Isaiah 5:1-7: The Lord's Vineyard

Isaiah's picture of a vineyard is famous. It's another vivid, memorable, unavoidable image of Israel in all their failings ("This is what you are, compared to what you should be.") It's an image taken up by others,- Jesus for instance - so much so that he only had to say "A man planted a vineyard ..." and everybody immediately knew what he was going to talk about.

Everything was right about this vineyard. It had the perfect location, carefully prepared soil, the best vines chosen to be planted, a watchtower, a winepress, a protecting wall.

So God says to the people, "What more could I have done for you?" I gave you the best of everything. And yet, when I came to taste your fruit, it was disgusting!

Can you imagine what it looks like? Healthy plants, well cared for, abundant fruit hanging temptingly from every branch. But when you taste a grape, you gag and spit, because it is so sour.

God turns away in disgust from his people. He stops caring for them. Weeds take over, the wall is broken down. Even the rain stays away.

God's people had it all. And they gave nothing back. God came looking for justice, and saw bloodshed. He listened for righteousness, and heard a shriek of distress.

I'm taking a break now, for holiday purposes. See you in August.

Isaiah 4:2-6: The New Jerusalem

The rest of chapter 4 is a dramatic flip. After exposing the flaws of present day Jerusalem to dramatic, forensic, poetic scrutiny, Isaiah switches the focus abruptly to the future.

All that filth is going to be washed away. God isn't finished with Jerusalem. We're back to the vision of what the perfect Jerusalem could be: holy, beautiful, glorious.

Who's this branch? We'd better get used to this idea, it's going to crop up a lot. Let's pretend we don't know what it means for a minute. Perhaps you don't know - fine then!!

Picture an old, gnarly, broken-down tree.

Now imagine a new, young branch, growing out from it, near the root. New life and energy, bursting out from something that seemed nearly dead. Young, fresh, full of sap and vigour, encapsulating all the qualities that the old tree had in its far-off youth.

This righteous branch, this shoot from the stump, is a sign of new hope when all around looked tired and old and as good as dead.

The dream of what Israel could be - a chosen race so magnetically attractive that people would stream to the hill of Zion to meet the living God - this dream seems lost, and Isaiah is the first to tell us so.

But he also tells us that the there's life in the old tree yet. That God hasn't given up on his plans for Judah and Jerusalem.

One day, God's presence will be back. The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night that led them through the wilderness will again hover over Jerusalem, his love will overshadow them like a bridal canopy.

Isaiah 3:16-4:1: Warning to Jerusalem

The first Bible I bought for myself was a Good News Bible. Annie Valloton's line drawings made a great impact on me - illustrating and helping me remember the message of the text. I vividly recall the pictures she drew for Isaiah 3: a beautifully dressed woman, haughtily stepping along, like a model on a catwalk. Then, the same woman in the same pose, her nose in the air, but stripped naked of her finery.

Isaiah uses his word skills to achieve the same effect, listing every piece of adornment the proud woman is wearing, and stripping them all away.

Shame, shame, shame.

Yesterday, people were grabbing hold of a man with a cloak and saying "Be our leader!" Today, women are grabbing hold of any available man and saying "Marry me! Give me status!"

One of Isaiah's favourite phrases is "Daughter of Zion." He frequently pictures the nation as a woman, he describes her beauty and her pain, he dwells on her love and loss. The Daughter of Jerusalem is losing her beauty.

Isaiah 3:1-15: Judgement against Judah

Now it's getting personal.

Isaiah warns Judah that everything they rely on is going to be stripped away. Supply and support will be removed. Prop and pillar taken away. I love the poetry of Isaiah - my commentary tells me that those two words in Hebrew are the masculine and feminine forms of the same word. All aspects of what makes the nation strong are under threat.

In a beautifully vivid image, anyone who has even a cloak left to wear will be told, "You look like a leader - tell us what to do!" People are desperate, afraid, directionless, lost. Ruled by children. Lord of the Flies.

And then at the end of the passage, the scene shifts to the courtroom. God has taken the stand.He points his finger. He accuses. "YOU!"

You have ruined my vineyard. What do you mean by it? Crushing my people, and grinding the faces of the poor?

The name Grenfell Tower springs to mind - the shameful sight of that blackened wreck stands like an accusing finger, pointing out the sins of our society.

Isaiah 2:5-22: Judgement on the actual Jerusalem

So from the sublime, to the ridiculous. From the ideal to reality.

Isaiah says the land is full. Full of silver, gold, horses ... and idols. They may look like they're enjoying God's blessing, but actually they are full up with stuff that is dragging their attention away from God. All their wealth, their power, and their objects of worship are saying "Look at me! Look at me!"  and they have shifted their gaze from God.

But the day will come when God will cast down their proud looks. God will have his day, and it will be a day opposed to everything that thinks it is high and mighty. Great trees, mountains, towers, mighty fortified walls, you name it.

Isaiah calls them no-gods. All the things that people put their trust in. And there's plenty of them around today, everywhere you look.

Where's your trust? Where's mine?

Is it where it should be? Is it where it really matters?

Have a good weekend, I'll be back on Monday.

Isaiah 2:1-4: The ideal Jerusalem

Aha! The first prophecy! The first actual "this is firm to happen one day" thing that prophets are meant to do.

This was my first thought.

But I might be naive thinking like that. Because what Isaiah gives us is not so much a prediction of what one day will happen, as a description of what an ideal situation would be. He introduces it by saying that this is a vision that Isaiah saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. I think that might be significant. A Vision need not be a prediction. Vision is something, certainly in modern parlance, that we try to live up to.

