What Kind Of Grapes Do You Bear?
Isaiah 2-5
I was reading in one of the commentaries that there are interesting parallels between the Book of Isaiah and the Bible as a whole. The Bible has 66 Books and Isaiah has 66 chapters. The first 39 books of the Bible are the Old Testament and there are 39 chapters that cover Law and the government of God. The New Testament is made up of 27 books and Isaiah has 27 books covering grace and salvation of God. I’ll be checking on the accuracy of this comparison as I read this book I suspect.
Anyway, I have to keep reminding myself of what I have intended to do with this blog from day one. As I read I get excited and I want to study and comment on everything. While this would be good for me, I know none of you would care to sit through that let alone have time to do so even if you were so inclined. Of course, there are many fine commentaries written by great Bible scholars that have already done the work and far better than I could ever dream. No, my intention from the beginning was to take what God laid on my heart and write about it. As much as I would like to delve into the history and prophecy of this wonderful book I must accept my role and proceed.
As I read Isaiah today I found my emotions wafting a bit from joy to dread. As I considered the dread, however, it faded away to deep concern for the lost. You see, as Isaiah tells us of the blessings to come for those who are His, my heart is filled with joy and expectation. As I read about the agony to come for those who are not His, the dread began to rise. As I thought about the cause of my dread, however, it fled, for I am a child of the Living God and have nothing to fear. The agonies that lay ahead for the lost are not for me. My heart remains heavy, however, for the lost. I am safe but they are condemned.
A horrible image came to my mind as I thought about the lost described in today’s reading. I know friends, family, and co-workers who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In my mind I saw that day when I will stand with Christ in a robe washed white by His blood. I looked across the great divide toward those whose robes were filthy and I saw the faces of those who were my friends, who were my family, who were my co-workers. They looked me in the eye and with great anguish in their voice they cried out “Why did you not care enough to warn me?”
I shudder to think of it. I realize the reality will be different. There will be no innocent people on the other side. They all will have been given every opportunity to be saved. Still, that is God’s business. My business is the job He gave me. He loved me enough to die for me. He took my punishment so I would not have to fear the great divide. Having saved me He has not asked me to die for Him but to live for Him. He has instructed me to make disciples of others, teaching them to observe all that He has commanded. He has commanded the same of you.
Isaiah 5:1-2
“Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.”
Isaiah 5 begins with an allegory of Israel, God’s chosen people, as a vineyard. As Christians we are God’s chosen people as well, and I see a message in this allegory for you and me today. You are Christ’s vineyard and He has indeed planted you on a very fertile hill. He has cleared you of your stones, your sin, and He has planted within you with His Holy Spirit. He is looking to you to yield grapes. Will He find those grapes He planted in you or will He find those worthless wild grapes?
Isaiah 5:3-4
“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?”
Christ died on the cross for you. He washed you of your sins. He planted His Holy Spirit within you and wrote your name in the Book of Life. What more is there to do for you that He has not already done? What more is needed to produce good fruit in you? Are you yielding the grapes your Master intended or are you yielding grapes of wrath?
Brothers, if you have accepted Christ, you have nothing to fear. If you have accepted Christ, He is building in you a desire to bear a bountiful harvest by sharing the Gospel with a lost and dying world. I am not motivated to do what my Savior has asked of me out of fear; my place in heaven is secured. I am motivated to do what my Savior has asked of me out of love. Love for my Savior and love for those whom He loves; my friends, my family, my co-workers and all the rest. How about you?
May your day bear beautiful, luscious grapes!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
