Paul the Poke

Isaiah 5:6 “And 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.”

The vineyard has gone from having the best of everything to having nothing. Care is no longer provided for Israel and destruction is coming. God is going to neglect Israel, the vineyard.

Pruning no longer takes place in the vineyard. It is a blessing to being pruned. It is how we grow. Some would think it is best to grow wildly without direction. Growth, whether it is a plant, a nation, or us personally, comes when we are pruned. It is painful to be pruned, but it is necessary.

The vineyard, or Israel, is no longer being hoed. The briars are growing and taking over. Killing off the weeds with a hoe allows the good plants to grow and thrive. Weeds take away nutrients from the soil. In this case, the thorny bushes are choking out the best grape vines.

God is in control of the weather. Rain is withheld from the vegetation. Water is life. We all know what happens when plants do not get water. Think of a yard during the summer when it is hot and dry. There has not been rain for weeks. The land is parched and cracked. The grass is dormant and yellow. The only thing that really grows is weeds. Israel became a deserted wasteland for hundreds of years.

Thorns and briars are growing in the vineyard. Thorns are a reminder and a consequence of the fall of man. It should take us back to the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:18a “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you…” This is the first time thorns are mentioned in the Bible. God states thorns are a consequence of Adam’s eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam listened to the woman instead to listening to God. God does no more than wives. Thorns were not part of Earth’s original creation. Thorns are a physical reality of not following God’s directives.

Moving forward in time, Christ wore a crown of thorns on the cross. He bore a reminder of sin on his head. He became sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21a He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This entry was posted on June 24, 2012 at 10:54 PM and is filed under Isaiah with tags Botany, crown of thorns, gardening, Isaiah, isaiah 5, Israel, Jesus, parable of the vineyard, pruning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.