Matthew 20:1–34 The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

[Study Aired September 8, 2025]

Today we shall review the parable of the laborers in the Lord’s vineyard. In this study, we shall also take a look at Jesus foretelling of His death for the third time in this Gospel of Matthew. The latter part of the study focuses on John and James’ mother’s request for Jesus to let her children sit on His right and left side of His throne. The study ends with the healing of the two blind men that Jesus met after leaving Jericho. 

Laborers in the Vineyard

Mat 20:1  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 
Mat 20:2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 

The householder is God the Father who works through His son Jesus Christ. Therefore, we can say that Jesus is the householder who is inviting people to come and work in His vineyard. The vineyard signifies the house of Israel, which means the Lord’s children. 

Isa 5:7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

The laborers represent those who are called by the Lord to help His children to know Him. Although it is the Lord who does the work of making us come to know Him, He does it through those He had called and chosen. The work of the laborers is therefore to reap the harvest. 

Luk 10:2  Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 

Reaping the harvest means that the work of preparing the soil (our hearts) had been done, and the sowing and growing of the seeds had taken place. What is needed is harvesting the fruits. That means making known to God’s people what it takes to become His children.

It is instructive to note that the Lord is hiring labourers in every generation after His creation. Those hired early in the morning represent the Lord’s messengers until the time of the people of Israel in Egypt. These laborers or messengers included Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph as demonstrated in Hebrews chapter 11 which deals with the men of faith from the beginning of creation. 

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 

Now let’s turn our attention to what these messengers were promised by the Lord – they were going to receive a penny a day. This penny a day was for their subsistence and not the reward or the joy that is set before us. Those laborers who were called last were the first to receive the penny a day. The last set of laborers are those who came to believe in Jesus Christ. This gives us a clue as to what the penny a day means. All the Lord’s messengers before Christ were not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. 

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 

From the word of the Lord, the penny a day therefore refers to everlasting life as shown in the following verse:

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Everlasting life is what makes us know Christ, that is, to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.   

We, His elect are the Lord’s workers who received everlasting life first. That is to say that we are given to know the only true God and Jesus Christ. All the other laborers of the Lord’s vineyard shall also be given everlasting life to come to know Christ later. This will be done through us.

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

Mat 20:3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 
Mat 20:4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 
Mat 20:5  Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 

The laborers called on the third hour represent the Moses, Aaron, Joshua, etc. who were called during the time that the Israelites were undergoing suffering during their sojourn in Egypt. The number three represents the process of spiritual maturity through the Lord’s judgment. The people of Israel were going through suffering as part of the process the Lord uses to bring them to Himself.  

Isa 48:10  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.  

The sixth hour represents the period in the life of the people of Israel where they lived as mere men. As we are aware, the number six is the number of mankind. The sixth hour therefore signifies the time that the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan until the captivity of Babylon. The messengers sent during this period represent those sent in the sixth hour.

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 
Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 

Jdg 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 

The Lord’s messengers or laborers during this period were Gideon, Sampson, David, Isaiah, etc.

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 
Heb 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 

The number nine signifies the Lord’s judgment, and therefore the ninth hour shows us the period stretching from the time the Lord came to judge the people of Israel and Judah who were taken captives by their conquerors until the coming of John the Baptist. The Lord’s messengers or laborers during this period included Jeremiah, Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Malachi, John the Baptist, etc. 

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 
Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 

Mat 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 
Mat 20:7  They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 

The number eleven refers to the ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh. It is we, His elect, whose flesh is being destroyed by the Lord’s judgment of our old man. The laborers called at the eleventh hour therefore signify all of the Lord’s elect in every generation after John the Baptist, who are being judged in this age for the destruction of their old man or flesh. We are the last to be called to serve the Lord. When the Lord came to appoint us as His laborers, we were lying idle in the churches of this world and therefore were not worthy to be hired in the service of the Lord. However, the Lord showed us mercy  by calling and choosing us.

Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 
Mat 20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?  

The laborers who were called at the eleventh hour were the first to receive a penny each. As indicated earlier, the penny a day represents the everlasting life which is what the Lord has given first to us, His elect, so that we can know Christ. All of the Lord’s laborers shall also receive this everlasting life in the fullness of time so that they can also know Christ. 

