ISAIAH
CHAPTER
5
1. Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 1 to 2)
Oh God You planned the world to be a pleasant and friendly place for Your people and their descendants to live in, however as a consequence of sin, this world has become a harbinger of positive and negative people. The devil is stinging us with his arrows and spears of poison so much that we are being haunted and plagued by many different sins, such as crime, drug dealing, domestic violence, mixed marriages among other events. The outcome is totally different from the original blueprints, however even though we are living in this state of quasi chaos, I still believe that it is in Your control and therefore, the situation is not that tragic as it seems to be.
3. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
(Books of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 3 to 4)
Oh god indeed there is nothing else to be done. You created us as based on Your image, You gave us a wonderful earth, You even chose to become human in order to save us from the eternal fires of hell! What more could have been done? Still we are investing in the kingdom of the world more than in the kingdom of heaven and rightfully so we are experiencing the consequences of our decisions.
5. And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 5 to 6)
Oh God may it not be that You stop protecting us. We cannot survive without Your love and Your care. If the world denies us its love and care somehow we can cope, but if You stop loving us, we do not stand a chance. You are the rock of my salvation, the only reason why I am still alive. with You and for You only I live every day of my life.
7. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice but saw bloodshed; righteousness but heard a cry!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 7)
Oh God this is a very shocking verse, for if during these times there was bloodshed, during our times 2016 we have more bloodshed. It will be righteously merited to us that we face the consequences of our actions even if this means that we are denied our place in our heavenly home if You deem it fit and proper.However Your ways and reasoning are not like ours which are subject to sin.
8. Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 8)
Oh god You are surely referring to those who would like to possess all the capital and resources of the world even at the cost of others existence. Such people who live on power and are always craving for more. Oh God this craving for power is a very serious issue, for as humans we all have a degree of power. If 'A' is a housewife married to "B" who lacks skills such as cooking, thus making 'B" dependent on 'A', this makes "A" powerful over 'B" for he depends on her for his livelihood. On the other hand if 'B" is the bread winner and 'A" is the housewife, 'A" is subject to 'B" and if ever he denies her of the income, this makes 'B" dominant over 'A" and a super power is needed to reinstate the balance of power which is the law which states that 'A" has the right of possession on equal terms anything that is produced by the family industry as being the fruits of the common acquisition.
9. The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. 10. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 9 to 10)
Oh god when I used to work as a social worker I used to visit many beautiful homes, however in some cases these homes or better houses were almost empty because they were occupied by only one person instead of a couple as You intended. I pray oh God that the home of my soul will never be empty but always be occupied by Your presence Amen
11. Ah. you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine. 12. whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 11 to 12)
Oh God You do not want us to be sad and depressed, or stoned by alcohol. You like to see us happy, however if we do not include You in our happiness and not even thank You and praise You for such moments, when the joy is over they leave us feeling depressed and empty.
13.Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge ; their nobles are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 13)
Oh God when we turn away from You we end up in a state of exile. We end up thirsty and parched for You oh God, for only You can quench our thirst.
14. Therefore Shaol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 14)
Oh God even during our times, hell is becoming overpopulated and heaven a no man's land, for many are seeking the ways of the world. Others who are also becoming worldly have adopted its values and are taking callous risks such as over speeding or drinking, or abusing drugs and are ending up dead before they can even think of one day being in Your presence.
15. People are bowed down, everyone is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 15)
Although our sinful nature makes us haughty and pride, You still manage to humble us by means of situations that put us back in our respective places instead of on our thrones.
16. But the LORD of hosts is exalted by justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 16)
Oh God You are so righteous that human justice cannot be compared to Your Justice, because it is limited to human bias and fallacy, which makes human justice simply a concept that we are aiming to understand and achieve. There were situation in life where innocent people were accused of a negative action and after time new evidence proved that they were innocent.
17. Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture, fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 17)
The little ones under Your care manage to survive even tough they are brought up in a foreign environment. Typical cases are of children who live in a family that is ridden with stress, and strife. The family is a shambles broken down in ruins, however unless helped these children remain living in this hostile environment. As sons and daughters of God we are all living in the ruins of this sinful world. We are picking up the pieces of what is left of it, for were it not for Your mercy the weight of our sins of one day is enough to leave us immobilized. However You still give us the strength to move on.
18. Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood, who drag sin along as with cart ropes, 19. who say, "Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment, that we may know it!"
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 18 to 19)
Oh God we are always going after proof on which to base our belief, instead of using our belief as a start off point in order to seek more proof in order to prove the authenticity of your Word, not that it needs proof, for throughout these years meaning from 2003 to this very day I have not encountered a single even that has no available proof tied to it. However oh God all the time we are testing You because our faith is still weak. Help us oh God to place our whole faith in You which leaves no room for doubt to find a way into our hearts and mind.
20. Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 20)
Oh Prophet Isaiah the culprit for this state of disorder that we are living and the bad choices that we are making is the fault of the evil one. As the ancient serpent made the fruit of the tree, which had in it the seed of misery and the loss of heaven, look attractive to the senses the same negative spirit creates a strong will in us to be rich and powerful even if this means cheating others out their promotion or even committing murder or creating forms of crime that he makes them appear an act of justice to compensate for some unjust act that we may have had experienced in the past.
21. Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 21)
Oh God although we might consider ourselves wise and intelligent in our own eyes, however in Your eyes even our intelligence is considered as being foolhardy or a lack of wisdom. For our wisdom cannot be compared against Your infinite wisdom.
22. Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink, 23. who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of their rights!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 22 to 23)
Oh God when we indulge in excessive drinking we also open the gate for many other sins and forms of corruption. Under the effect of alcohol Herod granted the wish of his daughter to have John the Baptist beheaded. Once we sign or give our verbal consent or even vow to participate there is no going back. We are up to our neck in sin and guilt!
24. Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 24)
Oh God when we reject You in our lives we loose our essence our true value. We become like fresh grass that has now become rotten and good for nothing but to be burnt and rejected. Therefore oh God I pray that we turn away from our negative ways and turn back to Jesus while there is still the chance. Amen.
25. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 25)
Oh God I can imagine a million reasons why Your anger can still be kindled against us, for the sins of our era are always on the increase. We are sinning against nature in the sense of a never ending pattern of pollution, we are also meddling in genetics and are trying to become God ourselves, we are being unfair in the distribution of resources that are rightfully common to the world, but instead they are becoming the property of those who are rich enough to tap such resources. We are usurping the poor and enforcing taxes on them for goods that were rightfully theirs and that were usurped from from them by the west. We are still aborting children and killing each other in wars. Scandals and corruption has become the rule of the day along with many other issues. Oh God we are in truth guilty. Please have mercy on us! Amen.
26. He will raise a signal for a nation far away, and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth; Here they come, swiftly, speedily! 27. None of them is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a loincloth is loose, not a sandal-thong broken; 28. their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind. 29. Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey, they carry it off and no one can rescue. 30. They will roar over it on that day, like the roaring of the sea. And if one look to the land only darkness and distress; and the light grows dark with clouds.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 26 to 30)
Oh as You well know apart from the 'micro environment' where we live all in each of the countries, regions and continents, there is the 'macro environment' which is the world in all its totality. As humans we are more aware of what is going on in our country (and at times this is doubtful) than what is going on throughout the world, even though we have internet and news flashes all the time. Nevertheless You oh God have control over the whole word and earth. You are able in order to suit the purposes of our salvation to make a particular nation to be powerful, while others to become weak and bankrupt. However on the other hand as in the case of ISIS You are able to raise stress and pending threats and issues to help keep us in check with the awareness that even though as a nation we may be militarily and financially strong there is none like You and even though You may appear to be in the background You are in control of all that is taking place in the world.
