Wild Grapes
Does the one who creates something have the right to destroy it?
Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry! - Isaiah 5:1-7
If what one creates is a business, and it doesn't produce products or sales, one has the right to shut it down.
There are consequences.
People who worked there lose their jobs, but one doesn't keep a business in operation at a loss to offer jobs to people, right?
Isaiah is telling the people of Judah that they should expect the Creator to do with His vineyard, the House of Israel, what He chooses, if they do not produce good fruits.
So, as children of God, we really have two jobs, the one we choose here on earth to pay for the things we need to live, and the one God expects us to perform.
That job is to produce good fruit for the kingdom, to do what it takes to help those in need, and care for those who are sick and troubled.
Because we didn't do these things, Jesus came to save us from the day when the vineyard will be shut down, when God says, "I'm done."
He is the creator, after all.
More to come...