Verse Key 27:3
Isaiah says he is a keeper of the vine. It's the same as the sentinel. He watches over the vines so that nothing can harm them.
1. I am the Peacekeeper (1-11)
Isaiah keeps the vine and cultivates it and defends it from danger. Night and day, he keeps watch. He is a sentinel and a fighter for God, protecting his people from ferocious animals and weeds. He does not express any feeling such as anger, but he goes boldy forward once it is a cause for God and for his people. He would persevere in this mission even if his life depended. Unless you make peace with him, you cannot have a place in the neighbourhood once he is protecting it. Israel sinned, as did the wicked nations. But as God struck them without mercy, God struck Israel with restraint. However, if God struck them, it was so that their faults might be atoned and their sins forgiven. Nevertheless forgiveness, however merciful it may be, results in something else. Love and justice should not be confused. It is difficult to teach justice if you are too compromising (26:10). Idolatry will be destroyed. The city where it was practiced will be devastated. It will also be burned as the dry branch is burned by the woman. What does that mean? The creator who made it will turn his back on it and walk away totally indifferent.
2. On that day (12-13)
In the midst of God's burning anger against the practice of idolatry, God does not completely punish the people of Israel. His love towards His people is still unchangeable. He therefore punishes them with moderation. He will spare the trees so that the remaining ones can grapple unto it. He will pick them up one by one from the west and east to take them to Palestine. He will sound the horn to call back those who were scattered in Egypt and Assyria. Then fully repented of their sins of the past, and cleansed from their old habits of idolaters, they will turn around and bow down before the Lord and pay homage to him. It will all happen on Mount Zion, the holy city of Jerusalem. When we were idolaters, God punished us, but by His great mercy, He saved us through Jesus so that we might be His people. Glory to God!
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