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CHAPTER
16
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
THE
VINE
The
vine and the vineyard are much spoken of in Scripture
in the actual, practical sense of cultivation and enjoyment
of, or over indulgence of, the popular end product.
God’s word also uses the vineyard and the vine, the
grapes and the wine, in figurative ways.
Vines
have been cultivated to produce wine from the dawn of
mankind’s history. We read in Genesis chapter 9, verses
20-21 about Noah (soon after the flood) planting a vineyard:
Noah,
a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When
he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered
inside his tent.
This
seemingly innocuous happening gave rise to a short prophetic
utterance from Noah. A prophecy in only three short
verses, and yet of immense import. A prophecy which
told of the spread of the nations and the races across
the earth, and of their positions of importance relative
to one another, even of their spiritual destinies. This
is even more amazing when we remember that at that time
there were no nations anywhere. Noah and his wife, his
three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives had
recently survived the flood---only eight people existed
on the earth when the floodwaters receded. From these
eight people the entire earth would be re-populated.
The nations we see today and all the ethnic variations
of mankind came from these eight human beings (apparently,
each individual person has within his or her own genetic
makeup a gene pool which can account for every type
of human ethnicity).
The
prophecy came about like this:
Ham,
the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and
told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth
took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then
they walked in backwards and covered their father’s
nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so
that they would not see their father’s nakedness.
(Genesis
chapter 9, verses 22-23).
Ham
must have had a bad attitude, a mocking, gloating, ungodly
attitude in telling his brothers of his father’s nakedness;
and, in a way, he was mocking God, since Noah had been
found righteous in the eyes of God:
But
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD-----
Noah
was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah
walked with God.
(Genesis
chapter 6, verses 8-9 KJV).
Mocking
God, or even one who walks closely with Him, can have
severe consequences in our earthly life, and, if not
corrected, the eternal results will be tragic. So;
When
Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest
son had done to him, he said,
“Cursed
be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
He
also said,
“Blessed
be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave
of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may
Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be
his slave.”
(Genesis
chapter 9, verses 24-27).
Notice,
Noah said, ‘Cursed be Canaan!’ Yet Ham was the guilty
one. Noah is here showing the curse is to extend down
the generations from Ham. ‘The lowest of slaves will
he be to his brothers.’ More than 3,000 years after
these words were spoken by Noah the Israelites took
the promised land, the land of Canaan, from the many
peoples who already dwelt there. A great number of Canaanites
remained in the land, alongside the Israelites, and,
for years, the Israelites made them subject to slave
labour. Also, in more recent times, we saw a continuation
of this prophecy throughout the long, evil years of
the slave trade. Millions of black Africans were dragged
from their homeland to serve as slaves to other peoples.
These black Africans were all descendants of Ham!
‘May
God extend the territory of Japheth.’ We (I speak as
an Englishman, a European) are from Japheth, we who
spread out across the earth and the seas to found nations,
empires and commonwealths.
‘Blessed
be the LORD, the God of Shem!’ Indeed, since from Shem
came the Semites, the Hebrews, the Jews---Jesus Christ.
There is obviously much more to this prophetic word
from Noah, but, how astonishing are God’s ‘simple’ utterances.
In just a few short words at the dawn of history, when
only one small family inhabited the whole earth, God
relates the destiny and spread of all nations and races.
His word is awesome. You might say I have digressed
somewhat from the main topic of this book---Jesus, His
names and titles. As I have mentioned before, the whole
of Scripture is about, and revolves around, Christ.
He is the Lord and God of Shem, and it is His Gospel
we are to proclaim to all the descendants of Shem, Ham
and Japheth.
Moving
on many centuries, even millennia, from the days of
Noah, and we come to the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.
God spoke many, many times throughout His dealings with
the nation of Israel of their being blessed in the land
if they would obey Him, and also of their being cursed
and cast out of the land if they continued to disobey
Him. Increasingly, Israel fell into disobedience and
unbelief. But God spoke of His enduring love for the
people He had taken out of the nations to be a special
people; a people to whom, and through whom, the one
true God might reveal Himself through His miraculous
works and His prophets; a people through whom He could
bless the whole earth; a people to whom would come the
fullest revelation of Himself in the Person of His Son---His
Christ. God often spoke of the nation of Israel as being
His vineyard:
The
vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight.
(Isaiah
chapter 5, verse 7).
And
He often said what He would do if that vineyard did
not produce good fruit:
“What
more could have been done for my vineyard than I have
done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did
it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going
to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and
it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and
it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither
pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow
there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
(Isaiah
chapter 5, verses 4-6).
Because
of Israel’s continuing unfaithfulness, God did eventually
take away the protective hedge, broke down its wall,
trampled and destroyed it and made it a wasteland. It
was not pruned or cultivated, and, for almost 2,000
years, briers and thorns grew there. The people of Israel
were scattered among all the nations of the earth and
the land became desolate. But, the God who destroyed
His vineyard promised that, in future years, He would
re-plant it and take special care of it:
“Therefore
say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather
you from the nations and bring you back from the countries
where you have been scattered, and I will give you back
the land of Israel again.’”
(Ezekiel
chapter 11, verse 17).
In
that day------“Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the
LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard
it day and night so that no-one may harm it.”
(Isaiah
chapter 27, verses 2-3).
