
A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 6: Why Hear the Warnings?
Here we shall continue our commentary on Isaiah with the later half of chapter 5, where we are still in the second vision that had been recorded in the words of the prophet. As we had explained, this vision runs through four chapters of the book, and now we are nearing its end. In the opening verses of the chapter there is a rather brief song of a vineyard. That the vineyard serves as an allegory for the children of Israel was stated explicitly where we read in verse 5 that “…the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant…” Later in Isaiah, in chapter 18, there is yet another description of a vineyard where we read what seems to have been a rather ominous warning: “5 For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches.” While we should not get too far ahead of ourselves, for now it may suffice to say that the vineyard in Isaiah chapter 18 is also an allegory for the children of Israel, and as we had already explained in relation to this chapter, it also relates to the Gospel of Christ and the Parable of the Vineyard, as well as the visions of the harvests of the grapes found in chapter 14 of His Revelation.
So, as we have also asserted, it is within this context that we should consider the parable of the vineyard, as well as the parable of the vineyard workers, which are found in the Gospel of Christ. This vineyard is a continuing allegory for the children of Israel, and this is also evident in Jeremiah, as we have already cited chapter 12 (12:10) where Yahweh is portrayed as having lamented that “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard…”
As we hope to exhibit throughout the later portions of Isaiah especially, the words of the prophets of Yahweh were frequently written in a manner in which they had an immediate application, which is made apparent once the relevant ancient history is studied, but those words also frequently contained elements which had not been fulfilled immediately, and which await fulfillment, by which we realize that they were intended to have more than one meaning, or in other words, multiple fulfillments. So many of the prophecies concerning Babylon were written in reference to a figurative Babylon, and Babylon is still a subject of prophecy long after the ancient city itself had been destroyed, which is evident in Mystery Babylon, the system of world commerce and government which is described in Revelation chapters 17 and 18. So it is also with Jerusalem, that the Jerusalem of the prophets is not always a reference to the ancient city, but rather, the ancient city was to be destroyed and never made whole again, as we read in a prophecy found in Jeremiah chapter 19.
The Jerusalem of prophecy often represents the centers of government wherever the children of Israel are found, which is evident in Micah chapter 4 where the Word of Yahweh had declared: “8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Then, in Revelation chapter 21, in a vision given to John, a new Jerusalem is seen descending from Heaven. In this same manner in every prophecy which mentions Israel, Judah, Jerusalem, and Zion the labels represent the same people of God even long after they are far away in captivity, and in those which mention Babylon, Assyria and Egypt, the labels represent captivity itself, and they must all be considered from two perspectives, the near vision and the far vision, until all of the elements of each prophecy are fulfilled.