The Redemption of Israel
In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
In that day,
“A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!
I, the LORD, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
To better picture what the above lines are saying and in the context of how they are being said, you have to image a black and grayed out picture of a garbage dump. But right in the middle of the picture is a super bright red rose. It is out of place. This is a garbage dump. Yet, the rose is the center of the entire scene. You only see destruction, trash and waste in the greyed out scene, yet, this red rose is shinning like a new day dawning.
That is what is happening with the above passage. For the past several chapters Isaiah has been painting the picture of the destruction of the nations, cities and towns that rejected God and persecuted God’s people. If you could paint the picture of his prophesy, it would be a dumpster fire of smoldering smoke of what was, tremendously active and magnificent cities. After God judges them other people will say this about them:
Isaiah 24:4-5 (ESV)
The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the highest people of the earth languish.
The earth lies defiled
under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.
Yet, in the midst of this devastation we have the above picture. Leviathan, the fleeing serpent (a picture of Satan ... see Revelation 20) is destroyed. But, God’s people are like a pleasant vineyard. The Lord is its keeper; every moment HE water’s it. He keeps it night and day. This is all a picture of what God is going to do for Israel and all mankind. Like all prophecy there is a here and now and yet later even more feel to this. God would be bringing Israel back to their land and blessing them (Nehemiah and Ezra). This is really fulfilled, however, upon Christ’s arrival and His final return. God is the gardener of our souls. He watches over us and sustains us and protects us. We are the rose in the midst of the dumpster fire of this earth. God is going to completely devastate the world. Yet, He is standing over us; pampering us; nurturing us. We are the rose. We flourish in the midst of destruction. We shine bright in the midst of despair. That is the life God has given us and provides to us and empowers us to live. We ought not to try to look like the garbage dump.
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