03. The Vineyard
CHAPTER III (b) “ THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD “
“ LET me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard:
“ My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hilltop; he tilled it well and cleared it of stones; and he planted it with red-grape vine. He built a tower in its midst and he also hewed a winevat in it. He kept expecting it to yield grapes and it brought forth bad grapes.
“ And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge ye, I pray, between me and my vineyard. What might be done to my vineyard that I have not done in it f Why, when I looked for it to bear grapes, did it bring forth bad grapes? And now, let me tell you, I pray, what I shall do to my. vineyard. Its hedge will be reduced and it will be laid open to be consumed. Its wall will be breached and trampled down; and I will lay it waste. It shall neither be pruned nor hoed but briar and thorn will grow up and I will command the clouds not to sprinkle rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel and the plant of his delight is the men of Judah: and he looked for judgment, but lo! bloodshed; and for righteousness, but lo! a cry.” Isa 5:1-7. As a narrative of fact the Parable of the Vineyard occupies a high level. The story rings true; it is well-conceived; it holds its listeners and its interpretation is applied directly and minutely. Its rhythm lends support to its appeal and its subject is one which was very popular in Israel. Whether Isaiah was the first to make use of the vineyard as representing the people of God in their relationship to God as the owner of the vineyard is a question which cannot be answered. This story was certainly narrated at a very early date by Isaiah, possibly about 740 B.C, and it resembles very closely the description of the vineyard in Psalm Ixxx with this pronounced difference that whereas the latter describes a destruction which has already fallen upon the vineyard, the former is a prophecy of approaching calamity and devastation. It is probable that the vineyard had long been associated with the thought of Israel and Judah as the planting of the Lord, and that Isaiah was using a familiar symbol which may have been borrowed from older literature or oral traditions.
Regarding the words and interpretation of the parable itself most critics are in agreement.
What differences may appear are easily reconciled and harmonised. The words of introduction to the parable remain uncertain in their meaning, and in so far as they do not seriously affect the parable itself they may safely be left as a field for exploration and research by scholars. Confusion does certainly arise from the Septuagint’s use of the first personal pronoun throughout the story and its interpretation, as also from the doubtful meaning of the Hebrew words translated ’ a song of my beloved ’ in the Authorised Version. By a very slight change in pointing the Hebrew ^”p* 7 (my beloved) may be read “’TPT (my love), but the latter word is usually descriptive of sexual relationship and for that reason may not be considered as applicable in this case where the beloved is revealed to be God. Opposed to this objection there is the claim that a valid meaning can be brought out when we picture the prophet coming before his audience as a minstrel who has a special love-song to sing, a song to which he invites them very specially to give ear. It is equally possible to read into the words ’ a song of my beloved,’ the idea that if the owner of the vineyard should sing this would be his song. In itself the story is very simple, and it uses familiar features in good husbandry. The owner proves himself a good prospector of land.
He selects a location which ought by nature to give good returns to diligent labour a fertile hill-top, or, as the Hebrew text describes it, a horn, the son of oil. Thus it possesses all the advantages of a good lay-out which every modern husbandman cherishes a rich soil, a good exposure to the sun, and ground that has already proved its fatness. He works the soil well by turning it over thoroughly, seeing that it is cleared of stones and well-drained. (For this stage of the preparation the Septuagint version describes how he puts a fence around it and fortifies it). When the ground has been made ready he plants in it the choicest of vines sorek which were distinguished for their red grapes and a wine that was treasured for its excellence. As a safeguard against marauders a watch-tower is erected so that neither may the plants be harmed by prowling animals nor may the fruit be stolen by thieves. It is not enough to have his winepress but he must see that the lower part of the winepress (the wine vat) is carefully constructed by being quarried out of the slope. Into it he hopes one day to see the red wine pour forth from the press above.
Having done all that a good vineyard-owner might do he awaits the fruit of his labours and care only to meet with bitterest disappointment. His well-tended plants bear bad grape word meaning * evil-smelling ’ and the term * wild grapes ’ scarcely defines it sufficiently.
