The owner comes looking for fruit in the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7. He didn't send servants too early when the tenants were not ready. God is not expecting us to produce fruit that we are not ready to produce yet. But because of all God has done for his vineyard, whether Israel in the Old Testament or the church in the New Testament, he still expects fruit.

Table of contentsDon't Take God’s Grace for GrantedGod's Grace in My LifeWe Should Examine Our FruitGod Only Needs to Remove His Protection to Discipline UsGod Removed Job's Hedge of ProtectionIsrael's DesolationJesus Expanded on The Song of the VineyardGod Expects Fruit in the Song of the Vineyard and Our LivesThe Right Motivation to Produce Fruit

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The owner comes looking for fruit in the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7. He didn't send servants early when the tenants were not ready.

My dad was always a big fan of working outside. To give you an idea of how much he liked it, I once asked him what he thought would be his favorite job, and he said – and I’m not kidding – “Working on a railroad in the hot sun.” Yes, he said the words, “In the hot sun.” And he didn’t mean inspecting railroad cars. He meant laying down ties to build the track. As a kid, I couldn’t imagine many things that sounded more unpleasant, and I feel pretty much the same as an adult. I thought this was what they made inmates do in prison for punishment.

Because Dad liked working outside so much, it seemed like he was always finding things for us around the house, even if I didn’t think they needed to be done. If I was home on the weekend or during the summer, I had to work outside with Dad. I tried to get a job as soon as possible for two reasons. First, so I could be inside with air-conditioning. Second, so I could get paid.

One thing Dad loved was having a garden. I remember many hours in the backyard on our hands and knees, removing rocks and picking weeds. Dad would come into the house with vegetables he grew and ask us to try them. He was proud that he thought they tasted better than anything we could find at the supermarket.

It didn’t matter to me how good they tasted. I didn’t think they were worth the effort. I couldn’t understand all that hard work for something we could buy at the store for a few dollars. But I think that misses the main reason my dad, and probably others, have a garden: the satisfaction from watching things grow. But what if you planted a garden and it didn’t grow? What if it never produced anything? Worse, what if it produced what it wasn’t supposed to produce? That would be very frustrating, but this is what happened to God. He had a vineyard that produced the wrong kind of fruit, and it is described in the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7:

Isaiah 5:1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2a 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;

Isaiah speaks in the first person and refers to God as “My beloved.” Notice the wonderful advantages the vineyard enjoyed:

It belonged to a loving person: my beloved.

It was planted in a great place: a very fruitful hill.

The ground was carefully prepared: dug and cleared it of stones.

Good plants were used to get it started: choice vines.

It was protected: a watchtower [was] in the midst of it.

Provision was made for the fruit to be processed: a wine vat [was] in it.

My dad would’ve been proud!

1 Corinthians 10:11 These things [in the Old Testament] happened to [Israel] as an example [for us, and], they were written down for our instruction.

So, this account with Israel is an example for us. It’s not a question of whether we should learn from it. It’s a question of what we should learn from it. And there’s much we should learn from it!

Don't Take God’s Grace for Granted

I was challenged by this passage because God showed great care and concern for his vineyard or Israel, and he has shown great care and concern for me. The vineyard enjoyed many wonderful advantages, and I have enjoyed many wonderful advantages.

Because of all this, if the vineyard did not produce good fruit, it reflects the vineyard and not the ground, the owner, or the work that went into it. Similarly, if I do not produce good fruit, it is a reflection of me and not – let’s say – the ground, the owner, or the work that God has done in my life. F.B. Meyer wrote, “It will be seen then…that every soul of man had the chance of becoming a fruitful vineyard; and if it became the reverse, it was due to no failure in either the wisdom or grace of God.”

I was conversing with Rick DeVos, and he shared something that stuck with me and caused me to appreciate God’s grace in my life even more. He was reflecting on his salvation and how blessed he was to be born where and when he was: in the United States, where the gospel is so prevalent, and during this time when there are so many Christian resources available to us. It made me think that I have taken this for granted because so many people today haven’t heard the gospel and don’t even have Bibles available to them.

I think about my conversion and how I was surrounded by Christians, like Elwyn Ordway, at the school where I was teaching. They invited me to their church when my brother passed away. Then, the pastor and his family spiritually adopted me as a son in the faith, like Paul did with Timothy. I look back over every season of my Christian life, and one of God’s other graces is he has always surrounded me with godly men I could look up to and who invested in me.

God's Grace in My Life

Ed Simmons was the pastor of the church I was saved in, and Barry Branaman was the father of some girls I was good friends with. Few people know these names, and both passed away at young ages, but they spent lots of time investing in me, so I will always be very grateful to them. I wish they would have lived long enough to see me become a pastor and hopefully recognize the fruit of their investment. The verse that comes to mind as I think about them is:

Hebrews 11:4 Abel still speaks even though he is dead.

These men still speak through me because of their investment in me.

I don’t want to talk too much about myself. These are just examples of God’s grace in my life or how he has cared for me as part of his vineyard. I want you to appreciate, and hopefully not take for granted, God’s grace in your life or how he has cared for you as part of his vineyard. We can take God’s grace for granted:

2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Paul appealed to the Corinthians not to take God’s grace for granted. Instead, we are called to work with God so his grace is not in vain. Grace isn’t given because of anything we have done or could do. That is what makes it grace or unmerited favor. Grace is given simply because God is gracious. But even though grace isn’t received because of our works, it is given to encourage works. We aren’t to be passive. God gives us grace because there’s work to be done. After all of God’s grace in Israel’s life, he expected fruit or works:

Isaiah 5:2b and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

The Hebrew word for wild is bᵊ'ušîm, meaning “Stinking or worthless things, stinking berries.” I didn’t even know there was such a thing as stink berries, but that’s what the vineyard produced. Adam Clarke said the wild grapes were “Poisonous berries…not merely useless, unprofitable grapes, such as wild grapes; but grapes offensive to the smell, noxious, poisonous.”

We are dealing with something here that is worse than unfruitfulness. These wild grapes, or stink berries, are worse than no grapes at all. Talk about taking God’s grace for granted; the vineyard produced what we would have expected if nothing had been done for it. All the love, care, time, and effort were in vain.

We Should Examine Our Fruit

We use the term “Fruit inspectors” when discussing people’s salvation. We say something like, “I can’t say for sure whether someone is saved, but I can inspect the fruit.” This makes sense because fruit, or works, are one of the clearest evidences of salvation. We are not saved by fruit or works, but if we are saved, there will be fruit or works. Jesus said as much:

Matthew 7:16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

But based on these verses, I wasn’t challenged to examine the fruit in other people’s lives. I was challenged to examine the fruit in my own life. What bad fruit am I producing in my life? How many wild grapes or stink berries are there?

Spurgeon said, “Has it been so with us? Have we rewarded [God] ungratefully for all his pains? Have we given him hardness of heart instead of repentance; unbelief instead of faith; indifference instead of love; idleness instead of holy industry; impurity instead of holiness?”

Isaiah 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

The owner wants to know who is to blame for the harvest of wild grapes. Is it the owner’s fault or the vineyard’s fault? Obviously, a vineyard shouldn’t be blamed for producing the wrong fruit. Farming is a matter of cause and effect. If a vineyard produces the wrong fruit, the owner is blamed for planting the wrong fruit. But that’s the point.