The Week That Changed The World February 18 Devotional

ISAIAH 5:1, 7 | ¹ I will sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. ⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his cherished garden; he expected justice but saw bloodshed; righteousness but heard a cry!

ISAIAH 27:6 | ⁶ In days to come Jacob shall take root; Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.

MICAH 7:1 | ¹ Woe is me! For I have become like one who, after the summer fruit has been gathered, after the vintage has been gleaned, finds no cluster to eat; there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.

This week we examine two interconnected passages in which Jesus exercises prophetic judgement. The first one is an enacted parable: the cursing of the fig tree. To understand Jesus’ action, we need to grasp the idea of Israel as God’s vineyard.

What seems like a petulant reaction to a fruitless tree by our hungry Lord is actually a deeply rooted, deliberate biblical maneuver. Every Israelite was familiar with the image of Israel as a vineyard or vine or tree, planted and tended by God, in order to produce fruit for the world. But, as we see in the verse from Micah, the nation has become spiritually fruitless. God inspects the tree for early figs but finds none. In the Torah and the prophets, barrenness is a judgement by God for Israel’s waywardness, rebellion, and idolatry. Jesus looks for the “early figs,” finds none and in an “inverted miracle,” curses the tree which will never bear fruit.

What can we learn from the idea of Israel as a vineyard?

Gracious God,

We depend completely on You for our life and growth. Prune and shape us so that we may be fruitful for You.

Amen.