I will sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard My well-beloved had a vineyard upon a fruitful hill.
Isaiah 5 opens with a song about a vineyard planted on the best possible ground. The gentle start hides a courtroom: before the chapter ends, God will ask the hearers to judge between Himself and His vineyard.
Isaiah's song is not the first song sung to Israel.
In Isaiah 5 the prophet sings a song of Jehovah, his well beloved, about His vineyard. Moses had already (Deut. 32) spoken a song in the ears of Israel. In magnificent language it celebrates the sovereign choice and blessing of God, the sins and punishment of the people, and also His final mercy to His land and people... Our chapter takes in a narrower field of view.
God's aim is to make the people stop and look at themselves.
God calls His people to consider their state. He would reveal His judgments to them, but He begins by making them pay attention... It is the complaint of God as He reminds His people of what He has done for them.
Two words of affection appear in this one verse, and commentators differ over whom they point to.
Two terms of affection open Jehovah's song about His vineyard: "My wellbeloved" and "My beloved." There seems to be prophetic reference in them to the love within the Godhead... Jehovah sings the song (Isa. 5:1), and the vineyard, the house of Israel, belongs to Him (Isa. 5:7), and to His beloved also (Isa. 5:1). The title "wellbeloved" (y'deed) points to the Messiah. It stands inside Jehovah's name for Solomon (Jedidiah), the "beloved of his God" (2 Sam. 12:25; Neh. 13:26). Solomon is a picture of Him who was the true Heir of Jehovah's vineyard (Mark 12:6, 7).
The same title reappears when Jesus tells His own version of this story, which is why some see the deity of Christ shining through here.
In Isaiah 5 the wellbeloved is very clearly Jehovah; it is His vineyard. In the parable in Mark's gospel the one sent by the householder into the vineyard is his wellbeloved son. There is a remarkable testimony to the deity of Christ here. It has often been said that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New.
The song is not left as a riddle. Isaiah supplies the answer himself a few lines later.
The key to the interpretation of the song is found in verse 7, "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant."
The "very fertile hill" is the whole point of the picture. God chose the site and supplied every advantage.
There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position and separated them to Himself. He removed stumbling-blocks, crowned them with favours, and granted not only protection but every means of blessing. "And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?"... Yet all was in vain. The result was only bad fruit.
The vine was a pointed choice of plant, since it exists for one purpose only.
They go back to the deliverance out of Egypt, in which He had separated them to Himself for fruit. The vine is good for nothing else but fruit, and with its trailing branches is the very image of dependence.
The complaint was aimed at one nation, but the standard it uses is not limited to them.
This applies to our consciences. God has a right to look for fruit in proportion to the pains He took, and if there were none, judgment must follow. God never stops at what is spoiled to patch up the gaps. He looks at what He did at the beginning, and compares it with the present state. That is why the Lord says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, "You have abandoned the love you had at first."
The ruined vineyard is not God's last word about it.
Then at last Israel will be no longer a fruitless vine but rather "A vineyard of red wine." Then peace will follow. Israel will be like a tree full of blossom, and will fill the face of the world with fruit. Israel will become what God from the outset intended them to be. This will never come about as the result of their efforts.
- Sung — Isaiah delivers judgment as a love song. God wants attention first, then conscience.
- Beloved — commentators differ over the words of affection in verse 1: some hear the Lord Himself, others the Messiah, the true Heir of the vineyard.
- Vineyard — verse 7 unlocks the song. The vineyard is the house of Israel, and Judah His choice planting.
- Fertile — the hill, the clearing, the choicest vine: God's side of the case is flawless, so the failure can only be on ours.
- Fruit — a vine exists for fruit alone. God measures us by what He gave at the beginning, and He will yet make His vineyard bear fruit.
And he dug it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine; and he built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes.
This song opens as a love song about a well-tended vineyard. By verse 7 the vineyard turns out to be God's own people. Verse 2 holds the shock. After every possible care, the harvest was worthless. So what fruit was God looking for, and what happens when it never comes?
