ISAIAH LESSON 5


     Chapter 4 is a continuation of chapter 3.  We will begin this
lesson in Isaiah 4:1 "And in that day seven women shall take hold of
one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel:
only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach."

     We must remember that it was thought to be a curse from God, if a
woman was barren. It appears, in the verse above, that there are so
few men that seven women want to wed one man, to be able to have his
name, and perhaps, his child. They are certainly aware that one man
cannot afford to take care of seven families, so they offer to support
themselves just to be able to use his name. War takes a great toll
upon the men.

     Isaiah 4:2 "In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful
and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] excellent and
comely for them that are escaped of Israel."

     Sometimes when the Branch is mentioned, it symbolically means the
Lord Jesus. At other times, the believers in Christ are spoken of as
the branch and Jesus is the Vine. This Scripture above, to me, means
the followers of the LORD. Notice, that the crop that grows is for the
branch. We see those who have escaped as those who are believers in
Christ {Christians]. These will have no problem with crops, because
the bountiful blessings of the LORD will be upon them.

     Isaiah 4:3 "And it shall come to pass, [that he that is] left in
Zion, and [he that] remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy,
[even] every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:"

     We can see from this, that the branch has been saved from the
terrible destruction of the previous chapter. Zion, so many times,
symbolizes the church. This "living" could easily be those whose names
are written in the Lamb's book of life. They inherit eternal life.
Christians are righteous, because we have taken on the righteousness
of Christ. This "holy" could be speaking in the sight of the LORD. All
who put their faith in the LORD and live for Him, are holy, because He
has made us holy. Notice, also, that there is an "and" between
Jerusalem and Zion in the verse above. The 144,000, spared by being
sealed with the Father's mark, are physical Israel. They are the
remnant of the Father.  Christians are spiritual Israel. We are heirs
with Abraham, because of our faith. Jesus will reign 1000 years from
Jerusalem.

     Isaiah 4:4 "When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the
daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from
the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of
burning."

     "The daughters of Zion" could be speaking of the bride of Christ.
We are made holy by the washing of the water of Jesus' shed blood.
Revelation 1:5 "And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness,
[and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of
the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood,"  Jesus Christ is the Judge of all the earth. God is, also,
a consuming fire. The fire is for purification purposes.

     Isaiah 4:5 "And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of
mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the
shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory [shall be]
a defence."

     God's dwelling place is with the Christian. II Corinthians 5:1
"For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens."  Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and
he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, [and be] their God."  LORD, in verse 5 above,
means the fullness of the Godhead. This is the name for the eternally
existing One. Mount Zion is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
LORD protects the church with a cloud, and smoke by day, and a flaming
fire by night. "Assemblies" keys you that this is the congregation of
the church. He is our Defence. He builds a hedge of protection around
His followers. His blood protects us from the enemy. God's glory is
manifest in His church. The pillar of fire by night, and the smoke by
day, symbolized the presence of God.

     Isaiah 4:6 "And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the
daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert
from storm and from rain."

     This is divine protection from the storms of life, whether
physical, or spiritual. We can see the protection the church has from
the LORD.

     We will continue this lesson with Isaiah 5:1 "Now will I sing to
my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My
wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:"

     "Wellbeloved" is speaking of the Lord.  The vineyard is His
followers. The word "Wellbeloved" is an expression of appreciation to
Creator God and God our Saviour. When we sing to God, we are
expressing joy for what He has done. Song is a form of praise. The
"vineyard in a very fruitful hill" is speaking of the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ, which cannot be hid. The "vineyard" can, also, mean
the house of physical Israel. Both physical and spiritual Israel are
spoken of as God's vineyard. The difference is the very fruitful hill.

     Isaiah 5:2 "And 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."

     The Hebrew nation was chosen from all of mankind to be God's
people. They, in the beginning, were the choicest vine. The "tower"
symbolized the protection they had from their enemies. The "winepress"
was a source of squeezing the choice wine out of the grape. "Wine"
symbolizes the Holy Spirit of God. The sad thing about this vine was
the fact that the grapes were not fit to be used to make pure grape
juice. This, in a sense, is saying they went back to their
worldliness.  "Wild grapes" symbolize worldliness. They were not
acceptable for God's purposes, because they were worldly. We,
Christians, must be careful how we grow, as well. God has planted the
seed of the Word of God within us. We must grow toward Him and not go
back into worldliness. The new Christian is like the baby vine. It is
just planted. What kind of fruit the vine produces has to do with the
way we feed it. The way to have beautiful fruit is to feed the vine
the pure Word of God, regularly. The Christian must not be drawn back
into the world by getting fed the impure teachings. Read your Bible
for yourself and feed upon God's Word as you would your daily food.
Then you will produce fruit fit for God.

