Lesson on Isaiah 3:13-15

In the previous lesson, we focused on the failure of Judah's leaders to use their influence in a positive manner. In this lesson, we will see that God cares immensely for the mistreated people.

Isaiah 3:13-15.(NIV)(NASB)(NKJV)(NCV)

Within these three verses, we find two metaphors. The first is a court metaphor. Isaiah uses the picture of a court case to describe God's judgment of Judah's leaders. Not surprisingly, God takes the role of the judge, and the guilty leaders become the defendants. God delivers the verdict, "Guilty as charged."

In this verdict, God describes His people with the second metaphor. He says the leaders of Judah have ruined His vineyard (Isaiah 13:14). God also uses a vineyard metaphor for His people in Isaiah 5. In chapter 5, however, He compares Israel, the northern half of the kingdom, to a vineyard. From the description in Isaiah 5, we catch a glimpse of the labor-intensive establishment of a vineyard:

He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well (Isaiah 5:2).

Indeed, God has invested Himself in His people. He has cleared the way for their home throughout their exodus from Egypt and their conquest of Canaan. Yet the leaders have carelessly trampled the people. As God delivers His judgment, He reminds the leaders that He will not ignore their abuse of the people He's entrusted to their care. Notice the possessives in this passage. Three times we read that the mistreated and poor belong specifically to God ("his people," "'my vineyard,'" and "'my people'" in verses 14 and 15).

Hundreds of years after Isaiah, Jesus speaks in a similar fashion, although the metaphor He uses is different. He explains:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away . . . .

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:11-12b, 14-15).

Jesus, too, uses a possessive to claim the people belong to Him. Jesus, too, discusses leaders who don't care for the people as He cares for them. Just as the owner of a fine vineyard cares for his vines, the owner of a flock protects his sheep and tends to the hurt.

The realization of God's care, I believe, prompts a vast majority of the psalms, among them the beloved Psalm 23, which offers another picture of God as a shepherd. Psalm after psalm records the cries of people in distress, and God hears each one.

Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:6-7).

To read the previous Isaiah article, click here.
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.