The verse piles up work: digging, clearing, planting, building, hewing. One writer reads that list as God's full answer to any charge against Him.
There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position. He separated them to Himself, removed obstacles, and crowned them with favours. He gave them not only protection but every means of blessing.
Each item in the vineyard stands for something God gave Israel. One writer takes the fence as the law, and the "choicest vine" as the nation's ancestry.
The law, given through Moses, fenced them in. It was there to protect them from outside contamination, if they kept it. What is more, they were a "choicest vine," for they had descended from Abraham, one of God's choicest saints.
Another writer gives each part its own sense: the tower watches, and the winepress receives what the vineyard owes its owner.
The hedge speaks of her separation from the nations. The place for the winepress tells of the provision God had made, so that Israel could give Him some return for His great goodness. The tower shows watchfulness against evil getting in.
Verse 7 names the fruit God had been waiting for. It was not religious performance.
There was a result, but it was completely worthless and evil. Where there should have been justice, there was oppression; where there should have been righteousness, only a cry of distress. Again we must notice this: the charge against them is moral corruption, not a failure to keep religious ceremonies.
(Verse 7 in the ESV: "he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!")
The failure was not one bad season. Israel was the test case, farmed under ideal conditions. The sour fruit exposed the vine itself.
But it was a natural vine. It was only the vine of earth, given every chance to show what fruit it could produce. Israel was the best nation on earth. So we, and all humanity, are under review.
Kelly traces the failure back to Adam:
They, like Adam, broke the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.
Jesus later called Himself the vine. One writer sets the two pictures side by side.
In Isaiah the reason for the desolation is made plain. Israel as the vine brought forth nothing but wild and worthless grapes. There was no fruit for God. Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for Jehovah, and He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.
God does not begin His case by listing sins. He begins by recalling what He planted — and that method is not limited to Israel.
God has a right to look for fruit, in keeping with the trouble He took. If there is none, judgment must follow. God never stops at what is spoilt in order to repair the damage. He looks at what He did at the beginning, and compares it with the present state. That is why the Lord says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, "You have abandoned the love you had at first." What God asks of us is this. We must look at what He did at the beginning. Then we compare ourselves with the fruits and testimonies given at the start, not with the spoilt state we are in now.
- Planted. God chose the best site, the best stock, and every protection. Israel stood in "the most favourable position," so the blame cannot fall on the Planter.
- Equipped. Fence, tower and winepress each meant something: separation from the nations, watch against evil, and a place to give God His return.
- Expected. The grapes He wanted were justice and righteousness. The charge is moral, not ceremonial: oppression grew where justice should have.
- Exposed. Perfect conditions still produced wild fruit. That exposed the vine itself. It is Adam's story again: human responsibility ending in ruin.
- Replaced. Christ, the Branch God made strong for Himself, steps in as the true Vine. He is now the only source of fruit for God on earth, and God still asks us to compare ourselves with the fruit He looked for at the start.
And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.
God breaks off the song and turns to His hearers. He asks Jerusalem and Judah to settle the case between Himself and His vineyard. The jury He calls is the vineyard on trial.
One writer names the "Well-beloved" of the song and states what God is asking:
The "Well-beloved" is the Lord Jesus. God asks people to judge between Him and His vineyard — even the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah. He has done much for a nation that had a certain responsibility on the earth. He will carry out all His purposes, but first He tests Israel to see whether they will fulfil God's design themselves.
The appeal is not made to neutral outsiders. Those invited to weigh the evidence are themselves the plants that failed:
So the nation as a whole is weighed in the divine balances, and found wanting. The case is so plain and so serious that God challenges the men of Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard. Yet they themselves are the degenerate trees in question. The goodness shown to Israel was beyond doubt. So was their obligation to yield fruit for God. But obligation produces no fruit fit for Him.
