Isaiah 5: Yahweh’s Unfaithful Vineyard, The Undoing of Exodus -- 2019/09/19

Rev. Neil Wehmas, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ida Grove, Iowa, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 5. It begins as a beautiful love song fit for a vineyard wedding reception, but it quickly turns into an accusation fit for Good Friday: “When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” Israel had been unfaithful to her God, and the bloodshed of injustice flowed like wine. The sung prophetic poem of Isaiah 5 is different from the previous prophecy, but it seems to be set in a similar time, around the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz or even during the reign of Uzziah. During this time, wealth and idolatry blinded the people to God as the true source of all goodness, so Isaiah here predicts the Assyrian invasion and the exile of the northern tribes. It seems like the Exodus is reversed, with God summoning the armies of Pharaoh instead of fighting against them. As we repent for the same kinds of sins, we can only look to Jesus, who took God’s accusations on Himself on Good Friday that our bloodshed might be forgiven.