What Is The Vineyard In The
Bible?
Very frequently, the Bible compares Israel to a vine or a
vineyard.
Psalm 80:8-15
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the mighty cedars with its boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to the Sea,
And her branches to the River.
12 Why have You broken down her hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
Isaiah 5:1-7
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also made a winepress in it;
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it waste;
It shall not be pruned or dug,
But there shall come up briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is
the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
Israel was and still is God’s vineyard. He had brought the vine
out of Egypt, out of slavery and oppression. He delivered the whole
nation and brought them to the Promised Land.
The Lord planted the vine on a hill with very rich soil. He dug and
cleared the field of stones. He planted the best grapevines there.
And He built a tower in the middle of it. He cut out a winepress as
well. He desired that good grapes would grow there. But only bad grapes
grew.
The Lord had done great and wonderful things for His vineyard. What
more could He do? He did everything He could. He hoped for good
grapes to grow. But why were there only bad grapes?
And the Lord had to do something to His own vineyard. He would
remove the hedge, and it would be burned. He would break down the
stone wall, and it would be walked on. He would ruin His own field.
It would not be trimmed or cultivated. Weeds and thorns would grow
there. He would command the clouds not to rain on it.
The vineyard which belonged to the Lord was and still is the nation
of Israel. The garden that the Lord loved was the people of Judah. The
Lord looked for justice, but there was only injustice and
oppression. The Lord hoped for righteous and joyous living, but
there were only cries of pain and anguish.
Why did the vineyard produce bad grapes? The main cause is the
vinedressers.
Matthew 21:33-44
The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers
33 “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who
planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a
winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers
and went into a far country.
34 Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the
vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.
35 And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and
stoned another.
36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did
likewise to them.
37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will
respect my son.’
38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among
themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his
inheritance.’
39 So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do
to those vinedressers?”
41 They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably,
and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him
the fruits in their seasons.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from
you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.
44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever
it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
After cleansing the Temple, Jesus shared the story of a vineyard
to some religious leaders including the chief priests and the
elders of Israel. And they knew what and who He was referring to.
There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the
vineyard and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He
leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip.
Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his
servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. But the
farmers grabbed the servants, beat one, killed another, and then
killed a third servant with stones.
So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more
servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same
thing to the servants that they had done before.
So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The
farmers will respect my son.’ But when the farmers saw the son, they
said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be
his. If we kill him, then his vineyard will be ours!’ So the farmers
grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
Jesus asked them, "So what will the owner of the vineyard do to
these farmers when he comes?"
The religious priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those
evil men. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers.
They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures
(Psalm 118:22-23), 'The stone that the builders did not want became
the cornerstone. The Lord did this, and it is wonderful to us.'"
The Lord also told them, “So I tell you that the kingdom of God will be
taken away from you. It will be given to people who do the things
God wants in His kingdom. The person who falls on this stone will be
broken. But if the stone falls on him, he will be crushed.”
The kingdom of God has basically three important attributes:
1. The King who reigns and rules over the kingdom
2. The laws and regulations to run the kingdom and keep the
kingdom safe and sound
3. The citizens who love their King and abide by His laws
The King loves His people. He protects them by giving them laws
that will regulate and free them to live peacefully, joyfully and
lovingly in His kingdom. And His laws are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
And His commandments are not burdensome.
Only those who embrace
His laws will love to do what the King desires, and they will be
able to live and move freely in the Kingdom. But the lawless ones
will twist and turn His laws, and do whatever is right in their own
eyes. They will transgress against the King, and face the
punishments.
The vinedressers represent the civil and religious leaders of Israel
and Judah. They were given the awesome duty to guide and guard the
nation to do and live righteously. However, they were corrupted and wicked in their
doings and dealings.
God planted the vineyard, leaving it to the care of some husbandmen or
managers. But they did evil things in His vineyard. God sent His
servants or prophets with His timely messages to tell the vinedressers. But they did not
listen.
They grabbed His servants, beat some, and killed others by stoning them to
death.
God finally sent His only Son. And they rejected Him, and nailed Him to
death on a cross.
The wicked vinedressers were the religious, civil and spiritual
leaders. The vineyard being leased to them represents that it is for their
temporary possession, and they have a great responsibility to take
good care of it.
The true Landowner is God. He had planted a hedge such as His laws
with all their ordinances around the vineyard to protect it from
outside attacks and contaminations. He was keeping Israel holy,
to be separated from other nations for His special purpose. He also built
a strong tower within the vineyard. This tower represents God's watchful
oversight of the nation.
And the Lord still watched over His people day and night. He is
forever faithful. The vineyard was producing bad grapes. And even now it
seems to be doing the same. But will the vineyard produce good grapes again?
Definitely yes!
Psalm 80:14-19
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
The Lord still cares for His vineyard. He will take good care of
the vine that He had planted with His own hands. Though they had
rebelled against Him, forsaking His ways and laws, He remains
faithful and merciful. He is still gracious towards them.
Though the vine is cut down and burned with fire, it is not yet game
over. When His people return to Him, they will not be
turned away. The Lord will give them life again, resurrecting and
reviving them when they call upon Him for help again. He will show His
grace and mercy so that they can be saved.
John 15:7-8
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will
ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so
you will be My disciples.
Age to age, the Lord is the same. His love never fails. Like
Israel, when we live and move within His hedge of protection, and do
what He requires of us, we will be fruitful and will produce good
grapes! If we continue to abide in Him and His words abide in us, we
will bear much fruit! And we will truly be His disciples!
But if we go against His divine rules and regulations, we will not
do well. If we use and employ our own human standards and methods
instead of which is written in His Word, we will also not do well.
If we move out of His hedge of protection and venture beyond those
divine limits and jurisdictions, we will get ourselves into unnecessary troubles and
dangers. If we choose to live our life the same way that the world
does instead of the abundant life that God desires us to live, we
will eventually come to face the consequences of our decisions!
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
The righteous run to it and are safe.
If we have done badly, we need to run to Him. He is still our
strong Tower! Let us not tarry any longer and return to Him today.
Psalm 121:4
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Praise God that He still watches over them and us. Day and night.
24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Neither slumber nor sleep.
Written on 10 September 2023