In older translations the appeal reads "judge, I pray you" — a plea, not just a summons. A writer lists what God had given and hears that same tone:
He had blessed them with every earthly blessing in a pleasant land. The Lord set them apart for Himself, surrounded them with His favours, and gave them His law... Nothing was lacking on God's part. But the nation, as a whole, had turned away from Him, broken the covenant, and corrupted their ways entirely. And now Jehovah appeals to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah. His appeal is full of the most melting grace and tenderness.
The failure was not Israel's alone. One writer traces it back to Adam:
There was no failure on God's part... Yet it was all in vain. The result was only bad fruit... They, like Adam, broke the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.
The Lord Jesus later took up the same picture, and the story He told ran darker than the prophet's:
He has to portray His own death as man's answer to God. God had lavished favours and blessings on man since the day he fell in Eden, and this was the answer He got. He has to speak of how God patiently sent one servant after another, and how the tenants treated them all the same way. God had tried every possible means to get fruit from the vineyard, but all in vain. Only one hope remained. "They will respect my son."
The appeal is not locked in ancient history. One writer turns it on us:
God has a right to look for fruit in keeping with the trouble He took. If there was none, judgment must follow. God never stops at what is spoiled to patch up the gaps. He looks at what He did at the beginning, and compares it with the present state... What God asks of us is that we look at what He did at the beginning. We must compare ourselves, not with the spoiled present state, but with the fruits and testimonies given at the start. If we do not bear these fruits, we are guilty, and here is the consequence: "Judge between me and my vineyard." The principle of verses 3 and 4 applies also to the church.
That leaves a warning for anyone who still hopes to meet God on his own record:
He had planted a hedge, and He required fruit. He was fully entitled to require fruit... But when He looked for grapes, it brought forth wild grapes. He has tried requiring fruit, but man has not produced it. He has found too much bad fruit to require it again. Do not then pretend to uphold the claims of God; if you do, you must satisfy them.
- Owner. The vineyard belongs to the Well-beloved. God asks Jerusalem and Judah to settle the case.
- Gift. Nothing was lacking on God's part: a chosen place, His law, His favours, every means of blessing.
- Jury. The judges He calls are the failing plants themselves. Their verdict condemns them.
- Fruit. Obligation never produced fruit fit for God. Responsibility left with man ends in ruin, and man's answer to God was the death of His Son.
- Mirror. God still measures us by what He gave at the beginning, not by the spoiled present state.
What was there yet to do 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? --
The picture is a vineyard: God planted the choicest vine, cared for it, and got only wild grapes. In verse 4 He turns to the people of Jerusalem and Judah and asks them who is to blame.
God is not asking for information. He is making a legal appeal — and He asks the accused to give the verdict.
God weighs the whole nation in His scales and finds it wanting. The case is so plain and so serious that He challenges the men of Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard — though they themselves are the degenerate trees in question. God's goodness to Israel was beyond doubt. So was their duty to bear fruit for God.
The question rests on the record of the earlier verses. God gave the vineyard every advantage.
There was no failure on God's part. He had put Israel in the best possible position. He set them apart for Himself, cleared away obstacles, and crowned them with favours. He gave them not only protection but every means of blessing… Yet it was all in vain. The result was only bad fruit… They, like Adam, transgressed the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.
Isaiah does not leave us guessing what the grapes stood for. The song names the fruit God wanted.
In the vineyard God had planted the choicest vine. He had done everything to get fruit. He put a winepress there so that it would bring forth grapes — and it brought forth wild grapes. There was no fruit for God! The passage shows the fruit God sought: "He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!"
(Older translations read "judgment… oppression" where the ESV has "justice… bloodshed.")
The vineyard was one nation, but the test was wider. God fenced off one plot to test the soil of the whole field.
We must also remember that Israel was representative of the whole human family. God took a vine out of Egypt and planted it on a fruitful hill. He put a hedge around it and worked it with all the skill of a divine gardener. He asks, "What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" But it was a natural vine. It was only the vine of earth, given every chance to show what fruit it could produce.
