v. 1-7. _Now will I sing, &c._
+I. The privileges conferred on the Jewish nation+ (ver. 2, 3). It
would be vain and useless to attempt, as some have done, to find in
the privileges of the Jews an exact counterpart to the various items
here specified concerning this "vineyard." For example, Jerome
regards the fencing of the vineyard as symbolical of the protection
of the Jews by the angels; the gathering out of the stones, the
removal of the idols; the tower, the temple erected in Jerusalem; the
wine-press, the altar.[1] To seek thus for minute analogies is at
once to destroy the oratorical force and the simplicity of the
parable. Rather let us lay hold of its leading truths. The prophet
desired to remind the Jews that they had received extraordinary
privileges from God; consequently he employed figures calculated to
impress his hearers with that truth; and he does not fail to specify
every particular which those acquainted with a vineyard would expect,
if it were one from which a copious supply of choice fruit might be
reasonably expected. 1. _The choice which God made of the Jews as a
nation_ was the first and fundamental privilege which He conferred
upon them. 2. Having chosen them, God revealed Himself to them as
clearly as was then possible through the symbolism of _the Mosaic
Law._ Through its statutes and ceremonies were shadowed forth the
great truths of His holiness, His mercy, His sanctifying grace, and
the Sacrifice which in the fulness of time was to be offered for the
sin of the world (Rom. iii. 1, 2). 3. In addition to the Law, God
gave to His people the inestimable help of _Prophetical Teaching,_ to
assist them to understand its meaning, and to stimulate them to keep
it with full purpose of heart.
+II. The consequent obligations under which the Jews were laid.+ From
the vineyard, for which the great Husbandman has done so much, He
naturally looked for fruit. The fruits which the prophet specifies as
being required by God from the Jews correspond precisely with their
privileges (ver. 7). He had given them a code of laws by which their
actions were to be guided, and had impressed upon them the duty of
doing to others as they would be done to. Now He looked for the
fruits of justice and righteousness. It was a reasonable demand, the
lowest that could have been made. Yet even this demand was not met.
+III. The judgment which God designed to bring upon them+ (ver. 6,
7). As we objected to the attempt to find exact counterparts between
the various privileges of the Jews and the labours which had been
bestowed upon the vineyard, so we set aside as needless all attempts
to discover parallels between the various items of the threatening
against the vineyard and the judgments by which the Jews were
visited. All that the prophet means to say is this, that the
privileges which the Jews enjoyed pre-eminently above all the other
nations God would take from them, and they should be reduced to the
level of their neighbours. The removal of these privileges was itself
the heaviest judgment that could have befallen them.
PRACTICAL LESSON.--_Where there is privilege there is obligation._
1. You who are Christians are responsible for your privileges.
Consider how great they are: a knowledge of the will of God; the
example of Christ; a throne of grace ever accessible; the counsel and
help of the Holy Spirit. If God looked for the fruits of justice and
righteousness from the Jews, what manner of fruit may He reasonably
expect from you? 2. Even those of you who are not Christians, but are
still living in sin, have privileges; a preached Gospel; the offer of
a free, full, and present salvation; the strivings with you of the
Holy Ghost. Despise them not, or you will perish.--_Thomas Neave._