"My beloved had a vineyard ..." Is 5:1 (ESV)

What did God do for Israel? (Is 5:1-2 ESV)

"Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
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;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes."

What was God's reaction to Israel? (Is 5:3-4 ESV)

"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?"

God was upset because all of his careful work for Israel seemed useless. This is a big in the story of God's people.

This passage in Isaiah makes Jesus' parable in Matthew 21:33-44 even more interesting.

"When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them." (Mt 21:45 ESV)