We live in the age of the cloud. With easy access to our digital stuff now seemingly a need, technology companies have developed a vast system that hosts our data, from which we can pull our digital assets without a fuss. 

Some historians say that Paul’s letter to the Galatians brought about the Protestant Reformation, for Martin Luther preached from and wrote about this letter repeatedly, stressing that by faith alone are we justified before God. But as Scot McKnight, a modern biblical commentator, says provocatively, ‘While works do not save us, no one is saved without works’.

As we age, we start to wear down in our bodies, such as needing glasses as our arms seem to grow longer to read the small type, or when our joints wear away and we need them replaced. Other reminders of our perishable bodies arise regularly: indigestion; weariness; things just not working right or as well as they used to. 

In the apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he addresses some areas of their immaturity and sin. One is the number of factions that had cropped up among the believers, with some following one leader and others someone else. Paul wants them to grow up in the Lord; to reach a state of maturity where they can digest solid food, not just milk. 

We might breathe a sigh of relief when we read the hope-filled last chapter of the book of Hosea. As we read for thirteen chapters, we faced the ongoing heartbreak of Hosea and his wife, which symbolises God and His people. A major part of that story is the protracted courtroom scene where God confronts His people with His case against them. 

The prophet Hosea was a living metaphor. The Lord called him to marry an adulterous woman, Gomer, who eventually became a sex worker. Hosea was grieved by her betrayals but took her back into his home, buying her out of slavery. He longed for her wholehearted devotion, just as the Lord longed for the pure worship of His people, who had turned to the false gods of Baal. 

Whereas in Isaiah chapters 5 and 17 the Lord wanted to destroy His vineyard, here we see a different picture. He will rescue His vines, tending them gently; He’ll water and guard them continually. We understand that His anger was for purification and the removal of idols: ‘the full fruit of the removal of his sin’ (v.9). The altars to the false gods will be smashed and the Asherah poles that brought God grief will no longer stand. 

The saying ‘Don’t shoot the messenger’ resonates because people often take out their frustration on the one who delivers a strong message. And Isaiah had more hard words for God’s people. Though they spent their money on the finest plants and imported vines, at the harvest they would only reap rot and pain. No longer could God tolerate their infidelity and hardness of heart. 

We waited and waited in the queue for the loo at the museum, and only when getting to the front did we realise that we’d all been waiting for one stall! Although the other six stalls were empty, no one had bothered to check whether or not they were free. A somewhat similar situation could have occurred with the Israelites and the Arameans, but of course on a much bigger scale. 

When the prophet Isaiah shared a story about a vineyard, God’s people would have been familiar with the effort required to plant a fruitful one – the need to choose the location, to clear the stones and stack them into protective walls, to plant the prized vines. As the Israelites engaged with his story, they would have felt shocked to hear that they were the vine that produced the bad grapes. And that the Lord would therefore destroy this vineyard.