Isaiah 5.1-30 tells us through the “Parable (midrashic aggadah) of the Vineyard about the coming judgment on Judah. The bottom line of “why” is because they rejected the Torah and despised the word of Yehovah-Isa 5.24.
v 1…Let me sing now for my beloved (“dodi” in Hebrew and used in Song of Songs for either Yehovah or Messiah) a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard (Israel and Judah-Isa 5.7; Joel 1.7; Ezek 15.1-8; Ezek 17.1-10; Matt 21.33).;
v 2…And he dug it all around, removed its stones (meaning he corrected the injustices and the hindrances through certain prophets like Moses, Joshua, etc-Isa 40.3-4 62.10-14; Mal 3.1-3), and planted it with the choicest vine (Israel in general-Jer 2.21; Gen 49.11) and he built a tower in the middle of it (the Temple, with the priests as watchmen, teachers and who taught the Torah-Prov 18.10; Psa 18.2, 59.9; Matt 21.33), and hewed out a wine vat in it (teaching). Then he expected it to produce grapes (good doctrine and fruit and works from the Torah, justice, mercy, faithfulness-John 15.16; Prov 8.19), but produced worthless ones (wild grapes, disobedient to the Torah, their own good works-Jer 2.21, 8.13).
v 3…And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard (this is a Yom Ha DIn term for “examine yourselves”),
v 4…What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it (Mic 6.1-5; Ezek 16.1-3; Ezek 20.1-44; Deut 32.1-43 also tells this story. Remember, this will happen again in the birth-pains)? Why, when I expected it to produce grapes did it produce worthless ones (wild grapes-Mark 11.11-14).
v 5…So now let me tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge (the Torah will no longer be a “magen” or shield to them for protection-Prov 30.5-6; Psa 84.9; Deut 28.1-14) and it will be consumed (by Assyria, later Babylon, then Rome, and in the birth-pains Gog and Magog/Russia and finally the False Messiah); I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground (the Temple, Jerusalem and the land destroyed).
v 6…And I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed (or cultivated because it was of no use), but briars and thorns will come up (devastated by war, uncultivated, cursed-Gen 3.17-18). I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it (a drought, and spiritually this means that no study or obedience to the Torah will bring spiritual barrenness).
Isa 5.7-30 is going to bring more charges, as if being indicted in a legal system
v 7…For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts (Yehovah Tzavaot or armies) is the house of Israel (the ten tribes), and the men of Judah (the two tribes) his delightful plant (he is expanding the parable). Thus he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed (same today), for righteousness (as defined by the Torah), but behold, a cry of distress (from the poor and oppressed).
v 8…Woe (a poetical term for lamentations await you) to those who add house to house, and field to field (like Jezebel did to Naboth through unjust means, or ignored the Yovel year and wouldn’t give it back, etc), until there is no more room, so that you have to live alone in the midst of the land (as owners of large estates, with others as tenants and servants).
v 9…In my ears (Isaiah’s) the Lord of hosts (Yehovah of the armies) has sworn (God made this known to him), “Surely many houses shall become desolate, even great and fine ones without occupants (speaks of going into exile, which they finally did with Babylon and will again during the Roman era and the the birth-pains with the False Messiah-Matt 24.15-21).
v 10…For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath (10.5 gallons) of wine, and a homer (eight bushels) of seed will yield an ephah of grain (less than one-tenth of what is sown; a famine).
v 11…Woe (the second one) to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink (alcoholic, drunkenness); who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them (their lusts and passions)!
v 12…And their banquets by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of Yehovah (his word in the Torah, his actions), nor do they consider the works of his hands (what he is doing now and what he is about to do. They were too busy with the things of this world and its entertainments).
v 13…Therefore my people go into exile for their lack of knowledge (da’at or knowledge of Torah facts-Hos 4.6; Isa 5.24); and their honorable men are famished (a famine not only physically but spiritually), and their multitude is parched with thirst (literal water, but thirsty for the living water of Torah, it was scarce).
v 14…Therefore Sheol (the abode of the dead) has enlarged herself (to receive the dead which are going to die during the famine and thirst) and opened its mouth without measure (wide, no boundary to receive a great number); and her glory (the nobles, princes, rulers, etc) and her multitude (of great ones), and their pomp (the noisy who sing and roar at parties and feasts) and he who exults in her (at the their feasts) shall come down (descend) into it (Sheol, abode of the dead).
v 15…So the common man (Hebrew “adam” is used to designate the common, poor person) will be humbled (just like the rich and nobles) and the man of importance (Hebrew “ish” is used to designate this) abased (brought low in the dust, equal to the poor person now, no discrimination between the rich and the poor).
v 16…But the Lord of hosts (Yehovah Tzavaot or armies) will be exalted in judgment (by executing his just judgment upon his enemies), and the holy God (ha El kadosh) will show himself holy (that he has a kedusha, set apart from all others) in righteousness (by displaying it).
