DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Isaiah
5:7-16
(2/23-3/8)
Reading at Sixth Hour on Tuesday, Second Week of Great Lent
The Lord’s
Vineyard: Isaiah 5:7-16 SAAS, especially
vs. 7: “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house
of
2) This passage, starts from the lyric parable (Is. 5:1-6),
then catalogs six woes, each specifying a sin of the people against which the
Lord issues judgment. The subject
of today’s passage (vss. 8-16) is two of these woes. Then, 3) the other four woes are
addressed in Isaiah 5:17-26. 4) The
concluding section (Is. 5:26-30) is not assigned in the Church’s
Lectionary. It describes the coming
conquest of the nation by foreign armies, describing these invading conquerors
as clear instruments of God’s judgment against sinfulness.
In the present reading, God pronounces His first woe
against the covetous who are forcing their neighbors off family property. Driven by the passion to “...join
house to house...” and to “...add field to field...” (vs. 8),
the wealthy squeezed poorer neighbors from their hereditary lands; but the Lord
exclaims curtly, “Surely you will not dwell alone in the land” (vs.
8). This may well be read as a
rebuking question or a sardonic exclamation.
When one member of God’s people disenfranchises a
brother from his God-given heritage, he does a great sin in God’s
eyes. Acquisition was accomplished
by excessive interest on debts, or even by raw judicial force - as in the case
of Ahab and Jezebel against Naboth (3 Kg.
20:1-16). Note: greedy removal of
others from their lands violates the tenth commandment (Ex. 20:17), breaks
fellowship, and rejects the basic human covenant given by God.
In the first woe, the Lord specifies the sin and declares
the sure judgment that is to follow: desolation and depopulation (Is. 5:9) -
often due to crop failure (vs. 10).
Historically, the sequence of greed, land
appropriation, and depopulation have repeatedly led, all over the world,
to rural poverty, starvation, and the hindering of food production. This happened during Isaiah’s time
in
God next proclaims His second woe against those wasting
life in drinking and carousing.
“Woe to those who rise early in the morning to follow intoxicating
drink; to those who continue until night, for wine shall inflame them”
(vs. 11) Yes,
they may enjoy “...the harp, the strings, the tambourine and
flute...” (vs. 11), but they are indicted for such feasting: “...they do not look at the deeds of the Lord...”(vs. 12).
The self-indulgent do not see the hand of God at work in their actions. Then and now, there are godless
secularists - people we know too well!
In the end, predictably, both for worldly people and
godless societies, captivity, death, hunger, and humiliation are bound to come
(vss. 13-15). These same
declarations of consequence appear in the Magnificat,
in the Song of the Theotokos: “He hath filled
the empty with good things and the rich hath He sent empty away” (Lk. 1:53). In
all generations everywhere, God opposes greed, aggrandizement, self-indulgence,
and the spurning of His provision for all people.
Spare us, O Lord, according to the multitude of Thy mercy, for our
days have passed away in vanity.
Wrest us out of the hand of the adversary and forgive us our sins that
we may put off the old man and be clothed upon with the new man and may live
unto Thee in all things.
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