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Thus saith the Lord: 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Juda his beloved plant: I expected it to bring forth judgement, and it brought forth iniquity; and not righteousness, but a cry. 8 Woe to them that join house to house, and add field to field, that they may take away something of their neighbor’s: will ye dwell alone upon the land? 9 For these things have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts: for though many houses should be built, many and fair houses shall be desolate, and there shall be no inhabitants in them. 10 For where ten yoke of oxen plough the land shall yield one jar-full, and he that sows six homers shall produce three measures. 11 Woe to them that rise up in the morning, and follow strong drink; who wait at it till evening: for the wine shall inflame them. 12 For they drink wine with harp, and psaltery, and drums, and pipes: but they regard not the works of the Lord, and consider not the works of his hands. 13 Therefore my people have been taken captive, because they know not the Lord: and there has been a multitude of dead bodies, because of hunger and of thirst for water. 14 Therefore hell has enlarged its desire and opened its mouth without ceasing: and her glorious and great, and her rich and her pestilent men shall go down into it. 15 And the mean man shall be brought low, and the great man shall be disgraced, and the lofty eyes shall be brought low. 16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgement, and the holy God shall be glorified in righteousness.
The first verse of today’s reading (chapter five, verse seven) is the last verse of yesterday’s reading, whose second half consists of the song of the vineyard, the Lord’s poetic accusation of His wayward people as a vineyard that has borne thorns instead of grapes, an image He will employ again, centuries later, not in a song but in a parable, when He comes in the Flesh. At that time, the leaders of the Old Testament Church will hear the same indictment of their own perfidy, this time not through the mouth of the prophet but from the mouth of God Himself standing as a man before them. (See Matthew 21, Mark 12, and Luke 20).
The song of the vineyard ends at verse seven, but today with verse eight the Lord continues his accusation with a list of the people’s specific crimes, not in metaphor but in fact: The rich are greedy and expand their land holdings at the expense of the poor, they are addicted to drunkenness and mindless entertainments, and they they “know not the Lord” – i.e., they neglect the study of God’s revelation in His great works and words, as revealed through Moses and the prophets.
The Lord inflicts punishments that are apposite to the crimes being punished: Greedy abuse of the soil will bring about infertility and famine. Spiritual enslavement to the base passions will bring about physical enslavement to a conquering foe. Ignorance of God’s Word will bring the sinners down into hell.
Maniacal greed, degrading addictions, and spiritual ignorance resulting, respectively, in ecological disaster, social catastrophe, and ultimate damnation: It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The same bad news has repeated itself throughout the generations, whenever man defies the divine will made known either in natural or direct revelation, and worships his passions instead of the true God. But since the coming of God in the Flesh, there is Good News: We can repent and be saved by the grace of Christ, which enables us to keep God’s holy commandments and avoid the dreadful consequences that come of bearing spiritual thorns instead of the fruits of righteousness.
Our true interpreters of the Gospel, the Holy Fathers, give us practical instructions on how to cooperate with the Lord’s gracious gift. St. Ambrose of Milan, for example, offers this advice when we are dissatisfied with our material security, like the people in today’s reading who think they never have enough and have to keep piling up their wealth: Contemplate God’s beautiful creation and be grateful that He has bestowed all this on you. All of creation is your house, and, moreover, the Church is your house. You are already rich. Here’s what he says:
Because your soul is a priceless thing, poor man, be on your guard. The soul is everlasting, although the flesh is mortal. Although you may lack money, you are not therefore devoid of grace. Although your house is not commodious, your possessions are not scattered. The sky is open, and the expanse of the world is free. The elements have been granted to all for their common use. Rich and poor alike enjoy the splendid ornaments of the universe.
Are the paneled ceilings decked with gold in the homes of the very wealthy more beautiful than the face of the heavens decorated with glistening stars? Are the estates of the rich more extensive than the surface of the world? Hence it was said to those who join house to house and estate to estate: “Shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth?” [Esaias 5:8] You have actually a larger house, you man of low estate – a house wherein your call is heard and heeded…The house of God is common to rich and to poor. – The Six Days of Creation, 6.8.52
St. John Chrysostom has an admonitory word for today’s fanatics who believe that they can lead outrageously sinful lives yet somehow through technology make creation bend to their will and create a permanent paradise on earth. The same people do not believe in the Great Flood recorded in Genesis, and therefore they do not learn their lesson.
There are many instances in which the land suffers because of people’s sins. Why are you surprised if the people’s sin makes the land infertile and unfruitful when we caused it to be corrupt in the first place?…See Noah, for example. When humanity had become utterly perverse, turmoil ensued everywhere. Everything – the seeds, plants, all types of animals, the land, the sea, the air, the mountains, the valleys, the hills, the cities, the ramparts, the houses and the towers – everything was covered by the flood. – Commentary on Esaias, 5.4
St. Caesarius of Arles, commenting on the words of Esaias that we read today, that the people are led away captive because of their lack of knowledge of the Lord, applies this explicitly to the eternal destiny of those who fail to study Holy Scripture:
What do servants think of themselves when they dare to despise the Lord’s precepts, not even condescending to reread the letters of invitation whereby he asks them to the blessedness of his kingdom? If any one of us sends a letter to a subordinate, and he in turn not only fails to do what is commanded but even refuses to read over his orders, that person deserves to receive punishment, not pardon; imprisonment, not freedom. Similarly, one who refuses to read the sacred writings that have been transmitted from the eternal country should fear that he perhaps will not receive eternal rewards and even not escape endless punishments. So dangerous it is for us not to read the divine precepts that the prophet mournfully exclaims, “Therefore is my people led away captive because they had not knowledge…(Esaias 5: 13).” Doubtless, if a person fails to seek God in this world through the sacred lessons, God will refuse to recognize him in eternal bliss. – Sermon 7
Today, this beautiful Lenten day, is the day of salvation. Let us heed the words of our wise and loving Holy Fathers: Contemplating the beauties of God’s creation, let us with joy labor for a modest sufficiency of the world’s goods while sharing with others. Let us heed the lesson of the Great Flood and live in chaste humility and sobriety. And let us flee the fate of the ignorant, as we daily partake of the feast of the Word of God in Scripture and all the grace-filled writings of Holy Tradition, so that we may one day partake of the eternal Banquet in His kingdom.
