|
The Vineyard
Matthew 21:33-41 & Isaiah 5:1-6
The Text
Matthew 21:33-41: The vineyard in the hands of Israel
33Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
34And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
35And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
38But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
39And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
40When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Isaiah 5:1-6: The vineyard in the hands of the church
1Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
Summary of Events
A householder planted a vineyard, placed a hedge around it, and built a tower within it. He placed the vineyard in the care of husbandmen and sent the husbandmen servants to help harvest the fruit of the vineyard. However, the husbandmen beat the servants and killed them. Then the householder sent the husbandmen his son and they killed him as well. As a result, the householder destroyed the husbandmen and placed the vineyard in the care of different husbandmen.
This new set of husbandmen also did not properly take care of the vineyard. The householder came and found that the vineyard had only yielded wild grapes. He then decided to destroy the vineyard by removing its hedge and allowing it to be trodden down. He stopped pruning it, cut off its water supply, and allowed thorns to grow within it.
The Spiritual Meaning
The householder is God. The first group of husbandmen are the people of Israel. The vineyard represents God’s use of an organized group of people as His earthly representation of His kingdom. God first used national Israel as the caretakers of His Word. The hedge represents God’s protection:
“Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?” (Psalm 80:12)
“Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” (Job 1:10)
“Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.” (Psalm 89:40)
The tower represents the strength of God’s protection and the fact that His name is there:
“The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)
“For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.” (Psalm 61:3)
Even though the people of Israel continuously rebelled against God, He often protected them from their enemies.
The servants the householder sent represent the prophets God sent to warn Israel and Judah of the destruction that would come because of their rebellion, but these prophets were always scoffed at. The Israelites did not heed the warnings the prophets brought.
The son of the householder represents Christ. Jesus was in the blood line of Israel, but His own people rejected Him:
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:11)
He was crucified by His own people. When Christ hung on the cross the veil of the temple was rent:
“And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” (Mark 15:37-38)
This pointed to the fact that the temple was no longer the holy place. The role of being the earthly representation of God’s people had been taken from the Israelites and given to the church. In other words, the vineyard had been given to another group of husbandmen.
It’s important to note the consequence of the Israelites' rebellion. God indicated that He would destroy them, but not the vineyard. We saw this take place as God brought destruction on Israel, but that did not bring an end to God’s use of an organized group of people representing His kingdom on Earth. God continued to employ that program by switching His focus to the church.
We read that the vineyard was planted in a very fruitful hill. The Hebrew phrase translated as "in a very fruitful hill" should have been translated "in the horn of the son of oil." We can understand why the translators were confused and tried to make sense of this sentence by changing the words, but "in the horn of the son of oil" is what the Hebrew actually says. The word "horn" in the Bible can also be a synonym for strength and oil is a synonym for the Holy Spirit. The son of the Holy Spirit is Christ of course, so this verse is saying that the vineyard was in the strength of Christ.
We also read that the vineyard was planted with the choicest vine, and that of course is Christ:
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
When the vineyard is in the hands of the church we find the statement, "Judge between Me and the vineyard." The instruction here is to compare the vineyard to the law of God. In other words, how does the vineyard stack up against the rules that are laid out for the church? When God has declared that women are not to be pastors how well has the church followed the rule? When God has mandated that there is not to be divorce for any reason how has the church handled that rule? We could go through a number of doctrines. The vineyard does not stack up well against the commandments of God. The church has modified God's law to satisfy its logic and desires.
God has given the church His completed Word. The nation of Israel didn't have that luxury. God has carefully laid out all the rules the church is commanded to follow. Yet, the churches have rebelled as they have created their own doctrines that are not Biblical. God gave them a warning:
"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." (Revelation 2:5)
In fact, God gave the church over 1,900 years to correct itself. As this parable of the vineyard states, what more could God have done? God continued to look for it to repent but, by and large, all He found was wild grapes.
We read that because of the second group of husbandmen's inproper care of the vineyard, the householder removed the hedge. The hedge being taken away indicates that God has removed His protection from the church. Though Satan’s work was still permitted to enter into the churches to a degree, the Holy Spirit was present in the churches throughout the Early Rain restraining Satan’s work. Once the Great Tribulation began, God removed the Holy Spirit from the churches and Satan was allowed to set up shop and completely rule within them (see Study on The Antichrist).
We also read that the householder let the vineyard be trodden down and that reminds us of the destruction the pastors have brought on the church:
“Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.” (Jeremiah 12:10)
The pastors are not intentionally bringing about spiritual destruction. They believe they are teaching the true Gospel but in actuality Satan is using them to further his work (see Study on The Antichrist). The phrase “trodden my portion under foot” identifies with the Great Tribulation when the sanctuary is trodden under foot:
“Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” (Daniel 8:13)
This is all language to indicate that God’s days of using an organized group of people to represent His kingdom has come to an end. He has removed His name from it by removing the Holy Spirit. It has been destroyed. True, the churches still physically exist but they are no longer being used of God. He has abandoned them in this time of Great Tribulation.
We read that the householder allowed briers and thorns to grow in the vineyard and they represent that which has been rejected by God:
“For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.” (Hebrews 6:7-8)
The Bible speaks of the briers and thorns as being among the true believers:
“And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.” (Ezekiel 2:6)
This parallels the parable of the wheat and tares where God speaks of the church membership as being a mixture of wheat and tares (saved and unsaved). There He indicates that it was His plan to allow the wheat and tares to coexist in the churches throughout the Early Rain (the period from 33 AD to the beginning of the Great Tribulation - see Study on The Latter Rain), but during the Great Tribulation He is gradually removing the true believers from the churches so that only the tares are left to be burned in the end. (For more on this, please see Study on Wheat And Tares).
We read that eventually all the land will be briers and thorns:
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.” (Isaiah 7:23-24)
The land in view is the earthly representation of God’s kingdom, which is the churches. This is speaking of the same thing as the time when all of the true believers have been removed from the churches, when all that are left are the tares.
Isaiah chapter 10 is directly addressing the situation in the church of our day and there God indicates that He will send famine among His people and will ultimately destroy “his thorns and his briers”:
“Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day” (Isaiah 10:16-17)
God uses the language “his thorns and his briers” as a reminder that the people in view here are not those out in the secular world who want nothing to do with God. Rather, those in view are the ones who identify themselves as God’s people, but in actuality are not saved. Sadly, the vast majority of those in the churches fall into this category; they believe they are saved but are not.
God commanding the clouds to not rain upon the vineyard is indicative of the Gospel being shut off within the churches. Remember, spiritual rain has everything to do with the Gospel:
“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.” (Deuteronomy 32:1-4)
And it is the hearing of the Word of God that brings salvation:
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
In other words, spiritual rain has to do with the Gospel going out to bring salvation. That is why those who become saved during periods of spiritual rain are called the fruit of that period’s spiritual harvest:
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” (James 5:7)
When the Great Tribulation began God abandoned the church by removing the Holy Spirit from it (see Study on The Antichrist) so that no longer is the Holy Spirit there applying the Word of God to hearts in order to bring salvation.
|
|
