Thorns have Grown Up

Scripture:
Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
I will make it a wasteland.
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up.
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
Isaiah 5:5-6

Observation: Isaiah is in the midst of his prophesies on the downfall of Judah and Jerusalem. The Lord uses the metaphor of a vineyard - a vineyard that he has planted, watered, trimmed, and guarded, and yet now yields no fruit - and which now he will abandon. He will do so by first removing its protection, then by ignoring it. From there, the world will take over. Its fruit that does grow will be consumed by animals, the plants will be crushed down by animals, people, and natural forces, and weeds and thorns will overgrow it. In the end, it will not be a vineyard, but it will just be a bunch of wild plants, mostly dead, and of no value.

This is what a people-group will be like when the Lord removes himself from them, whether it be Judah in circa 600 B.C., or Jerusalem in 55 A.D., or here and now, today. An observer can see they are a people, but what was once orderly rows, green leafy plants, controlled growth structure, and valuable fruit, will now look like a chaotic cluster of dead-looking plants, some wood-like but many worthless grass and thorns, without any value unless someone wishes to rip it all out and start over.

Application: I have actually seen an abandon vineyard, one that had gone untended for just a couple years. The vines grow big and wild, but also with a mostly brown dead-like appearance. Partially due to how they grow and the nature of the soil that makes for good wine grapes, wild plants and grasses grow well in its midst. You can still tell it should be a vineyard, but it is very clearly abandon and whatever grapes might grow there will be of poor quality and mostly inaccessible anyway.

A good vineyard is a place people like to go visit and tour, being shown how it is organized and managed by an expert. An abandon vineyard is actively avoided, looked upon with both remorse and derision, with comments made about the owner who let it laps, wondering why they would allow such an outcome.

I am writing about this too much, but that is the way I feel when I look upon Seattle now, and by this I truly mean Seattle (not the region, but the downtown heart of the city). It was a place I loved to walk around, to interact with people and places. We would enjoy special places during the holidays, relax by visiting markets and shops on the waterfront during the weekend, and just partake in interesting food on random days for lunch. Now, the news talks about everything from (literally) uncontrolled crime, to homeless camps, to drug epidemics, to failing infrastructure. I shake my head, seek to avoid rather than visit the city, and wonder aloud how leaders allowed this.

And Isaiah answers ... they turned away from the Lord, and the Lord has given it over. The hedge is removed, and it is being trampled. It is not pruned nor weeded, and thorns have grown up.

All this said ... I have seen that same abandon vineyard that had gone untended, after it was purchased and restored. It was as wonderful as the neighboring fields, with great production, and no sign of ever having grown fallow. So today, instead of lamenting in sadness, I will declare hope. It is time for the field we call Seattle to be reacquired and restored. There is hope that it can be weeded and replanted, and once again produce wonderful fruit.

Prayer: Yes, Lord Jesus, come. If not by your second coming, then come as the restorer of this place, as a new master, owner, and vine dresser, to recover this field and this vineyard, for your honor and glory. Amen.