PARABLES OF FACT
1 Bad grapes ’ seems best although the Septuagint uses ’ thorns ’ which may give ’ wildings ’ or 1 weeds.’
Whilst his hearers search in their minds for some explanation of this catastrophe and shew their astonishment by their countenances the singer breaks upon their reverie and wonder to challenge them to tell how such a calamity had followed upon all the industry and precaution of the husbandman. Even as Nathan drew from David his judgment upon the culprit, so here does Isaiah call for an explanation, but ere they can answer he breaks forth with the owner’s decision and at once they observe that his speech and tone have changed. No longer is he the minstrel singing his love-song to delight them at a festive season but he is the man of God who proclaims the judgment of God upon the people who had so grievously requited all His love and mercy towards them. They gradually sense his meaning as the tornado of judgment upon the unprofitable vineyard is uttered. The disappointment has not been so much the economical loss as the want of gratitude and a failure to respond to love and kindness. “ What more might be done that I have not already done in it? “ Therein lies the grief, and because all his labour must be abortive of good results he resolves upon the destruction of the vineyard. He will make an end of it. The shrub fence will be broken down ready for fuel and the vineyard will become a place of desolation. Whilst this judgment is being given it is probable that some of the hearers do not understand its meaning for themselves. Seeing their dullness and want of full comprehension the prophet discards all veiling from his words and proclaims that the vineyard of God is Israel and that the choice vine is Judah. He has finished his song in which he has been mysteriously caught up into the presence of and identified with the person of God.
Now he declares solemnly and regretfully what the song has signified.
Upon Israel as a nation God had most tenderly and thoughtfully exerted the greatest care and manifested every possible provision for their good. Canaan was chosen by Him as a land of promise from which the enemies were driven out. By every good spiritual and moral influence He had striven to protect them and prosper them. This was particularly the case with Judah, within whose borders were Jerusalem and the seat of the Davidic line. Being a prophet in Judah Isaiah regards his country as the special planting or choice vine of the Lord. Yet, just as the parable indicates that no amount of expense and labour can possibly overcome some inherent defect in the soil of the vineyard so now it is revealed that God’s disappointment lies in the failure of His people to shew justice and righteousness in their lives. Despite all the protection and safeguards afforded them, likewise all the encouragement and rich blessings extended them, there have issued lawlessness and oppression where peace and love should have prevailed. The delightful play upon words which appears in the Hebrew text of the closing sentence is lost in our English translation. Even written in an English form the assonance and charm are felt:
“ He looked for mispat and lo! mispah, for zedhakah and lo! zeakah.” The contrast is brought home realistically and there can be no evasion of its thrust. The evils which are described in the remaining portion of the chapter (Isa. v.) shed light upon the extent of sin and unrighteousness among the people.
All moral restraint had been loosened, religious privileges had been abused, despised and neglected, and from many souls a cry or shriek of despair and suffering was heard. A suggestion is therefore made that no remedy can be found except to make an end of all since every other effort had been futile.
God’s messengers might relate a similar parable in modern times. To do so might necessitate courage even greater and stronger than was Isaiah’s. In so far as the influence of Christianity has affected nations we have evidences of the great vineyard of the Lord. It is no ordinary coincidence that Jesus speaks in parables of the vineyard and that in His narration of the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Mark xii. i-io) His words descriptive of the creation and defence of the vineyard itself are, in the Greek New Testament, almost strictly identical with those of the Greek in the Septuagint version of this Old Testament parable.
Jesus has no need to interpret the parables of the Wicked Husbandmen, the Barren Fig-Tree (Luk 13:6-9), or the Vine and Its Branches (John 15:1-8). We read that after Jesus concluded the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen saying: “ The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner “ there was fierce anger “ for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them.”
