that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 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: 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. For ... He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for
righteousness, but behold a cry.” Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1; Isaiah 5:3-7.
The Lord had through Moses set before his people the result of unfaithfulness.
By refusing to keep his covenant, they would cut themselves off from the life of
God, and his blessing could not come upon them. At times these warnings were
heeded, and rich blessings were bestowed upon the Jewish nation and through
them upon surrounding peoples. But more often in their history they forgot God
and lost sight of their high privilege as his representatives. They robbed him of
the service He required of them, and they robbed their fellow men of religious
guidance and a holy example. They desired to appropriate to themselves the fruits
of the vineyard over which they had been made stewards. Their covetousness and
greed caused them to be despised even by the heathen. Thus the Gentile world
was
20
given occasion to misinterpret the character of God and the laws of his kingdom.
With a father’s heart, God bore with his people. He pleaded with them by
mercies given and mercies withdrawn. Patiently He set their sins before them and
in forbearance waited for their acknowledgment. Prophets and messengers were
sent to urge his claim upon the husbandmen; but, instead of being welcomed,
these men of discernment and spiritual power were treated as enemies. The
husbandmen persecuted and killed them. God sent still other messengers, but
they received the same treatment as the first, only that the husbandmen showed
still more determined hatred.
The withdrawal of divine favor during the period of the Exile led many
to repentance, yet after their return to the Land of Promise the Jewish people
repeated the mistakes of former generations and brought themselves into political
conflict with surrounding nations. The prophets whom God sent to correct the
prevailing evils were received with the same suspicion and scorn that had been
accorded the messengers of earlier times; and thus, from century to century, the
keepers of the vineyard added to their guilt.
The goodly vine planted by the divine Husbandman upon the hills of Palestine
was despised by the men of Israel and was finally cast over the vineyard wall; they
bruised it and
21
trampled it under their feet and hoped that they had destroyed it forever. The
Husbandman removed the vine and concealed it from their sight. Again He
planted it, but on the other side of the wall and in such a manner that the stock
was no longer visible. The branches hung over the wall, and grafts might be
joined to it; but the stem itself was placed beyond the power of men to reach or
harm.
Of special value to God’s church on earth today—the keepers of his
vineyard—are the messages of counsel and admonition given through the
prophets who have made plain his eternal purpose in behalf of mankind. In
the teachings of the prophets, his love for the lost race and his plan for their
salvation are clearly revealed. The story of Israel’s call, of their successes and
failures, of their restoration to divine favor, of their rejection of the Master of the
vineyard, and of the carrying out of the plan of the ages by a goodly remnant to
whom are to be fulfilled all the covenant promises—this has been the theme of
God’s messengers to his church throughout the centuries that have passed. And
today God’s message to his church—to those who are occupying his vineyard as
faithful husbandmen—is none other than that spoken through the prophet of old:
“Sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it
every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isaiah 27:2, 3.
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
Let Israel hope in God. The Master of the vineyard is even now gathering
from among men of all nations and peoples the precious fruits for which He has
long been waiting. Soon He will come unto his own; and in that glad day his
eternal purpose for the house of Israel will finally be fulfilled. “He shall cause
them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel sh
