The Resurrection of a Vineyard

Below is an excerpt from Alec Motyer’s translation and commentary on Isaiah 27, found in his work Isaiah by the Day. The excerpt briefly traces the thread of the image of a vineyard in three passages which culminate in a grand vision of God finally fulfilling His redemptive plan in history. To summarize, Motyer points out that the vineyard which was first introduced as a bleak and hopeless picture of rotten fruit (i.e. “stink fruit”) crushed by oppressors is transformed into an abundantly fertile and fruitful landscape which is kept at peace by Yahweh its Gardener. As for its former rottenness, it has been transformed into “sparkling wine” (Isa 27:2) that blossoms and blooms to fill the earth (27:6). As for its being crushed, it is now rooted (27:6), kept safe moment by moment by God Himself (27:2). Isaiah’s poetry proclaims the present-day resurrection we experience in Christ. I encourage you to read these passages. Read them slowly. Reflect on what God has done and how magnificent His transforming work of redemption is. Rejoice that, in Christ, you have been transformed from ”stink fruit” into “sparkling wine” and are cultivated and cared for by His hand.

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Isaiah 27:1-6 (translated by Alec Mother)

In that day,
a vineyard of sparkling wine!
Sing of it!
I, Yahweh, keep it safe;
moment by moment I water it,
lest anyone intrude upon it.
Night and day I keep it safe.
Rage — I have none!
Oh that I had thorns and briers!
In battle I would stride out against each,
set them alight all together.
Oh let him grasp at my protection,
make peace with me;
yes, let him make peace with me!
As for the future,
Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and bloom,
and they will fill the face of the world with fruitfulness.

Motyer’s Commentary

The Lord will have his way: what he wants will happen; his promises will be kept; his will achieved; his future brought to pass. This is the message of Isaiah 27. It is the third time Isaiah has spoken of the Lord's vineyard: in 3:13–15, the vineyard was savaged by bad rulers and the vineyard people crushed:

“Yahweh himself comes to judgement against the elders and princes of his people. ‘It is you who have grazed the vineyard bare. Plunder from the downtrodden is in your houses. What business of yours is it to crush my people, and to grind the faces of the downtrodden?’”
(Isaiah 3:14-15)

In 5:1–7, the vineyard was the subject of every possible divine care and attention, but its people failed to produce the justice and righteousness the Lord wished, yielding only rotten fruit:

“My Beloved had a vineyard on [fertile ground]. He dug it over, and cleared it of stones, and he planted it with [vines]. And he built a tower in the center of it, and also he carved out a wine-vat in it. And he confidently expected it to produce grapes and it produced stink-fruit…

“For the vineyard of Yahweh of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah the plantation of his delight. And he confidently expected [obedience] but, behold, violence! righteousness but, behold, [frightfulness].”
(Isaiah 5:1b-2,7, emphasis added)

But the Lord never abandons any project he has undertaken, not only against human mismanagement, but also against what is to us the insurmountable obstacle of our sinfulness – and, in 27:1, additionally against all that Satan can hurl at him. For our extreme encouragement it is written in his book that the Vineyard is weed-free, the divine Gardener is in full command, every need is supplied, and those who were once the “stink-fruit” people are now filling the whole earth with fruitfulness. Imagine it! Just think what it is to experience the security and stability of a rooted existence with all the changes and chances and fluctuations of the present world and of things of the past; to be at last the Lord's fruitful people, bringing forth, eternally and universally, to his glory. And all of this because… the price of our iniquity has been paid [27:9], sin has been removed, in the presence and hostile strength of our soul’s enemy has been crushed forever. If the trumpet [v.13] is the trumpet of Jubilee, it announces our freedom from everything in the past that would bind and blight us; if it is the trumpet of Exodus 19:13, it calls us to come near to God; but for sure it is the trumpet that announces the longed for return of Jesus (1 Thess 4:16).

Cover: Iris Garden at Giverny (1899-1900) by Monet