fellow believers
who feel for them.
http://bibleprofessor.com/files/Isaiah.pdf
calls this (V30) the 4th Judgment
picture.
30 On that
day they will roar [over it] like the waves [roaring] of the sea. And ·when [if] people look at the land, they
will see only darkness and pain [distress]; all light will become dark in this
thick cloud [or because of clouds].
Expanded
Bible (EXB)
In the fourth picture, Judah is compared to a storm-tossed ship. The
growl of the lion brings to Isaiah’s mind the roar of the sea. Judah is like a
battered ship whose crew is searching for a safe landing spot. No matter in
which direction the leaders look there is only darkness and distress, i.e., no
hopeful prospect can be seen. http://bibleprofessor.com/files/Isaiah.pdf
*
Justice is Care for the Vulnerable
The Hebrew word for “justice,” mishpat, occurs in its various forms more
than 200 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. Its most basic meaning is to treat
people equitably. It means acquitting or punishing every person on the merits
of the case, regardless of race or social status. Anyone who does the same
wrong should be given the same penalty.
MISHPAT, THEN, IS GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY ARE DUE, WHETHER PUNISHMENT OR
PROTECTION OR CARE.
But mishpat means more than just the punishment of wrongdoing. It also
means giving people their rights. Deuteronomy 18 directs that the priests of
the tabernacle should be supported by a certain percentage of the people’s
income. This support is described as “the priests’ mishpat,” which means their
due or their right. Mishpat, then, is giving people what they are due, whether
punishment or protection or care.
This is why, if you look at every place the word is used in the Old
Testament, several classes of persons continually come up. Over and over again,
mishpat describes taking up the care and cause of widows, orphans, immigrants
and the poor—those who have been called “the quartet of the vulnerable.”
In premodern, agrarian societies, these four groups had no social power.
They lived at subsistence level and were only days from starvation if there was
any famine, invasion or even minor social unrest. Today, this quartet would be
expanded to include the refugee, the migrant worker, the homeless and many
single parents and elderly people.
The mishpat, or justness, of a society, according to the Bible, is
evaluated by how it treats these groups. Any neglect shown to the needs of the
members of this quartet is not called merely a lack of mercy or charity but a
violation of justice, of mishpat. God loves and defends those with the least
economic and social power, and so should we. That is what it means to “do
justice.”
Justice Reflects the Character of God
Why should we be concerned about the vulnerable ones? It is because God
is concerned about them. It is striking to see how often God is introduced as
the defender of these vulnerable groups.
Don’t miss the significance of this. When people ask me, “How do you
want to be introduced?” I usually propose they say, “This is Tim Keller,
minister at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.” Of course, I am
many other things, but that is the main thing I spend my time doing in public
life.
Realize, then, how significant it is that the biblical writers introduce
God as “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows” (Psalm 68:4-5). This
is one of the main things He does in the world. He identifies with the
powerless. He takes up their cause.
Justice is Right Relationships
We must have a strong concern for the poor, but there is more to the
biblical idea of justice than that. We get more insight when we consider a
second Hebrew word that can be translated as “being just,” though it usually
translated as “being righteous.” The word is tzadeqah, and it refers to a life
of right relationships.
When most modern people see the word “righteousness” in the Bible, they
tend to think of it in terms of private morality, such as sexual chastity or
diligence in prayer and Bible study. But in the Bible, tzadeqah refers to
day-to-day living in which a person conducts all relationships in family and
society with fairness, generosity and equity. It is not surprising, then, to
discover that tzadeqah and mishpat are brought together scores of times in the
Bible.
These two words roughly correspond to what some have called “primary”
and “rectifying justice.” Rectifying justice is mishpat. It means punishing
wrongdoers and caring for the victims of unjust treatment. Primary justice, or
tzadeqah, is behavior that, if it was prevalent in the world, would render
rectifying justice unnecessary, because everyone would be living in right
relationship to everyone else. Therefore, though tzadeqah is primarily about
being in a right relationship with God, the righteous life that results is
profoundly social.
PRIMARY JUSTICE, OR TZADEQAH, IS BEHAVIOR THAT, IF IT WAS PREVALENT IN
THE WORLD, WOULD RENDER RECTIFYING JUSTICE UNNECESSARY, BECAUSE EVERYONE WOULD
BE LIVING IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP TO EVERYONE ELSE.
Rectifying justice, or mishpat, in our world could mean prosecuting the
men who batter, exploit and rob poor women. It could also mean respectfully
putting pressure on a local police department until they respond to calls and
crimes as quickly in the poor part of town as in the prosperous part. Another
example would be to form an organization that both prosecutes and seeks justice
against loan companies that prey on the poor and the elderly with dishonest and
exploitive practices.
Primary justice, or tzadeqah, may mean taking the time personally to
meet the needs of the handicapped, the elderly or the hungry in our
neighborhoods. Or it could mean the establishment of new nonprofits to serve
the interests of these classes of persons. It could also mean a group of
families from the more prosperous side of town adopting the public school in a
poor community and making generous donations of money and pro bono work in
order to improve the quality of education there.
When these two words, tzadeqah and mishpat, are tied together, as they
are over three dozen times, the English expression that best conveys the
meaning is “social justice.”
Justice includes Generosity
Many readers may be asking at this point why we are calling private
giving to the poor “justice.” Some Christians believe that justice is strictly
mishpat—the punishment of wrongdoing, period. This does not mean they think
believers should be indifferent to the plight of the poor, but they would
insist that helping the needy through generous giving should be called mercy,
compassion or charity—not justice.
In English, however, the word “charity” conveys a good but optional
activity. Charity cannot be a requirement, for then it would not be charity.
But this view does not fit in with the strength or balance of the biblical
teaching.
In the Scripture, gifts to the poor are called “acts of righteousness,”
as in Matthew 6:1-2. Not giving generously, then, is not stinginess but
unrighteousness, a violation of God’s law. In the book of Job, we see Job call
every failure to help the poor a sin, offensive to God’s splendor (Job 31:23)
and deserving of judgment and punishment (v. 28). Remarkably, Job is asserting that
it would be a sin against God to think of his goods as belonging to himself
alone. To not “share his bread” and his assets with the poor would be
unrighteous, a sin against God, and therefore by definition a violation of
God’s justice.
Despite the effort to draw a line between “justice” as legal fairness
and sharing as “charity,” numerous Scripture passages make radical generosity
one of the marks of living justly. The just person lives a life of honesty,
equity and generosity in every aspect of his or her life.
If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the
concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice when we give all
human beings their due as creations of God. Doing justice includes not only the
righting of wrongs but generosity and social concern, especially toward the
poor and vulnerable.
Reprinted from: Generous Justice by Timothy Keller, Riverhead Books a
member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
Neil J
Bourke