In
days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and
blossom and fill all the world with its fruit.
(Isaiah
chapter 27, verse 6).
Moving
on from the time of the Old Testament prophets to our
Lord’s earthly ministry; Jesus spoke a parable about
God’s vineyard---Israel:
“There
was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall
around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.
Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went
away on a journey. When the harvest time approached,
he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
“The
tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another,
and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them,
more than the first time, and the tenants treated them
in the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them.
‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But
when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other,
‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his
inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of
the vineyard and killed him.-----Therefore I tell you
that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
(Matthew
chapter 21, verses 33-39, 43).
The
above parable speaks of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.
The landowner is God, His servants are the prophets,
and His son and heir is Jesus Christ. And in the last
verse we see an astonishing prophecy, ‘Therefore I tell
you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from
you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’
You see, all along, Israel had been blessed with the
knowledge of the one true God; along with such privileged
knowledge came the responsibility of spreading it across
the earth to bless all nations. Jesus was specifically
speaking of His Gospel, soon to be realised in His sacrificial
death and resurrection---all believers in Christ are
already dwellers in the kingdom of God, spiritually.
He knew that the Jews were going to continue in unbelief
and unfaithfulness, even hatred, towards God. They were
about to kill Him, the last one to be sent by the Landowner
to His vineyard---His only Son. Because of their longstanding
treachery, the knowledge of, and the responsibility
for spreading, the truths of the Gospel would now be
denied Israel and given to the Gentile nations, who
would accept it and ‘produce its fruit.’ History has
proved this to be so. The nation of Israel does not
preach Jesus Christ. However, take care, dear reader,
God has not cast off Israel forever. He is not only
bringing them back into the land, but, for His own name’s
sake, He is going to bring them back into faithfulness.
Since
the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948, God has
been carrying on an amazing work in full view of the
whole world. Yet, the vast majority of mankind have
no understanding whatsoever of how His prophetic word
concerning the last days of our present age is being
fulfilled. These staggering realities are hidden in
plain sight.
Sadly,
even many who profess faith in Christ do not take God
at His word regarding His very many promises to Israel.
Instead they attempt to spiritualise what is manifestly
meant to be taken literally. To spiritualise all the
promises to Israel, in other words to replace Israel
with the Church, is to make nonsense of a great mass
of Scripture. God is rebuilding and replanting His vineyard,
and it will produce good fruit.
THE
TRUE VINE
We
have spoke a little on the Landowner and His vineyard.
What about the actual Vine?
Jesus
said:
“I
am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener-----I
am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains
in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from
me you can do nothing.”
(John
chapter 15, verses 1, 5).
‘Apart
from me you can do nothing.’ Does that apply to all
men or just followers of Christ? There have been, and
are, many great men of science, art, industry, literature,
warfare, politics etc. The vast majority were not, and
are not, professing Christians. Does that mean their
contributions to the world amount to nothing? In a spiritual
sense, an eternal sense, yes, it means exactly that
regarding the unbeliever; though God undoubtedly uses
the efforts (meant for good or bad)) of unbelievers
to teach, train, chastise and bless those who belong
to Him. However, concerning those without faith, all
that is done outside of Christ will in the end avail
them nothing at all. It will be as chaff blown away
by the wind, and the doer of it will gain nothing worthwhile.
In fact, if we remain outside of Christ, we lose everything;
our cleverness, our ‘good’ works or ‘gifts’ to the world
cannot save us:
“If
anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that
is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked
up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
(John
chapter 15, verse 6).
The
Bible says that all that is not done in faith is sin.
Whatever we do outside of Christ, however good it may
seem to the world’s darkened vision, is, in God’s sight---sin.
The
vine feeds the branches and keeps them alive and fruitful,
‘If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much
fruit.’ Likewise, all who remain in Jesus will certainly
produce fruit. It is impossible for a true follower
of Christ not to produce fruit, good fruit, fruit that
will delight the Father in heaven.
What
is the fruit that a Christian should bear?
But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
(Galatians
chapter 5, verse 22).
Many,
probably most, Christians have nothing outwardly that
the world might find especially attractive or worthwhile
or even exciting about them. But, even the smallest,
feeblest, most unattractive ‘branch’ which remains in
the Vine will have abundant fruit which the world cannot
taste or see. The smallest, feeblest (ought we not all
consider ourselves such?) ‘branch’ can never be broken
off by wild beasts, vicious storms, hail or frost. Drought,
famine and disease cannot shrivel or kill it; it is
lovingly cared for and tended to by Almighty God. So,
do not fear little ‘branch’ that you might be taking
up space in the Vine that someone ‘better’ might fill.
Do not fear that the Gardener will lop you off and throw
you into the fire because your fruit is not as obvious
as that on some fuller branches. Cling to the Vine with
all your might, trust Him with your very life, and do
not worry that you might not be strong enough, because
He is, and He will not let you fall. It does not depend
on our ability to hold onto the Vine, but on the Vine’s
ability to hold onto us, and He is able, He is dependable---beyond
measure.
We
end this chapter with a few more words from the One
who is the eternal Vine:
“I
am the vine; you are the branches----Remain in me, and
I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself;
it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
unless you remain in me----You did not choose me, but
I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit---fruit
that will last.”
(John
chapter 15, verses 5, 4, 16).
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