     Isaiah 5:3 "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of
Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard."

     Jesus Christ is the holy One. Christians should be Christlike.
Some should drop the name, Christian, because they follow the world,
instead of Christ.

     Isaiah 5:4 "What 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?"

     This is primarily speaking of God sending the prophets and judges
of old to His vineyard, and yet they did not receive them. They killed
them and went the way of the world.

     Isaiah 5:5 "And 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:"

     When the LORD was with the Hebrews, they won their battles
against the enemy. The LORD was their very present help. It was as if
He had built a fence of protection around them, and the enemy could
not destroy them. When they became worldly, the LORD removed His
protection from them, and they were overcome by their enemies. In the
basic sense, this is speaking of them being overcome by the
Babylonians.

     Isaiah 5:6 "And 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."

     This is speaking of a time when the protection of the LORD is
removed, and their enemies come and destroy them. Even the blessing of
rain is withheld, because of their unfaithfulness to God.

     Isaiah 5:7 "For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house
of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for
judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry."

     As we have said before, there is a physical house of Israel and a
spiritual house of Israel. This is primarily speaking of the physical
house of Israel. God expected them to produce good fruit. He expected
them to be fair in their judgements and to be righteous, but instead
they oppressed others and caused a cry to go forth. They were a great
disappointment to God.

     In this lesson, we are looking primarily at the judgement that
came upon the physical house of Israel, and primarily the men of
Judah. As I have said before in these lessons, we are looking at all
of the Scriptures in the Bible as a guide to us and what brings
blessings from God. We must, also, be aware of the curses that come
from disobeying God. I cannot stress enough the need to study the
Bible for yourself, so that you will not be deceived by many of the
modern {worldly} teachings. It is just as dangerous today to let the
world creep into your worship as it was for the people of those days.
In the parable of the wheat and the tares, the tares were growing with
the wheat. They, possibly, were in the same church together. One was
worldly {tares}, the other was Godly {wheat}. The thing that makes one
different from the other, is the fact that the wheat were fed on the
Truth. The tares listened to the call of the world. Just as in this
lesson today, it was possible for the vineyard to produce two types of
grapes. One pleasing unto God, and the other was pleasing to the flesh
and the world. Be careful to please God. His Word {Bible} will set you
free from worldliness.



























                          Isaiah 5 Questions


1.  And in that day __________ women shall take hold of one man.
2.  What do they want from the man?
3.  Who can the branch be?
4.  Who does the author believe verse 2 is speaking of as the branch?
5.  Who are those who have escaped?
6.  Why will their crops be good?
7.  Who does verse 3 say will be called holy?
8.  What does Zion, many times, symbolize?
9.  Who does the author believe the "living" in verse 3 are?
10. Why are Christians righteous?
11. The 144,000 in Revelation are spared because of what?
12. What saves the Christians?
13. Who does the author believe are the "daughters of Zion"?
14. What makes the Christians holy?
15. Quote Revelation chapter 1 verse 5.
16. Quote Isaiah chapter 4 verse 5.
17. Where is God's dwelling place?
18. What does "Mount Zion" symbolize?
19. What word keys us that this is the congregation of the church?
20. The pillar of fire by night and the smoke by day symbolize what?
21. What is verse 6 speaking of?
22. Who is "Wellbeloved" speaking of?
23. Who is His vineyard?
24. What are we doing, when we sing to the LORD?
25. The "vineyard of the fruitful hill" is who?
26. What kind of vine was planted in verse 2 of chapter 5?
27. What does the "tower" symbolize?
28. What kind of grapes did the vine produce?
29. What is the brand new Christian like?
30. Who had God sent to help the vine to grow good grapes?
31. What special thing did the LORD do for these Hebrews as long as
    they followed Him?
32. What must be done, to bring forth good fruit?
33. Disobedience to God's teachings brought _____ to the house of
    Israel?
34. What time is verse 6 of chapter 5 referring to?
35. From what standpoint are these lessons written?