Isaiah sees Mount Zion as a magnet, attracting people from all over the world to it's Beacon of truth and light. Here are people who are living life the way it is meant to be lived and it is intensely attractive. Isaiah sees Yahweh holding court in Zion. He is "judging", that is setting things right, between peoples.

People want to walk in this way - they can see how good it is.

This is why I think this is a picture that is idealised rather than something that will come about at some point in the future. When I read this I think to myself "it's not going to happen is it?" Oh it would be lovely if it did, but let's be real - it's never going to happen like that. And why not? Because this vision leaves about humanity's self centeredness. What's in it for me? Why should the rich and powerful empires round about suddenly follow the ways of an insignificant tribe? God may speak from Mount Zion, but who's listening? His light may shine forth, but who's looking?

Isaiah 1:27-31: Tensions between threat and hope resolved

Picture a tree, a great and mighty tree. Offering shade from the sun and shelter from the rain. It's stood for generations, and surely will stand for years to come.

But let our x-ray eyes look underground, into the soil beneath, and see what's happening to its roots. They are finding no water. The source of life that sustains the tree has dried up.

The tree is as tall as ever, its branches as strong. But this year, this spring, it will put forth no new leaves. And when a fire comes, it will burn, because it has dried up.

Isaiah finishes his first chapter with a contrast. This is one picture - of something that looks healthy on the surface but is dying underneath. The other picture is of health restored, of forgiveness and peace. Which is it going to be?

Isaiah 1:21-26: The Social Situation

The next section we are going to look at is nicely delineated by a "bookend" repeated phrase: faithful city. The first time Isaiah says it, it's ironic: "faithful city? NOT!" The second time it's genuine.

The little phrase that jumped out at me in reading this was from verse 26. Variously translated as "I will turn my hand against you" or "I will raise my fist against you." It actually refers to a a backhanded swipe, which in Middle Eastern culture has long been a calculated insult. It's got the sense of hitting a man while he's down. So we've heard about what a poor state Judah is in - shorn of the northern 10 tribes, still complacent about their worship - it's like their silver has been turned to dross and their wine has been watered down.

But God's backhand doesn't knock them out, it actually reverses the damage."I will purge away your dross, I will restore your leaders as in days of old."

What a mighty God Yahweh is! To reverse centuries of decay and complacency with just a wave of his hand! How little the people deserve it. This is the first intimation of what I expect to be a powerful theme throughout Isaiah's writings - God is so much bigger than the people think.

So there's a promise here - trust me, your faithful God, and I will truly make you into a faithful city.

Isaiah 1:10-20: The religious situation

So, yesterday Isaiah surveyed the state of the nation. Today he turns his attention to the state of their worship. It looks sumptuous, but it is so totally missing the point.

He imagines what God would say, having been in receipt of a pretty hefty number of animal sacrifices over the years.

Enough already! I don't want any more dead bulls! I've got enough blinking dead bulls to last me from here to eternity. I never wanted them anyway. It wasn't the animals I wanted, it was you - it was your hearts. And what have you done? You've nearly bankrupted yourselves piling up all these sacrifices because you thought it would let you off having to have a genuine relationship with me. 

You thought that if you gave me a sacrifice every now and then you could do what you pleased the rest of the time. I'm sick of your sacrifices and your festivals and your bogus prayers. You think I can't see the blood on your hands?

Start caring for the oppressed, the orphan and the widow. Then I'll be impressed. Stop doing evil, learn to do good. Then I'll listen.

Is it shocking, hearing God basically telling people to stop worshipping him? It's certainly not what we expect.

I thought you wanted all this, God? We worship God in all sorts of different ways, but whether it's with sacrifices or ritual, or music or silence or anything else - it makes no difference if our heart isn't in it.

God would rather listen to out of tune singing from a tone deaf 90 year old with laryngitis, than the best worship band singing the edgiest song that's just been written, with smoke machines, lights and sound systems, or the best robed choir on the planet ... so long as the 90 year old put his heart into it. After all, God's got more angel choirs than he could possibly want, he's got things on his playlist you couldn't possibly imagine. Our worship can't compete with that. But we think if we make it sound nice enough, or make it cost enough, then that will do.

Come on, says God, let's sit down and talk about this. I can make you clean. It doesn't matter how dirty you are. Don't cover it up with those fancy robes, come and let me wash you. I'll show you the real meaning of the words "Power Shower."

Isaiah 1:1-9: The National Situation

Let's begin.

The first word (two words in English)  -"The Vision" - is significant. Isaiah son of Amoz is telling us what he saw. It isn't what he thought or imagined, it isn't his opinion, he reaches for objectivity right from the start. Through the reigns of four kings, he has seen things that aren't pretty, adn he wants to tell us about them.

So what has he seen? He's seen a nation that is sick. Uzziah was famously ill - stricken by leprosy for disobeying God by forcing his way into the sanctuary in the Temple, and daring to offer incense to God, which was the priest's role. Because of his leprosy he loved alone, and his son Jotham ran the day to day business of the kingdom.

A sick king, and a sick nation. Riddled with sores and bruises, but not doing anything to heal itself. No bandages, no medicines. Wounds gaping open for all to see. Little Judah is the last part of once mighty Israel left standing, after the fall of the northern kingdom. Isaiah compares them to a little patch of unharvested crops, once the rest of the field has been cut down. Fearfully vulnerable.

And yet not seeming to care.