THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah 5:1. _Now will I sing, &c._
I. THE PRIVILEGES CONFERRED ON THE JEWISH NATION (Isaiah 5:2). It
would be vain and useless to attempt, as some have done, to find in
the privileges of the Jews an exact counterpart to the various items
here specified concerning this “v... [ Continue Reading ]
DIVINE DISAPPOINTMENTS
Isaiah 5:2. _He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it
brought forth wild grapes_.
“I believe in God.” Which God? The God constructed for us by
philosophers, who is impassive, throned in eternal calm, unmoved by
the crimes or the virtues of men, all of which He has... [ Continue Reading ]
THE INEXCUSABILITY AND HOPELESSNESS OF UNBELIEF
Isaiah 5:4. _What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have
not done in it?_
In a subsequent verse God condescends to explain what is here meant by
His “vineyard,” so that there might be no doubt as to the scope
and import of the passage ... [ Continue Reading ]
A SAD CANTICLE
Isaiah 5:4. _What could have been done more to my vineyard? &c._
There are certain epochs in the history of the Church when on every
hand may be seen the saddest indifference. This state of things is not
owing to a suspension of Divine gifts, nor to the absence of earnest
pastors, no... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE ADVANTAGE OF SMALL ALLOTMENTS OF LAND TO THE POOR
Isaiah 5:7. _He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for
righteousness, but behold a cry. Woe unto them that join house to
house, and lay field to field, till there be no place_.
I. The Almighty expects from all His creatures, and espe... [ Continue Reading ]
COVETOUSNESS
Isaiah 5:8. _Woe unto them that join house to house, &c._
Covetousness is—I. Ruinous to the individual [601] II. Mischievous
to society. III. Offensive to God. IV. Certain to be punished.
1. Here, by disappointment and loss (Proverbs 3:33) [604]
2. Hereafter, by exclusion from heave... [ Continue Reading ]
WILD GRAPES
Isaiah 5:8. _Woe unto them that join house to house, &c._
It is important to remember that this whole chapter constitutes one
prophecy. Much of the power of its teaching will be lost, if this fact
be overlooked. In Isaiah 5:1, we have the astonishing declaration that
in “the vineyard o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MISERIES OF THE DRUNKARD
Isaiah 5:11. _Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that
they may follow strong drink, &c._
The miseries of the drunkard.
I. PERSONAL, ungodly companionship, eclipse of intellect,
demoralisation of nature [616] retribution, here and hereafter.
[616] Not in... [ Continue Reading ]
NATIONAL UNGODLINESS
Isaiah 5:11. _Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that
they may follow strong drink, &c._
National ungodliness.
I. ITS PHASES, dissipation, drunkenness, forgetfulness of God.
II. ITS PUNISHMENT, captivity, famine, pestilence, humiliation.
III. THE CERTAINTY OF... [ Continue Reading ]
SENSUALITY
Isaiah 5:11. _Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that
they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine
inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and
wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord,
neither consider... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EVILS OF IGNORANCE
(_Sunday School or Bible Society Sermon_.)
Isaiah 5:13. _Therefore my people are gone away into captivity,
because they have no knowledge, &c._
Isaiah speaks of the future as if it were already present. He traces
the terrible disasters about to befall his countrymen to their... [ Continue Reading ]
DEATH AND THE GRAVE
(_For Easter Sunday_.)
Isaiah 5:14. _Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, &c._
In these terms of appalling sublimity Isaiah warns his countrymen of
the calamities that were about to come upon them, on account of the
innumerable transgressions into which they had been betrayed b... [ Continue Reading ]
CORDS OF VANITY
Isaiah 5:18. _Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity,
and sin as it were with a cart rope_.
“ ‘Sin’ in the last clause is parallel with iniquity in the
first—a noun and not a verb. Both are said to be ‘_drawn_.’ The
style of sinning here contemplated is fully given i... [ Continue Reading ]
SCEPTICISM
Isaiah 5:19. _That say, Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that
we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh
and come, that we may know it_.
Scepticism, I. Denies the judgments of God. II. Draws an argument from
their delay [661] III. Impiously scoffs at t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE INFLUENCE OF LANGUAGE ON CHARACTER
Isaiah 5:20. _Woe to them, that call evil good, and good evil; that
put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter_.
Only those who have had extensive opportunities of observation, can
have any idea of the evil... [ Continue Reading ]
SELF-CONCEIT
Isaiah 5:21. _Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and
prudent in their own sight_.
Self-conceit.
I. Its signs: dogmatism; contempt of others; scepticism.
II. ITS CAUSES: ignorance [667] vanity.
[667] The truest characters of ignorance
Are vanity, and pride, and arroganc... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WOE OF THE DRUNKARD
Isaiah 5:22. _Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of
strength to mingle strong drink_.
There are certain vices which the customs of certain countries seem to
place only in the number of human infirmities; and yet, if we look at
their effects, we shall see t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DOOM OF DESPISERS
Isaiah 5:24. _Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the
flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and
their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law
of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of
Israel_... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DOOM OF IMPENITENT ISRAEL
Isaiah 5:24. _Therefore as the fire devoureth, &c._
In this threatening, fulfilled in the utter destruction of Israel by
Assyria, we find illustrations of the following facts:—I. That _the
Lord is a God of judgment as well as of mercy_ [682] The mercy of God
had been e... [ Continue Reading ]