God measures the present against the beginning. He uses the same test later with a church.
God has a right to look for fruit in keeping with the pains He took. If there were none, judgment had to follow. God never stops at what is spoiled to patch up the gaps. He looks at what He did at the beginning and compares it with the present state. This is why the Lord says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, "You have abandoned the love you had at first." God asks us to look at what He did at the beginning. We must compare ourselves, not with the present spoiled state, but with the fruits and testimony given at the start.
God's answer came centuries later. He made one last trial of man.
The world is a moral wilderness. Into it, and into that little plot on which He had lavished such care, came His final trial of man! "I have one Son, it may be they will respect him when they see him." The story is soon told. They gave Him a cross when He came looking for a crown! They gave Him spitting when He came looking for fruit! And so ended the four thousand years of testing under every form of trial. Man cannot now say that God left one single method untried; he is without excuse.
The failure of the old vine is what makes Jesus' claim so striking.
Isaiah makes the reason for the desolation plain. Israel as the vine brought forth nothing but wild and worthless grapes. There was no fruit for God. Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for the Lord. He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.
- Care — God gave every advantage: the choicest vine, the hedge, the winepress, every means of blessing. The failure was not His.
- Claim — Care creates a claim. God had a right to look for fruit matching the pains He took, and the fruit He named was justice and righteousness.
- Court — The guilty are asked to give the verdict. Judah must judge its own case, and by answering, condemn itself.
- Cross — God's last trial of man was to send His Son. They gave Him a cross when He came looking for a crown, and man is left without excuse.
- Christ — The vine of earth gave God nothing. All fruit for God on the earth now comes from Christ Himself.
And now, let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden under foot;
The song has turned into a courtroom scene. God has shown what He did for His vineyard, asked Judah for the verdict, and now He passes sentence: He will take away the protections He Himself put there.
One writer sets God's care for Israel beside the nation's answer to it.
This was God's tender care of Israel. He blessed them with every earthly blessing in a pleasant land. The Lord set them apart for Himself, surrounded them with His favours, and gave them His law... Nothing was lacking on God's part. But the nation, as a whole, had turned away from Him, broken the covenant, and completely corrupted their ways... Under the law there was no fruit fit for God. With man on the ground of responsibility there is nothing but failure, and since law must take its course, judgment follows.
The hedge, the tower and the winepress each stood for something. One writer reads them back to their meaning for Israel.
Isaiah 5:1-7 gives a clear explanation of the vineyard a man planted: "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the whole house of Israel" (v.7). The hedge speaks of her separation from the nations. The place for the winepress tells of the provision God had made, so that Israel might give Him back some return for His great goodness. The tower shows watchfulness against evil getting in.
So removing the hedge ends Israel's separation from the nations. God lifts what kept them out, and the vineyard lies open.
The most striking thing in the verse is who does the demolishing. The One who planted, fenced and built the tower is the One who breaks the fence.
But man always fails in what God expects from him, and He would have it seen what man is. God does all that man could ask, and this only shows man's ill will. Sacrifices, temple, service — God had arranged all. The people fail in all; and God destroys what He had Himself made. He breaks the fence... God entrusted man with true privileges; but man fails: God takes all away, and the result is a judgment.
The same writer adds that when people are far from God, "they cling to religious forms; it is the sign that all is going to ruin." Forms matter more to people as God matters less to the conscience.
The threat was not poetry only. Once the fence was down, real invaders came in, and one writer follows the fulfilment step by step.
And so the Lord permitted the "wild boar out of the wood" to waste it. He also says, "I will take away the hedge of it"; "I will lay it waste"; and "I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." It bore fruit only in sin and was false to the Lord... So the Lord gave him up to the Gentile king Nebuchadnezzar, to rule over him. He commanded him to accept this punishment as coming from the Lord.
Setting a nation aside is not the same as abandoning it. One writer separates Israel's public role from the question of whether people are saved.
