What Kind of Grape Are You?
written by Haley King, Children & Family Ministries Coordinator (November 7, 2022)
It is so easy to see all the opinions of the world and be influenced to lean into those things. Satan wants to convince you that being separated from the world is not necessary for the Christian life. Satan also wants to convince you that your relationship with Christ is not important. He will feed you lies about how God doesn’t have time to care for you. In Isaiah 5:1-7 we see how the people of God let Him down simply because they neglected all that He did for them.
The speaker here is Isaiah. The “beloved,” that he mentions in verse 1 is the owner of the vineyard, God. The “vineyard” is Israel (5:7). In verses 1-2 Isaiah is speaking and then Isaiah quotes God in verses 3-6. The great things that God had done for the nation of Israel is displayed to the people using the analogy of a vineyard. The vineyard represents the Kingdom of God. It was placed in the most fertile soil, it was fenced in from danger, and the best vines were planted in the vineyard. This vineyard was pampered, protected, and care for by God. Because of the love of the Father for His chosen, distinct people, God expected the best grapes to be produced. Instead, the Bible said that it brought forth wild grapes. God acted in a surprised manner to get His point across by asking the people what more could He have done to the vineyard to bring forth good fruit. God’s expectations are frustrated here in this passage because the vineyard that he protected and nurtured not only brought forth no good fruit at all, but bad fruit.
What can we take away from this wild vineyard analogy? Sadly, there will be those who solely love to profess God, but will not serve God. There must be more than just blossoms and buds, there must be strong plants that are rooted in the fruitful soil that God has given us, His Word. This is the only way that any believer may bring forth fruit of a good heart and a good life filled with thoughts and affection, words and actions that are agreeable to the Holy Spirit.
The wild grapes seen in this passage represents a hypocritical lifestyle that looked juicy and pleasing to God on the outside but were sour, bitter, and unpleasant to God on the inside. Without the inside being sold out for God and His commandments, you can forget even trying to put on a show to please Him. The bible tells us in 1 Samuel 16:7, “… the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” We can not fool God.
In response to the wild grapes that this hypocritical lifestyle had produced, God tells His people what He will do. He took away the protection, He allowed the vineyard to go unpruned (allowing things to run wild with sin and cursing), and the grapes of judgment and righteousness were turned to crying of oppressed people. It is sad when a soul (or grape) of humility, meekness, patience, love, and separation from the world turns to a corrupt soul (wild grape) filled with pride, passion, and malice.
What kind of grape are you today? Are you a fulfilling the life that God has carefully and precisely laid out for you according to His plan, or are you allowing your life to be corrupted by other influences?