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Answer
In Isaiah 5, the prophet presents a song called the “Song of the Vineyard” to the Lord, referred to as “my Beloved,” for the people to listen to. Perhaps Isaiah turns to singing a folk song because the people have been disregarding his usual sermons. The lyrics open as follows:
“My beloved had a vineyard
on an extremely fertile hill.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with excellent vines;
he constructed a watchtower in its midst,
and carved out a winepress in it;
and he expected it to produce grapes,
but it produced wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more could have been done for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to produce grapes,
why did it produce wild grapes?” (Isaiah 5:1-4;ESV).
The song goes on, revealing that the farmer is the Lord, and the vineyard symbolizes God’s people in Judah. The Lord, the Keeper, anticipates His vineyard to yield good grapes, symbolizing “justice” and “righteousness” because He has diligently cared for it (showering His people with His goodness, love, and grace). However, the vineyard only produces wild grapes. Wild grapes are sour, inedible, and entirely unsuitable for winemaking. The original Hebrew word translated as “wild” here is linked to “stinking” or “worthless” things that are only suitable for destruction.
Instead of producing justice and righteousness, the people of Israel responded with violence and bloodshed «For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. », (Isaiah 5:7). They violated God’s laws and polluted the land that the Lord had given them. Yahweh had established Israel as an example among nations. He wanted His people to bear fruit for His glory «Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. », (John 15:8), but they only produced sin—referred to as wild grapes in Isaiah’s poem. The Keeper’s only option was to judge the unproductive vineyard by destroying it (Isaiah 5:5-6).
Isaiah lists six “woes,” identifying the six sins that have angered God and led to His judgment on the land. These six sins are a summary, not an exhaustive list, of the wild grapes mentioned in Isaiah’s poem. They mainly involve the sins of the proud and arrogant: greed, covetousness, and extortion (Isaiah 5:8-10); drunkenness, revelry, and fleshly indulgence (verses 11–17); negligence, hardness of heart, and mockery (verses 18–19); deceit and perversion (verse 20); arrogance and conceit (verse 21); injustice and corruption (verses 22–25).
In Matthew 21:33–44, Jesus shares a parable using language and structure that directly parallels Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard. Just as Isaiah’s words present God’s case against ancient Judah, Jesus’ parable lays out God’s argument against the Jewish leaders of the first century. In Matthew 23, the Lord delivers seven woes to the scribes and Pharisees and ultimately condemns them. The sins of Israel’s leaders (pride, greed, deceit, injustice, etc.) closely resemble the wild grapes produced by Isaiah’s vineyard.
Wild grapes symbolize serious sins with significant consequences. Bible commentator Matthew Henry explains, “Wild grapes are the result of a corrupt nature, fruit that matches the sour stock, nNot according to the engrafted branch, from the root of bitterness. Wild grapes are hypocritical performances in religion, resembling grapes, but sour or bitter, and are far from pleasing to God, being provoking. Counterfeit graces are wild grapes” (Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 1,086).
For those who have experienced new birth in Jesus Christ, wild grapes are equivalent to the worthless deeds of our past: “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them” (Ephesians 5:8-11;NLT).
The most important lesson we learn from the wild grapes of the Lord’s disappointing vineyard is that God is serious about sin. The Lord expects His people to be filled with the fruit of righteousness, “being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11) and produce fruit that brings glory to His name: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22-23;NLT). God has chosen us as His own possession to become a holy nation who will show others the goodness of God (1 Peter 2:9-11). We can only do this by producing a harvest of good fruit and not one of worthless, wild grapes.