Israel, as a vessel to bear God's name to the world, was set aside; but this did not touch the question of God's faithfulness. He will restore Israel in the last days... The question here is not the certainty of individual salvation, but about the vessel God is using to bear His name before the world. People who believe will go to heaven, but the vessel of testimony, having failed, must be broken.
The verse is not locked in the past. The same principle reaches those who now hold the privileges Judah once held.
Judah was the plant of Jehovah's pleasure, but it brought forth wild grapes. God judges the vineyard, and Christendom as well. We have enjoyed greater advantages. Our Christian responsibility is greater, so our judgment will be greater too. God enters into details to show the righteousness of His judgments.
- Planted — God gave Israel a fenced place, choice vines, a tower and a winepress. The hedge marked her off from the nations; the tower watched against evil.
- Provoked — nothing was lacking on God's side. The nation failed, as man under responsibility always does.
- Pulled down — the Planter Himself breaks the fence. He takes away what He had given, and the loss of protection is the judgment.
- Plundered — with the hedge gone, the wild boar came in, and God handed Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar.
- Preserved — the vessel of testimony breaks, but God's faithfulness holds. He will restore Israel in the last days, and He warns those who now hold her privileges: greater advantage means greater judgment.
and I will make it a waste -- it shall not be pruned nor cultivated, but there shall come up briars and thorns; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
The song about the vineyard ends with the owner's decision: He will stop working it. The threat is not a storm or an invading army. It is withdrawal — no pruning, no hoeing, no rain. What happens when God stops tending what He planted?
The sentence in verse 6 follows a case God has already made.
There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position. He separated them to Himself, removed obstacles, and crowned them with favours. He granted not only protection but every means of blessing... Yet it was all in vain. The result was only bad fruit... They, like Adam, transgressed the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.
What fruit had He looked for, and why did heaven close? Commentators answer from Judah's own record:
The wild grapes were the product of their corrupt nature. They were the oppression and unrighteousness that raised a cry to God, instead of the praise, thanksgiving and worship the Lord looked for. Moreover, the history of Judah, like the history of the ten tribes, was one of idolatry... No wonder God threatened to leave the land to "briers and thorns," and to "command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it."
The one who ruins the vineyard is its owner. Everything He set up for His people, He takes down Himself.
But man always fails in what God expects from him, and God wants it seen what man is. God does all that man could ask, and this only shows the ill-will of man. Sacrifices, temple, service — God had arranged it all. The people fail in all of it; and God destroys what He had Himself made. He breaks the fence... God entrusted true privileges to man; but man fails: God takes it all away, and the result is judgment.
Left alone, the ground does not stay neutral. What grows there points back to Eden, and forward to the day the curse ends.
It shows how many the fruits are of the curse pronounced in Eden because of the sin of man. But that curse will be removed in the millennium, when the myrtle and such trees will take their place.
The ruin has two sides: the ground runs wild, and the sky shuts. No farmer can order the clouds; only God can. Commentators trace how that rain later failed:
First the land had to lose its people, and second it had to become barren and sterile. Titus scattered the Jews, and that brought the first. God withheld the latter rain, and that brought the second. The rain failed in May, when the land needed it most. The effects were so serious that the country turned sterile and barren, and became overrun with thorns.
The same principle reaches past Judah. Where God gives more, He asks more:
Judah was the plant of Jehovah's pleasure, but it brought forth wild grapes. God judges the vineyard, and He also judges Christendom. We have enjoyed greater advantages. Our responsibility as Christians is greater, so the judgment will be greater too. God enters into details to show the righteousness of His judgments.
The same closed heaven can settle over one life, not just a nation:
Can we not see a fitting and striking picture here? The barren land and the desolate wilderness show a soul out of communion, a soul that has disobeyed the precious commandments of Christ. Such a person has no refreshing communications with heaven. No showers come down. There are no unfoldings of the preciousness of Christ to the heart, and no sweet ministry from an ungrieved Spirit to the soul. The Bible seems a sealed book. All is dark, dreary and desolate.
