THE LESSON OF THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD

ISAIAH 5:1–7

The destruction and devastation of the Promised Land by the Assyrians raised a troubling question. Why had all this happened? The answer came to the descendants of Abraham from prophets of the Lord like Isaiah. One powerful piece of poetry in Isaiah includes a word picture drawn from everyday life in the Promised Land: the Song of the Vineyard (Isa. 5:1–7). We can better appreciate its message as we learn about ancient family vineyards. And we will see that this song relates to a vineyard for a reason.

The Song of the Vineyard illustrates what almost every family in Israel and Judah knew: the care and keeping of a vineyard required sustained and intense attention. In this song, the farmer who represents the Lord has done everything possible to guarantee the success of his vineyard. At least five separate dimensions of that care are noted.

The first has to do with the field in which the vine was planted. The “fertile hillside” for planting (Isa. 5:1) did not occur naturally but entailed years of work. In the hill country of Judah most valleys were too narrow to produce sufficient crops, so farmers built terraces on the hillsides to increase the acreage of their arable land. This was a time-intensive process. Since the best topsoil had already washed downhill into the valley, this meant lugging bag after bag of good soil up the hill to build the terrace.25

Agricultural watchtower.

In Bible times, grapevines grew on the ground.

Second, while smaller stones were strategically left on the surface of the field to collect and preserve the moisture from vital dewfall, the larger stones were removed and used to construct walls around the terraced fields (Isa. 5:5). These walls protected the vineyard against soil erosion. As the crop matured, nonproducing vines were pruned and placed on the wall, creating a hedge to protect the vines against destructive animals (Ps. 80:13). Thus the caring farmer in this song described in Isaiah surrounds his precious vines with a wall and hedge to protect them.

Third, with the field and its defenses in place, the farmer took pains to obtain the choicest stock for planting (Isa. 5:2). The highest quality grapes were not grown from seeds but cultured from the cuttings of successful vines. In this case, the farmer used what are called, in Hebrew, soreq cuttings—the most celebrated grape in the Promised Land—to assure the finest harvest imaginable.26

Fourth, despite the quality of the stock, it would be six years before this vineyard produced high-quality fruit. During those years the farmer carefully cultivated and pruned his vines (Isa. 5:6). Cultivation removed weeds that competed with the vine for nutrients and water. Pruning the previous growth meant that vital nourishment would be directed to the most promising portions of the vine.27

Finally, since the family home was usually some distance from the terraced field, the farmer also built a watchtower in his vineyard (Isa. 5:2). This one- or two-story fieldstone structure provided the farmer and his family with temporary living quarters during the time of year when grapes were nearly ripe and at greatest risk to human and animal theft.

Isaiah’s imagery in the Song of the Vineyard is provided for a reason. As the farmer did everything possible for his vineyard, so the Lord had done everything possible for the descendants of Abraham. He brought Israel as “a vine out of Egypt” and planted it in the Promised Land (Ps. 80:8–9). God had meticulously blessed and cared for the Hebrew people, and he had every reason to expect good grapes. But when he examined the vine, he saw only bad fruit (Isa. 5:4). The unimaginable had happened, and so the Lord removed his “hedge” of protection (Isa. 5:5). Israelites no longer sat in peace under their own vine and fig trees. The people went into exile for the most tragic reason: continued unfaithfulness to the Lord Almighty.

Drying grapes.

Agriculture of the Promised Land