Audio Worship, 2/15/2026, "God's Vineyard", Isaiah 5.1-7, 20-23

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1718

February 15, 2026

Isaiah 5.1-7, 20-23                  Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“God’s Vineyard”

 

Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 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; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

 

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!

 

  • God’s Song

 

When I preached this passage from Isaiah years ago, I spoke of this song as of the blues variety. I think I would imagine God as a New Orleans blues singer lamenting over lost love. It is a song in the sense of a poem, not necessarily to sing as we speak of songs today, but a poem of heartbreak and broken relationship. God sings the blues over His vineyard.

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

Seems to begin okay, but as we know, things go downhill quick from this point on. The song reflects the pain of a God who deeply loves His vineyard, yet it will not produce quality fruit. Like buying grapes at the grocery store and trusting they will be sweet!...unless you are one of those who eats one grape from the bunch while you are picking them out. If this blues song has a refrain, it is the threefold expression of looking for one thing but getting another. The second half of verses 2, 4, and 7, would be the refrain.

vs. 2b, he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

4b, When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

7b, he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

 

The metaphor of grapes is used to demonstrated the complete and utter failure of God's people to be God's people. They did not follow commandment. They did not practice the faith. They did not honor God by doing justice and loving righteousness. God expected sweet and got sour, expected right and got wrong, expected love but got hatred. It is truly a sad song.

 

 

  • God’s Vineyard

 

If any of you have grown a vegetable garden or any type of garden for that matter, you know the disappointment of working the soil, fertilizing, planting seed, and pulling weeds. Then, things begin to pop up from the soil and expectations rise even further. Then, the tomatoes have bottom rot, the flowers don’t bloom as hoped. In God’s garden, in God’s vineyard, it was wild grapes.

“Wild grapes” in the Hebrew is literally “stinky things”. God expected good sweet grapes but He got sour grapes, wrinkled inedible grapes, good for nothing. You could not even pour cups of sugar in them for making jelly! The song is filled with hope and the vineyard is full of hard work, digging, clearing, planting the best vines, even having a watchtower in the middle to watch out for wildlife. I need a watchtower in my backyard to watch for all the critters that feast on my garden. The watchtower might also represent a close eye on what should come from the vineyard, good grapes.

This was the highest quality work and finest vines available. Nothing but the best, spared no expense, everything is properly prepared. God expects the best grapes. But the wine vat is of no use because the grapes are sour, worthless for wine or for anything else. All that work, all that planning, all that effort is brought to nothing.

 

 

  • God’s Metaphor

 

Well, we find out that the vineyard is a metaphor for a people. That is, Israel, God’s people. Think also about this, the vineyard could also be representative of the church, and it could be a metaphor for each one of us individually. Look at the work Christ has done for the world, living, dying, rising from the tomb, and what does He see in return for the work, some sour grapes. God has planted His Word like a seed. What fruit have we yielded? It is supposed to be good fruit, good grapes…

“...but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers (Psalm 1.2-3).

 

The Bible is filled with the love God gave to His people, delivering them from bondage, leading them in the wilderness, giving them a land, and yet God gets back rebellion and sin. It is the creation to flood story all over again. And like the flood, God will have to start over. The next part of the song is about starting over. The judgment of the vineyard may seem harsh to our reading, just wipe it out and start all over.

 

And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

 

Just plow it up! Maybe when Isaiah brought this word to the people, they agreed with the song about the vineyard, having also had crops that go bad or situations in life that did not work out. How many times have we had the same thoughts when something went wrong? Just start over fresh. New document. New lump of clay. New idea. Israel hears this perhaps unaware at that moment that they themselves are the vineyard. They are the ones who have disappointed God with their sin and disobedience.

 

Jesus does the same in the New Testament with the religious leaders, telling a parable about one thing that reveals another.

 

Matthew 21.33-45, “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.

 

Might we imagine that the chief priests and the Pharisees were reminded of the vineyard in Isaiah 5. I think so! How could they not? Vineyard, fenced in, dug out, winepress, watchtower...it is the same setting only a slightly different parable.

 

  • God’s Justice and Righteousness

 

What was God seeking in Isaiah 5, and for that matter, what was God seeking in the chief priests and the Pharisees in Matthew 21? A people and leaders who produce good fruit. In Isaiah 5 it is the fruit of justice and righteousness, verse 7, he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

When we read the beginning chapters of Isaiah, it is all about judgment upon God’s people. It is a dim view at the beginning. But, there is much more to come in Isaiah. There is good news to come. But for now it is the painful reversal of looking for justice but getting bloodshed, looking for righteousness but getting an outcry of injustice. It reveals that justice and righteousness can sometimes appear to be practiced, but in reality what is done is just the opposite. Kind of like political promises! These terms of justice and righteousness are in reference to relationships and doing right by one another. It is what God had expected of His people in response to the steadfast love God had expressed to them.

The bloodshed and outcry is then revealed in all the woes that come after the vineyard parable. Let’s just look at what is probably the most familiar woe to us, verse 20, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! “Woe” is a dangerous word in the Bible. It holds the meaning of warning but also the gravity of judgment and even death. “Woe” speaks to the depth of betrayal from God’s people and religious leaders. This verse, in my mind, is so modern, speaking to our time. If I were to paraphrase for today, “Woe to those who call men women and women men, who call lies truth and truth lies, who call what is natural unnatural and unnatural natural.” It does not take much wisdom to see the evil that is called good in the world.

The vineyard of Isaiah 5 speaks, not only to Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s time, but to every nation and every system and every person who is created in the image of God if any are opposing God’s Word and God’s creation and God’s justice and righteousness.

 

As I said there is good news to come in Isaiah. It is the promise of justice served and righteousness imputed to God’s people. It is, of course, the news of a Messiah, the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus yields new fruit, sweet, large grapes! In Jesus, justice and righteousness are fulfilled. All we have to do is see another vineyard!

 

In John 15, Jesus is speaking, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (15.1-6).

 

In this passage we still see God’s judgment upon those who do not bear fruit, who produce no grapes or sour grapes. They are taken away and thrown into the fire. Woe to whose who bear no fruit. But there is also the wonderful fullness of joy in all who abide in Christ, who trust in Him, who abide in the true vine. We will be pruned from time to time, in order to bear more fruit. We can only bear good grapes when we abide in Jesus and He abides in us. Apart from Him we can do nothing!

Jesus is the true vine. The vineyard of Israel failed to produce a good fruit, but Jesus has yielded the fruit of justice and righteousness that was missing among God’s people. Jesus yields the fruit of love, obedience, sacrifice, forgiveness, and so much more. In this we trust and in response we seek to be a people who treat one another with justice and righteousness. It is only by abiding in Jesus that we are able to bear fruit, for apart from Jesus we are no different than the vineyard of Isaiah 5. The prophet Micah expresses what is expected of us in his famous words in Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” This is how we produce the finest of grapes, doing the right thing at the right time in the right way. May we always trust in the God who has delivered us in Jesus Christ. May we be the vineyard that reveals to the world the true vine so that others may come to be grafted into the vine that is Jesus Christ. Amen.