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The Vine (#55991)
The Vine
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From:
Christian Truth: Volume 7
By:
Frederick George Patterson
Show More Sources
Vine, The
From:
Bible Treasury: Volume 6
Vine, The
From:
Collected Writings
Vine, The
From:
Christian Treasury: Volume 1
• 4 min. read • grade level: 9
The vine, as the symbol of a fruit bearing system on the earth, is used in a remarkable manner, and runs through a large body of Scripture. We read in
Psalm 80:8
8
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. (Psalm 80:8)
that the nation of Israel is likened to a vine which the Lord brought out of Egypt, casting out the heathen from Canaan, and planting it there to bring forth fruit. Then in
Isa. 5:1-7
1
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2
And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
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?
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. (Isaiah 5:1‑7)
we learn all the care and culture He bestowed on His vine, that it might bring forth grapes—fruit meet for Him by whom it was dressed. The result was that instead of answering His culture, it brought forth "wild grapes." And He
says
in
Jer. 2:21
21
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? (Jeremiah 2:21)
, "I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?" And so the Lord permitted the wild "boar out of the wood" to waste it. He also says, "I will take away the hedge thereof"; "I will lay it waste"; "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." It was only fruitful in iniquity, and false to Jehovah. "Israel," He says, "is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself."
Hos. 10:1
1
Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. (Hosea 10:1)
.
So the Lord gave him up to the Gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar, to rule over him, commanding him to submit to this punishment, as of the Lord (read
Jer. 27:1-12
1
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2
Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
3
And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4
And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
5
I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6
And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
7
And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
8
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9
Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
10
For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
11
But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
12
I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. (Jeremiah 27:1‑12)
, especially v. 12). Under their last king, Zedekiah, they might have remained tributary, as we read in Ezekiel 17; the kingdom might have remained "a spreading
vine
of low stature" under the Gentile king, who took an oath from Zedekiah and allowed him to remain in his land. But this "vine of low stature," instead of observing the oath which Nebuchadnezzar accepted of Zedekiah, and remaining tributary, he sent his ambassadors to Egypt. Or, as the parable in Ezekiel 17 says, "This vine did bend her roots toward him"; and so the king of Babylon took him captive, and broke down his city and laid it waste, and so it ceased to be the "vine" of God in the earth; it ceased to be fit for anything but fuel for the fire (see Ezek. 15).
And into this vineyard which had been laid waste, at last came the Lord Jesus. Israel, as Jehovah's vine, had been brought out of Egypt. So Jesus replaces and recommences morally the history of that people, and we read, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son." (
Hos. 11:1
1
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. (Hosea 11:1)
;
Matt. 2:15
15
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. (Matthew 2:15)
.) The Lord then replaces Israel which had been set aside as a fruit bearing system on the earth. He presents Himself not as the best branch of that vine, but "I am the true vine." He was the root of the new fruit bearing system on earth, and the disciples then became the branches. Abiding in Christ, and Christ in them, they would be fruit bearing branches—the Father glorified in them—and so they would practically be Jesus' disciples. This lasts in principle all through the time of the calling out of the Church, but the point is fruit bearing on the earth-not as raised and seated together in Christ in heaven where there is no purging, or pruning, nor fruit bearing.
When the present time of the heavenly calling shall have passed, and the Church shall be taken away, Israel comes before God again, not yet as owned, but previous to the kingdom being established in the world. We find their state in Isaiah 18 aptly described as a "vine," returned to their land by the help of some great maritime power, but not yet owned of God. "More the harvest [the harvest and vintage are figures of the last acts of judgment which take place before the kingdom is set up in glory],
when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower," when all seems to man's eye to go on well, the Lord does not interfere, but considers apart in His dwelling, and then suffers the apparently re-established, fruit bearing vine to be again trodden down and destroyed by the Gentile powers. And the end of what is again a corrupt fruit bearing system in the world, finds its judgment at the hand of the Lord in
Rev. 14:15-20
15
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
17
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18
And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20
And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. (Revelation 14:15‑20)
, as the "vine of the earth" whose grapes were fully ripe, and which are then cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The Lord Jesus-Jehovah is seen in
Isa. 63:1-6
1
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2
Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
3
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
4
For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
5
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
6
And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. (Isaiah 63:1‑6)
, coming from this judgment of the vine
of the earth and winepress of the wrath of God in which the nations of the world share (see Isa. 34), His garments red with judgment; and He comes to renew His relationship with the spared remnant of Israel, for the year of His redeemed is come. And the result of all this is that Israel again becomes His fruit bearing "vine" in the world. "A vineyard of red wine," which the Lord Himself (now that they had failed under the old covenant) will keep night and day, watering it every moment; and "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." (
Isa. 27:2-6
2
In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
3
I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
4
Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
5
Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.
6
He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. (Isaiah 27:2‑6)
.)
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