The Vineyard of God
A common metaphor of a vineyard or garden recurs often throughout the Bible. In fact, the word vineyard occurs 104 times in all: 84 times in the Old Testament and 22 times in the New Testament. The closely related word, garden, occurs 63 times bringing the total of these two words to 145 uses in both the Old and New Testaments.
In the book of Isaiah, there are two different parables given for the vineyard of God. The first parable occurs in Isaiah 5:1-7 stating,
Now let me sing to Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
The text begins in a positive way and continues by stating that God has taken great care in planting and tending to His vineyard. He has cleared the ground, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in its midst and also made a winepress. God expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it only brought forth wild grapes. God asks a rhetorical question in verse 4 about what more He could have done in caring for His vineyard, but still it brought forth wild grapes.
The message then becomes that God will take away His hedge of protection and break down its wall and lay it to waste. The Lord tells us in verse 7 that this vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant.
The next passage in Isaiah that speaks of this vineyard of God is found in chapter 27 verses 2-6. The prophet says in verse 2, “In that day, sing to her, a vineyard of red wine.” This vineyard in comparison is productive. Instead of wild-grapes, it is producing good wine. The following verses speak of the Lord’s watch care over His vineyard as He says in verses 3-5:
I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day. Fury is not in me. Who would set briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them. I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.
Notice the Lord’s personal involvement and His careful attention regarding the health and welfare of His vineyard. There is a promise of a solid foundation for those who are kept in this vineyard of God. Verse 6 states that, “Those who come, He will cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.” To take root in Jacob means to have a strong foundation from which to order and grow our lives in the things of God’s Spirit.
In the New Testament when the angel Gabriel was speaking to Mary, he said, “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His Kingdom there will have no end” (Luke 1:33). The foundation and root that we each need to establish in our lives is a faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 proclaims, “For no foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” When He is our anchor, out root, our rock, we have a sure foothold from which to live our lives.