“1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.

2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.

3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard.

4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?

5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.

6 “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

• Who is singing and who is the well-beloved?
• What did He do to prepare the area for the vineyard? What does this represent?
• What kinds of vines did He place in the vineyard? What does this represent to you?
• What image do you see of God who is “expecting” good grapes? Could He create good grapes if he chooses? What does this reveal about God’s character?
• Verse 3 – Judge between Me and My vineyard. Also look at Mic 6:3. What is God asking the people to do? Why?
• What is God’s judgment against the vineyard? Is he taking action to destroy it? Note in verse 6, lay it waste – the wordshith (lay) can also mean “let alone”.
• Verse 7, what was God looking for? Would he look for something that wasn’t possible or there at the first (see verse 2)?
• Read Luke 20:9-16. What new aspects of God’s care for the vineyard are described by the Messiah?
• What new aspect of God do you see in these verses?

8 Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!

9 In my ears the LORD of hosts has sworn, “Surely, many houses shall become desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants.

10 “For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain.”

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!

12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

13 Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.

14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

15 So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased, The eyes of the proud also will be abased.

16 But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.

18 Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart rope;

19 Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!”

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!

22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 On this account the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out.

26 He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.

27 No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at its waist undone, Nor its sandal strap broken.

28 Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind.

29 Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it seizes the prey And carries it off with no one to deliver it.

30 And it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

Why God will Judge

• Sorrow for those who expand and acquire until they are alone in the land. God foretells that many houses, even large ones, will become empty because the land will be barren. (Isa 5:8-10)
• Sorrow for those who seek parties and wine but ignore God for God’s people will go into exile because of their lack of knowledge (wisdom) and many will die along with their splendor and wealth. Man will be humbled and God exalted. (Isa 5:11-18)
• Sorrow for those who attach to lies and sin who ask God to hurry up with His revelation and complete His prophecy – mocking God’s terrible judgment. (Isa 5:18-19)
• Woe to those who intentionally rebel against God’s truth, who are self righteous, who revel in drunkenness, who bribe to make guilty ones innocent and convict the right (Isa 5:19-23)

God’s Judgment

• God’s judgment is terrible against those who despise and reject Him and without His protection, Jerusalem is like a plant with rotting roots – vulnerable and helpless. (Isa 5:24-30)

Questions:

• What is God revealing about himself and his people in each of these woes? (Hint: look at the sinful nature and the consequences of that sin)

Sin	Judgment
Adding to wealth	Desolation, barren land
Living a lavish life, ignoring God	Exile, starvation, thirst, death, land occupied by animals and strangers
No fear or awe of God, unjust, deceivers, arrogant, reject and despise God.	Corpses lay in the streets, drawing nations to them with unstoppable destruction.

• Does God destroy them? What does this reveal about God’s work in each of our lives?
• Why is God passing judgment?
• What is God’s chief objective in this judgment?

ISAIAH 6

1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.

2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.

7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, \”Go, and tell this people: \’Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.\’

10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,

12 “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

• What do you see in the vision of God and His heavenly temple that sounds familiar?

• God’s seated on His throne (Eze 1:25-28, Dan 7:9, Rev 4:2)
• The Seraphim (Ex 25:20, Eze 1:6, Eze 1:24)
• Smoke (Exo 40:34, 1King 8:10-12, Rev 15:8)
• In the Seraphim’s Song (Rev 4:8)
• In the burning coals (Eze 10:2, Rev 8:3-5)
• If Exodus 33:20 is true, then how could Isaiah see God?
• Why burning coals from the altar to forgive sins?
• How did Isaiah’s demeanor change after the burning coal? What effect does God’s forgiveness have on us?
• Why did God wait to ask who to send until after Isaiah’s sins had been forgiven?
• Does this have any connection to our lives as Christians?
• What is God showing us in these glimpses?
  • About heaven?
  • About himself?
  • About the tabernacle and temple on earth?

• What do you see that is similar about Isaiah’s reaction to the Holiness of God? What does this reveal of who God is?
  • Abraham (Gen 17:3)
  • Moses (Exo 3:6)
• Isa 6:9-10 why does God harden the people’s heart? (Exo 11:10, Deu 2:30, Eze 3:6-11)

• What is the prophet’s instruction? What does God expect from the people? What does this teach us about our role in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ? (Isa 6:9-13)

THEME

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

APPLICATION

References:

Mic 6:3 “My people, what have I done to you, And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

Luk 20:9-16(9) And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time.(10) “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.(11) “And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.(12) “And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out.(13) “The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.'(14) “But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ (15) “So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? (16) “He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!”

Eze 1:24-28(24) I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.(25) And there came a voice from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.(26) Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.(27) Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. (28) As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

Dan 7:9 “I kept looking Until, thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snowAnd the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.

Rev 4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.

Rev 4:8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”

Exo 40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

1Ki 8:10-12(10) It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD,(11) so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.(12) Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

Gen 17:3 Abram fell on his face…

Exo 3:6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Exo 11:10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

Deu 2:30 “But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today

Eze 3:6-11(6) nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you;(7) yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.(8) “Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.(9) “Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” (10) Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. (11) “Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.'”

Exo 33:20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”