Sour Grapes!
Have you ever eaten an unripened persimmon? My dad thought it would be just precious to trick me into eating one when I was little. He told me how good and sweet it would be, and then keeled over laughing when I bit into it and was almost left with a permanent pucker! That is by far the most sour thing I have ever eaten in my life.
Part of the reason the sourness of the persimmon was such a shock to me was because of the expectation of sweetness I had (thanks Dad!). Isaiah paints a very similar portrait of a failed expectation in Isaiah 5. In a beautiful bit of poetry, Isaiah describes how God did everything possible to ensure that His chosen people, the Children of Israel, would be fruitful. Here are the first two verses of chapter 5:
Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
He dug it all round, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
The He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless one.
Look at the term of endearment Isaiah used 3 times – beloved. Ok, lets figure who is who in these verses. The “beloved” is most likely God (or the “Angel of God”). Isaiah is singing this song for the one he loves, which is God. “His vineyard” is referencing the Children of Israel. Look at everything God, the beloved, did to make sure that His people would have a bumper crop; He planted on a fertile hill, made sure the soil was properly prepared, planted it with the best possible vine, and made sure it was protected from predators with a tower right in the middle of the vineyard.
Even with all of this preparation, the one thing God did not “plan” on was the rebellion of His own children. He fully expected sweet, juicy grapes. In other words, He expected His people to flourish and live holy lives while living under His presence. Well, that is not what happened. Instead, the people became stubborn and sinful (see Isaiah 1). These actions were described as “worthless” grapes.
Here is the odd thing – in many instances, God’s people kept right on giving their sacrifices and carrying on with the appearances of “church” while living wickedly. Isaiah 1:13-14 says, “Bring your worthless offerings no longer…I am weary of bearing them.” Are you living right smack dab in the middle of sin and yet continue to put on the pretense of going to church? If so, you are causing the same kind of reaction in God as the Children of Israel. To put it simply, God is tired of it. Not only is He tired of it, but He promised judgment upon this action (read the rest of Isaiah 5).
Because we serve a God of second (and third and fourth…) chances, He will not leave us without a way of coming back to Him. Is He sick of our hypocritical lifestyle? Absolutely! But He loves us so much, that all we have to do is “consent and obey” (Is. 1:19). God longs for a restored relationship with all of us. So the decision is yours: will you “consent and obey” or “refuse and rebel”? You have the free will to do what you wish, just make sure you are ready to face the consequences. God has done EVERYTHING possible to ensure you produce a bumper crop of fruit in your life. He gave His only Son to die for your sin so that you might have an abundant life. Don’t return to Him with worthless grapes!