v 17…Then the lambs (literal lambs, but the people of God) will graze as in their pasture (feeding on the Torah of Messiah), and strangers (gerim) will eat in the waste places of the wealthy (also speaks of blessings in the Messianic Kingdom).
v 18…Woe (the third one) to those who drag iniquity (to themselves because they seek it, as opposed to those caught unaware or have lust, temptations from Ha Satan) with cords of falsehood (vanity, no purpose), and sin as if with cart ropes (like an animal that draw carts with ropes).
v 19…Who say, “Let him make speed (Yehovah), let him (Yehovah) hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near (they don’t believe that God will do any harm to them, calling on God to inflict his punishment), and come to pass that we know (they didn’t believe the word of Yehovah through the prophets was ever going to happen).
v 20…Woe (fourth one) to those who call evil (ra) good (tov), and good evil (reinventing what is good or bad. The essence of psychological warfare is to confuse the meaning of words and to infiltrate the mind with conflicting concepts); who substitute darkness (ignorance) for light (understanding) and light for darkness (never more applicable than today with the rejection of the Torah for man-made doctrines-Rev 22.18-19); who substitute bitter for sweet (man’s word and oral Torah over the written Torah-Psa 119.103), sweet for bitter.
v 21…Woe (fifth one) to those who are wise in their own eyes (conceited, arrogant-Prov 3.7, 18.12; Rom 12.16), and clever in their own sight (they don’t see the necessity to study and learn).
v 22… Woe (sixth one) to those who are heroes (givorim or mighty) in drinking wine (that can tolerate a great amount and boast about it); and valiant men (same as above) in mixing strong drink (fermented).
v 23…Who justify the wicked (the rasha) for a bribe (in court by crooked judges and religious leaders who don’t call sin a sin-Deut 16.19) and take away the righteousness of the righteous (by convicting them for being unrighteous).
v 24…Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble (the flame-Acts 2.30), and dry grass collapses into the flame (a parallelism), so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust (past all hope of healing and will vanish, no fruit); for they have rejected the Torah (Jam 2.12) of the Lord of hosts (Yehovah Tzavaot or armies), and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel (this is the bottom line as to why a judgment was coming-Deut 28.1-14 for the blessings, and Deut 28.15-68 for the curses. For example, in the 1700’s the Reform Movement started in Germany and this paved the way for the Holocaust. Jews in Germany also learned the ways of the non-Jews).
v 25…On this account (v 24) the anger (Hebrew “aph” or “nose” because when one is angry the nose flares) of Yehovah has burned against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them and struck them down. And the mountains quaked (earthquakes, kingdoms of the earth in fear) and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets (for the dogs to eat). For all this his anger is not spent, but his hand is stretched out still (this is an idiom meaning he is not done yet-Isa 9.12, 17, 21, 10.4).
v 26…He will also lift up a standard (a term for the Messiah-Isa 11.10-12. Judgment is coming because of Isa 5.24) to the nations afar off (to attack Israel, away from God), and will whistle (hiss as if drawing bees out of the hive) for it (Assyria, but later Babylon, Rome, but eventually Russia/Gog and Magog in the birth-pains) from the ends of the earth; and behold, it will come with speed swiftly (alluding to Isa 5.19, God will hasten his word-Isa 10.5-11; Joel 2.3-10; Ezek 38 and 39, and Isa 36 and 37).
v 27…No one in it (the oncoming armies; remember these armies are coming because the Yehovah is sending them. He is the Lord of Hosts or Yehovah Tzavaot and the armies is not only the armies of heaven, but he controls the armies of the earth as well and they will do as he commands) is weary or stumbles (while marching), none slumbers or sleeps (they a very watchful, awake), nor is the belt at its waist undone (they are ready for battle), nor its sandal strap broken (they are diligent, with nothing causing them to stop).
v 28…Its arrows are sharp (ready for God to use them), and all its bows are bent (ready for God’s command to shoot); the hoofs of its horses seem like flint (the stones they walk on cannot break their hoofs), and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind (moving fast to battle).
v 29…Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions (they are cruel and eager to kill their prey); it growls as it seizes the prey (especially against the ten northern tribes and as they defeated Judah, except in Jerusalem when Yehovah stopped them), and it carries it (the prey) off with no one to deliver it (into exile).
v 30…And it shall growl over it in that day (this is not only prophesying about Isaiah’s day, but this also will apply in the day of the Lord, or when Messiah comes, in the birth-pains so keep that in mind), like the roaring of the sea (the “sea” is a type of the unbelieving nations in Isa 57.20 and this shows the intensity of the nations and their hatred toward Israel and Judah), if one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness (calamities) and distress (a term used for the time of Jacob’s distress, or the birth-pains in Jer 30.6-7. It means a storm is coming).
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