Isaiah 5: 2:...and gathered out the stones thereof, Every earthly stone, every temporal hindrance, the LORD removed from the midst of the nation Israel. The Lord removed Pharaoh and the Egyptians just as he removed those who denied his word while in the wilderness. After removing the rebellious children, then the Lord delivered those left into the land of promise by the hand of Joshua, whose name means Savior. He removed all the enemies behind them, in their midst and before them.

Do you see how this typifies God removing all the enemies of his chosen people so that none will be a hindrance to our trusting Christ alone? He removes those stones in our past--sin, the law, fear of death, bondage to Satan. He removed the stone in our midst--our spiritual death and inability to trust him. He removes the stones ahead--by keeping his children walking in Christ the Way until at last he delivers us to the Honey and Milk that is our Savior in Canaan. Psalm 44: 3: For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

Isaiah 5: 2:..and planted it with the choicest vine, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, these were the men of God's choice by whom he planted this vineyard. But preeminently, the choice of God is The Vine, the Seed, from whom the branches grow. Those who rejected God in the nation Israel could use the excuse that God had not provided them with faithful men who saw the day of Christ the Vine and declared him. God did provide them with his choicest Vine and his choicest servants.

This is what God has done in Christ Jesus in those whom he has given spiritual life. We rejoice that Christ is the Seed of Abraham. Christ is our faithful Joshua--our Savior. And we rejoice in the choice servants of God whom he has given to instruct us in righteousness.

Isaiah 5: 2:...and built a tower in the midst of it, The tower in the midst of a vineyard meant safety and security for the vineyard.

The Lord built his temple in the midst of that nation. Like a tower in a vineyard it was the sanctuary of safety for there is where the Lord communed with his people from off the mercy seat. In the temple they beheld that the LORD was pleased to deal with their one nation alone, only in a high priest and in a lamb.

Who did that temple typify? Christ is the place where sinner's come because he is our Sanctuary in whom we are safe and secure. Christ is the one in whom God meets with his people. In Christ we behold our access and acceptance with God because Christ is our High Priest and our Lamb, and the Seat of mercy. John 2: 19: Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20: Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21: But he spake of the temple of his body.

Isaiah 5: 2:...and also made a winepress therein: Every vineyard must have a winepress for treading the grapes. It is from the winepress that the fruit of the vine can be obtained and enjoyed by the laborers in the vineyard.

This too typifies Christ. He is the One in whom all God's Fruit was placed before the foundation of the world according as he chose us in Christ (Eph 1: 3-12.) For God to enjoy his people, justice must be satisfied toward them. So not only were the people of God put in Christ our Winepress, but he alone tread the winepress being the One bruised by God for our iniquities, like unto the grape which is tread underfoot until its juice flows out. The Winepress mentioned in the midst of the vineyard represents Christ through whom God and his people enjoy the sweet wine of communion. (Isa 63: 1-5.)

Isaiah 5: 2:...and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Having done all this for that nation, God looked that his vineyard should bring forth fruit. The fruit which God the Husbandmen produces is repentance from dead works and faith in Christ alone. Instead of bringing forth fruit meet for repentance, the people of Israel brought forth the wild fruit of the will, of attempting to come to God in the law rather than being shut up to Christ as guilty and in need of grace. These are the wild grapes that the children of Israel brought forth (Isa 1: 11-15.)

Isaiah 5: 3: And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4: What could have been done more 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 work was all done by God himself. All the people of Israel had left to do was trust God alone. So it is for God's true Israel. Christ has put away the sin of his Jacobs and because as a Prince he hast power with God and with men, and hast prevailed, he has changed our name to Israel (Gen 32: 28.) His righteousness is our righteousness. The work of honoring and magnifying the law is finished by Christ Jesus the Son of God. The only thing for the sinner to do is believe on him who is all our salvation. He is the very holiness and righteousness which God requires. Nothing more can be done and nothing more shall be done than what he has done, for in him God is well-pleased, satisfied. He is delighted with the Fruitful children of his making who are also delighted with his Son. Why then will you continue to bring forth the wild grapes of your own making which God declares he will never receive?

Isaiah 5: 5: And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6: And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7: For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. The nation of Israel stands as a beacon on a high hill for every sinner who attempts to come to God by his own will. Having fulfilled every temporal promise, the LORD God justly removed his restraints from off the neighboring enemy countries of Israel. National Israel was eaten up and trodden down. God laid it waste in 70AD by his Roman army. He will not provide it with anymore pruning, nor will he continue to make it a fertile hill by digging it. Only briers and thorns remain. God has called for a drought of the precious rain of his word. If there is any doubt that God declares this of the natural sons of Abraham verse 7 is clear, he speaks of the house of Israel, and the men of Judah. He looked for the judgment and righteousness of those who confess that all truth is in God, in his Salvation and not in men. Instead he beheld them wrongfully using his law to oppress one another so that all cried out against God, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" After what God has done through Christ Jesus in this midst of this vineyard all are without excuse for not trusting him alone.