Context for Isaiah 5
Isaiah 5 begins with an allegory of Jerusalem as a vineyard tended by God, yet despite His providence and care, it did not produce the fruits of faith. He then goes on to declare woe against the bad fruit the citizens of Jerusalem did produce.
This chapter continues the indictment of Jerusalem and Judah begun in the previous chapters. God is presenting His case for judgment as a last warning to repent.
The allusion of the vineyard is found throughout scripture describing God’s relationship with His people. Vineyards are hard work, requiring constant tending, pruning, and care in order to produce its intended fruit. Such a comparison to God’s relationship to us is a good description, because it reminds us of how much God does for us, even if we do not realize it.
Such an allusion is also a good description of our own relationship with our free gift of faith. Once given, faith cannot just be left to sit, untended and ignored. It must be constantly fed by the watering and nourishment of the Word and Communion, otherwise it withers and dies. That consequence is the very thing that Isaiah 5 warns against. We must constantly submit ourselves to God’s will through faith, or we risk cutting ourselves off.
DLH