- Planted — God gave the vineyard every advantage He could give; the failure was never on His side.
- Barren — He looked for praise, thanksgiving and worship; what came up was oppression, unrighteousness and idolatry.
- Dismantled — the fence, the temple, the service were all His work. God gave real privileges, and God took them all away.
- Overgrown — left alone, the ground yields the thorns of Eden's curse. In the millennium the myrtle will take their place.
- Dry — a shut heaven left the land barren. It leaves a soul out of communion just as barren, with the Bible a sealed book.
For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of his delight and he looked for justice, and behold, blood-shedding; for righteousness, and behold, a cry.
The love song about a vineyard ends here with the singer naming his subject: the vineyard is a nation. Two questions follow. What had God done for this vineyard? And what "fruit" was He looking for?
The picture is not decoration. Each feature of the vineyard stands for something God gave Israel.
Isaiah 5:1-7 explains the truth of the vineyard planted by a man: "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the whole house of Israel" (v. 7). The hedge speaks of her separation from the nations. The place for the winepress tells of the provision God had made for Israel to give Him some return for His great goodness. The tower shows watchfulness against the intrusion of evil.
The verse names God as the owner of the vineyard. Everything it needed, He had already given.
There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position. He separated them to Himself, removed stumbling-blocks, and crowned them with favours. He granted not only protection but every means of blessing… Yet all was in vain. The result was only bad fruit… They, like Adam, broke the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.
The verse tells us what "grapes" meant to the owner. He was not counting sacrifices; He was looking at how people treated each other. (Older translations render the pair as "judgment… oppression" where the ESV has "justice… bloodshed.")
Result there was, but of a wholly worthless and evil sort. Where judgment should have been, oppression was found; where righteousness, only a cry of distress. Once again we have to notice that the charge against them concerns moral depravity rather than a lack of ceremonial observances.
The second half of the line narrows the focus from the whole house of Israel to the men of Judah — the tribe with the royal promise. That extra privilege made no difference to the outcome.
The choicest vine is also called the pleasant plant in v. 7, and this pleasant plant stands for the men of Judah… Despite the privileges shown them, because of God's covenant with David, they were no better than the other tribes. When the Lord Jesus came to earth, He was of the royal line.
Israel's case is not just old history. If the best-tended vineyard produced only wild grapes, no one can bring God fruit of his own.
God does not come and tell us that He expects something from man. He tells us something that will trouble us a great deal more — that man has failed to meet His requirements… He had every right to ask for fruit: "What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?" But when He looked for grapes, it brought forth wild grapes… Do not then pretend to maintain the claims of God; if you do, you must satisfy them.
The picture of the vine runs on into the New Testament.
He planted Israel as a vine on the earth and looked for fruit, but it produced only wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1-7). He then planted the true Vine on the earth, which in every way gave much fruit (John 15:1). In another picture, the Lord let out a vineyard to Israel and prepared it for fruit-bearing. But when He sent for the fruit, they ill-treated and killed His servants. Last of all He sent His Son, but Him they killed also.
What Israel failed to give, Another gives. The Old Testament had already pointed to Him.
The Psalm declares the vine's desolation, but it also names "the Branch" and "the Son of Man," whom "you made strong for yourself." In Isaiah the reason for the desolation is plain. Israel as the vine brought forth nothing but wild and worthless grapes. There was no fruit for God. Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for Jehovah, and He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.
- Planted — every part of the vineyard was a gift. The hedge meant separation from the nations, the tower watchfulness against evil, the winepress a way to give God some return.
- Privileged — Judah, the "pleasant plant," had God's covenant with David. It still proved no better than the other tribes.
- Probed — God looked for justice and righteousness between people. He found oppression and a cry. The charge was moral, not ceremonial.
- Proved — nothing was lacking on God's side. So the barren crop settles the case: human responsibility ends in ruin. No one can bring God fruit of his own.
- Provided — last of all, God sent His Son. The true Vine now gives God the fruit the old vine never gave.