READ: Is. 27:2-13: … Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit …
Israel is compared to a vineyard. The LORD desires to continue gathering His chosen nation so that it grows, blossoms, and bears fruit, even producing sparkling wine. Therefore, He cares for and protects it day and night (v.3). For this, He purifies it of thorns and thistles: the wicked among God’s people will experience God’s wrath and be excommunicated. But if they repent, they may again experience peace with God (v.5).
In verse 6, the image of the vineyard transitions to that of a tree. In the coming days of salvation, Israel will take root, grow, and blossom, so that the whole world will be filled with its fruits: the gospel of Christ will go out to the entire world! The church will become a catholic (universal) church.
However, Israel must first experience exile. That was a humbling event (v.8b), but it did not destroy them. They were not blotted out like the enemy kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon were (v.7).
The exile was for Israel a matter of discipline and purification, leading them to show remorse and achieve reconciliation (vv.8,9, compare Hos. 2:5).
In that process, sin will also be removed, particularly all idolatrous worship. It was through this worship that they had distanced themselves from God. Through this purification, God achieved the full fruit of repentance through the exile.
Israel must recognize that they themselves were the cause of the complete destruction of the land, now lying desolate like a desert. They showed themselves to be a people without understanding (v.11).
Yet God will fulfill His promised plan: He will gather His children again from every place where they were scattered. Then they will serve the LORD again on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
This is the great goal of their return, which ultimately finds its fulfillment in the church-gathering work of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Are we, as a church, comparable to a vineyard?
Sing: Ps. 80:6,7