YESTERDAY’S CONSTRUCTION When we consider the Construction of God’s Vineyard of Yesterday in its effects upon our world and our lives, we recall the many hopes and dreams of humanity for a day of happiness and mutual helpfulness. By various means God has surrounded His people with the sunshine of Christian graces, gifts and helps which have tended and promised to enrich life in all its aspects and to bear a rich harvest of good fruit. The vineyard is representative in our day of Christian civilization throughout the world, and we must remember the labour which has been expended upon giving that vineyard to the nations. What more could God have done for the vineyard than He has done? Jesus gave His life and laid the foundation of the Kingdom of God. God has richly endowed nations and individuals with power to extend that Kingdom, and has given them blessings and privileges which were expected to bear fruit. Isaiah’s description of God’s goodness to his own nation might with profit be applied to the history of several nations such as our own. There have been occasions when God’s hand seemed to be guiding the affairs of our people in no uncertain way, and we have good reason to believe that we, too, have been a chosen people, but we should ask ourselves ’ chosen for what? ’
Under the Christian dispensation a new people has arisen representative of all nations who have come to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord. They are the choice plant from which so much is expected. They are of the body of Christ who said, “ I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” From the Christian Church and from those who are bound to Him either in membership of that Church or by reason of their Christian heritage through receiving boundless mercies and opportunities, God has looked to see good fruit in beautiful lives, in noble spirits, in loving service and in sympathetic endeavour to sweeten and hallow all life around by raising the fallen and easing the burden of the oppressed. The test of national and personal response to God lies in the degree of our production of fruit for God.
TO-DAY’S PRODUCTION
Whereas there are many proofs of the careful construction and preparation of the vineyard, there is also evidence of failure to produce fruit commensurate with the labour expended. We consider the production, and we behold how some of the favoured nations have not borne the fruit they ought to have produced. That the standards for testing productivity vary according to opportunity and circumstances must be admitted: for example, whilst we recognise how highly favoured Spain was in the Middle Ages and how she pioneered across the seas carrying her civilization to other nations, yet we cannot view with approbation her decline from her high estate. We are convinced that she could have produced more and better fruit.
Similarly, in respect of our own nation we cannot be proud of the results of our history when we consider how rich have been our opportunities.
Alike in our international, national, social and religious life, we are but a remnant of what God expected us to be. “ There are the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.” A national departure from religious standards and a wave of irreligion are features common to the life of several nations in modern times.
Nations are losing the virtue and sanctity of Christian home life. The ’ New Morality ’ is a serious peril to Christian Morality as it tends to extend licence and sin, its fruits being crippled lives associated with sorrow and suffering. The failure to find harmony among the nations which profess to be Christian and to pursue the way of peace and brotherhood is in itself a rebuke of national pride and selfishness. We have reason to be proud of what has been accomplished in God’s name, but we have also to confess that in many ways we are a disappointment to Him because we have not produced for His glory the purest, sweetest and noblest fruits. Everywhere are the oppressions of a merciless and remorseless social organisation; the cry of the poor, the outcast and defeated is heard amidst all the noises of modern machinery; and tariff conflicts between nations threaten them with evils as grave as those from armaments.
Within these nations we look in vain for the evidence that the Church reflects clearly the glory and power of Christ. She is hesitant, and her voice is indistinct. We wonder what will be the issue of it all, and we turn to consider the parable’s warning.
TO-MORROW’S DESTRUCTION In our parable ’ to-morrow ’ sees the destruction and devastation of the vineyard. It is left derelict, and so it must ever be where God is forsaken and His love and provision are despised.
Down the centuries we hear the prophet’s cry of doom to every such fruitless planting. Great nations and empires have passed away, and in some instances their glory is but a faded memory.
Such is the warning which is written large over the pages of Israel’s history as clearly as over the history of Greece and Rome. Neglect of opportunity to bear good fruit for mankind, departure from the highest standards of virtue, and the enthronement of false gods, lead inevitably to desolation and gloom. No nation can afford to slight the privileges which God has given. The Church dare not be disobedient to her heavenly vision; and the individual Christian must never be unmindful of the words, “ By their fruits ye shall know them.”
Sin’s harvest cannot be evaded, but the Gospel message proclaims the love of God which seeks us, saves us, renews us, and restores to us the locust-eaten years. It tells us that apart from Jesus we cannot bear fruit “He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.”