“Let me sing of my beloved, a song of my beloved, about His vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard in a very fertile hill. He dug it out and cleared its stones, planted it with a choice vine, built a tower in the midst of it, and even cut out a winepress. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes. So now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done?
Why then, when I expected it to yield good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes? So now, I will make known to you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down the fence, and it will be trodden down. I will lay it waste: it will not be pruned or hoed, but briers and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it. For the vineyard of Adonai-Tzva’ot is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah the planting of His delight. He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed, for righteousness, but behold, a cry!” Isaiah 5:1-7
This passage illustrates God’s great love and care for Isreal, and yet after all God did for them it didn’t seem to have a positive impact on them in this case. God didn’t withdraw support out of spite but out of concern for how the blessings were being used to harm others. “Now the deeds of the flesh are clear: sexual immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, strife, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, just as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit God’s kingdom. But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Ruach, let us also walk by the Ruach.” Galatians 5:19-25
Often it is easy to focus on God’s words warning of destruction and withdraw of protection without concern for the context. I’m not saying that the right context removes all discomfort, but it can greatly alter our perception of things. God wasn’t looking for an excuse to punish people. God started with love and care and even what we see as punishment was also a form of care because enabling harmful behavior is not truly loving to anyone, as it promotes the harm of others and can keep toxic people from seeing the need to change. When we misuse the gifts that God has given us it is not just a personal thing. As the saying goes, no man is an island. What we do or neglect to do has an impact on others. So, let’s not ignore the good things God does for us and mistreat others as unworthy of the same love that was shown to us. When we don’t accept love for ourselves it can be hard share love with others .