Oh God and loving Father I would like to end this chapter by praying for peace in the world, however You give me the assurance that all that happens is under Your control and therefore I feel much at ease. However I still pray for Your protection for, although the evil one is also under Your control this negative spirit is able to do much damage and harm us both, physically, spiritually and even psychologically. Therefore I pray that You protect the world with the blood that came out of Your sacred body during the time of Your passion and protect us like a hen and its young ones Amen.
3. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
(Books of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 3 to 4)
Oh god indeed there is nothing else to be done. You created us as based on Your image, You gave us a wonderful earth, You even chose to become human in order to save us from the eternal fires of hell! What more could have been done? Still we are investing in the kingdom of the world more than in the kingdom of heaven and rightfully so we are experiencing the consequences of our decisions.
5. And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 5 to 6)
Oh God may it not be that You stop protecting us. We cannot survive without Your love and Your care. If the world denies us its love and care somehow we can cope, but if You stop loving us, we do not stand a chance. You are the rock of my salvation, the only reason why I am still alive. with You and for You only I live every day of my life.
7. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice but saw bloodshed; righteousness but heard a cry!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 7)
Oh God this is a very shocking verse, for if during these times there was bloodshed, during our times 2016 we have more bloodshed. It will be righteously merited to us that we face the consequences of our actions even if this means that we are denied our place in our heavenly home if You deem it fit and proper.However Your ways and reasoning are not like ours which are subject to sin.
8. Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 8)
Oh god You are surely referring to those who would like to possess all the capital and resources of the world even at the cost of others existence. Such people who live on power and are always craving for more. Oh God this craving for power is a very serious issue, for as humans we all have a degree of power. If 'A' is a housewife married to "B" who lacks skills such as cooking, thus making 'B" dependent on 'A', this makes "A" powerful over 'B" for he depends on her for his livelihood. On the other hand if 'B" is the bread winner and 'A" is the housewife, 'A" is subject to 'B" and if ever he denies her of the income, this makes 'B" dominant over 'A" and a super power is needed to reinstate the balance of power which is the law which states that 'A" has the right of possession on equal terms anything that is produced by the family industry as being the fruits of the common acquisition.
9. The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. 10. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 9 to 10)
Oh god when I used to work as a social worker I used to visit many beautiful homes, however in some cases these homes or better houses were almost empty because they were occupied by only one person instead of a couple as You intended. I pray oh God that the home of my soul will never be empty but always be occupied by Your presence Amen
11. Ah. you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine. 12. whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 11 to 12)
Oh God You do not want us to be sad and depressed, or stoned by alcohol. You like to see us happy, however if we do not include You in our happiness and not even thank You and praise You for such moments, when the joy is over they leave us feeling depressed and empty.
13.Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge ; their nobles are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 13)
Oh God when we turn away from You we end up in a state of exile. We end up thirsty and parched for You oh God, for only You can quench our thirst.
14. Therefore Shaol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 14)
Oh God even during our times, hell is becoming overpopulated and heaven a no man's land, for many are seeking the ways of the world. Others who are also becoming worldly have adopted its values and are taking callous risks such as over speeding or drinking, or abusing drugs and are ending up dead before they can even think of one day being in Your presence.
15. People are bowed down, everyone is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 15)
Although our sinful nature makes us haughty and pride, You still manage to humble us by means of situations that put us back in our respective places instead of on our thrones.
16. But the LORD of hosts is exalted by justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 16)
Oh God You are so righteous that human justice cannot be compared to Your Justice, because it is limited to human bias and fallacy, which makes human justice simply a concept that we are aiming to understand and achieve. There were situation in life where innocent people were accused of a negative action and after time new evidence proved that they were innocent.
17. Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture, fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 17)
The little ones under Your care manage to survive even tough they are brought up in a foreign environment. Typical cases are of children who live in a family that is ridden with stress, and strife. The family is a shambles broken down in ruins, however unless helped these children remain living in this hostile environment. As sons and daughters of God we are all living in the ruins of this sinful world. We are picking up the pieces of what is left of it, for were it not for Your mercy the weight of our sins of one day is enough to leave us immobilized. However You still give us the strength to move on.
18. Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood, who drag sin along as with cart ropes, 19. who say, "Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment, that we may know it!"
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 18 to 19)
Oh God we are always going after proof on which to base our belief, instead of using our belief as a start off point in order to seek more proof in order to prove the authenticity of your Word, not that it needs proof, for throughout these years meaning from 2003 to this very day I have not encountered a single even that has no available proof tied to it. However oh God all the time we are testing You because our faith is still weak. Help us oh God to place our whole faith in You which leaves no room for doubt to find a way into our hearts and mind.
20. Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 20)
Oh Prophet Isaiah the culprit for this state of disorder that we are living and the bad choices that we are making is the fault of the evil one. As the ancient serpent made the fruit of the tree, which had in it the seed of misery and the loss of heaven, look attractive to the senses the same negative spirit creates a strong will in us to be rich and powerful even if this means cheating others out their promotion or even committing murder or creating forms of crime that he makes them appear an act of justice to compensate for some unjust act that we may have had experienced in the past.
21. Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 21)
Oh God although we might consider ourselves wise and intelligent in our own eyes, however in Your eyes even our intelligence is considered as being foolhardy or a lack of wisdom. For our wisdom cannot be compared against Your infinite wisdom.
22. Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink, 23. who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of their rights!
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 22 to 23)
Oh God when we indulge in excessive drinking we also open the gate for many other sins and forms of corruption. Under the effect of alcohol Herod granted the wish of his daughter to have John the Baptist beheaded. Once we sign or give our verbal consent or even vow to participate there is no going back. We are up to our neck in sin and guilt!
24. Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 24)
Oh God when we reject You in our lives we loose our essence our true value. We become like fresh grass that has now become rotten and good for nothing but to be burnt and rejected. Therefore oh God I pray that we turn away from our negative ways and turn back to Jesus while there is still the chance. Amen.
25. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 25)
Oh God I can imagine a million reasons why Your anger can still be kindled against us, for the sins of our era are always on the increase. We are sinning against nature in the sense of a never ending pattern of pollution, we are also meddling in genetics and are trying to become God ourselves, we are being unfair in the distribution of resources that are rightfully common to the world, but instead they are becoming the property of those who are rich enough to tap such resources. We are usurping the poor and enforcing taxes on them for goods that were rightfully theirs and that were usurped from from them by the west. We are still aborting children and killing each other in wars. Scandals and corruption has become the rule of the day along with many other issues. Oh God we are in truth guilty. Please have mercy on us! Amen.
26. He will raise a signal for a nation far away, and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth; Here they come, swiftly, speedily! 27. None of them is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a loincloth is loose, not a sandal-thong broken; 28. their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind. 29. Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey, they carry it off and no one can rescue. 30. They will roar over it on that day, like the roaring of the sea. And if one look to the land only darkness and distress; and the light grows dark with clouds.
(Book of Prophets Isaiah Chapter 5 verses 26 to 30)
Oh as You well know apart from the 'micro environment' where we live all in each of the countries, regions and continents, there is the 'macro environment' which is the world in all its totality. As humans we are more aware of what is going on in our country (and at times this is doubtful) than what is going on throughout the world, even though we have internet and news flashes all the time. Nevertheless You oh God have control over the whole word and earth. You are able in order to suit the purposes of our salvation to make a particular nation to be powerful, while others to become weak and bankrupt. However on the other hand as in the case of ISIS You are able to raise stress and pending threats and issues to help keep us in check with the awareness that even though as a nation we may be militarily and financially strong there is none like You and even though You may appear to be in the background You are in control of all that is taking place in the world.
Oh God and loving Father I would like to end this chapter by praying for peace in the world, however You give me the assurance that all that happens is under Your control and therefore I feel much at ease. However I still pray for Your protection for, although the evil one is also under Your control this negative spirit is able to do much damage and harm us both, physically, spiritually and even psychologically. Therefore I pray that You protect the world with the blood that came out of Your sacred body during the time of Your passion and protect us like a hen and its young ones Amen.