To the carnal mind, we may think that the Lord has not been fair to our co-laborers in the Lord since they had worked all day long and we, His elect, just came in the eleventh hour and received the same penny a day first. We can see that we, His elect, have been favored by the Lord. 

Joh 4:36  And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 
Joh 4:37  And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 
Joh 4:38  I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. 

The truth of the matter is that the Lord has the prerogative to do what He wants to do with His creation, and therefore we cannot fault Him for favoring us, His elect.  

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 

Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 

This verse is the conclusion of the fact that we, His elect, are first to receive everlasting life. We are therefore the few who are called and chosen in this age. What a privilege that the Lord has bestowed on us to be called His sons in this age!!

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

Mat 20:17  And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, 
Mat 20:18  Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 
Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. 

It is when we begin to know who Christ is in the spirit that we are given to know about the suffering Jesus endured resulting in the destruction of His flesh. Being raised the third day means that Jesus went through the process of spiritual maturity through judgment and is the first man to be resurrected after death. His resurrection was what made Him perfect. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

As He is, so are we. We are also going through this process of spiritual maturity through judgment as our flesh or old man is gradually being destroyed. This destruction of our flesh is what guarantees the fact that we shall be perfected when we are raised from the dead during the first resurrection. 

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

The devil wants us to reject the idea of suffering which is the requirement for the death of our flesh and our being raised on the third day. In a way, he had been successful in deceiving us during our time in the churches of this world, when we taught that Jesus has already suffered for us and therefore we are not meant to suffer. Without suffering and death of our flesh in this age, there is no first resurrection.   

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

A Mother’s Request

Mat 20:20  Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21  And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 
Mat 20:22  But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 
Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. 

The mother of John and James coming to Jesus to worship Him was to present her request to Jesus regarding her two sons. She wanted her sons to sit on thrones with Christ in the fullness of time. The mother of John and James represents the church system of this world or Babylon who wants to reign with Christ but does not have an inkling as to what we have to go through to reign with Him. 

Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 
Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 

John and James being two means they signify the Lord’s witnesses. As the Lord’s witnesses or elect, we were in Babylon before He came to us to drag us to Himself. During our time in Babylon, we were not given to know that we were to drink the cup that Jesus drunk and to be baptized with the same baptism of Jesus. In other words, we did not know that to reign with Christ, we must fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh for His body’s sake. 

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: 

This affliction is the Lord’s judgment of our old man or flesh, which is the cup we must drink and the baptism we must undergo in this age. John and James saying to Jesus that they were capable of drinking from this cup and being baptized with the same baptism of Christ shows our state when we were in Babylon. We had confidence in the capability of our flesh. However, it takes the Lord’s spirit to show us that of ourselves, we can do nothing.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.    

In verse 23, the Lord saying that John and James shall indeed drink of His cup and be baptized with His baptism implies that John and James were the Lord’s elect who were destined to be judged in this age. 

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 

Jesus also made it clear to us in verse 23 that it is God the Father, who determines who should sit on thrones with Christ. The Lord’s elect are those called and chosen before the foundations of this world to sit on thrones with Christ to reign over the nations and to judge the world in an age to come. 

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

Mat 20:24  And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. 

As indicated in previous studies, the disciples of Christ were not converted when they were with Christ during the Lord’s ministry here on earth. It was after His death that the disciples became converted. 

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 

This implies that the disciples were carnal or ruled by the flesh. An indication of this was their anger because of John and James’ discussion with Christ about sitting on thrones with Him.  

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 

Mat 20:25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 
Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 
Mat 20:27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 
Mat 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 

Jesus used the occasion to show us some of the principles of the kingdom of God. As we are aware, our earthly leaders bear rule over us as we serve them. However, in the kingdom of God, those who want to be leaders must rather serve the brethren. Our Lord Jesus set an example for us to follow, by humbling Himself to the status of a servant for our sake. Our brother Paul also followed the same example by becoming a servant in order to gain the more.

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 
Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 

1Co 9:19  For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.  

Humbling ourselves and serving the Lord’s people is not what we see in the churches of this world. The leaders behave just like the leaders of this world who bear rule over the people. 

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

Mat 20:29  And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. 
Mat 20:30  And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. 
Mat 20:31  And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. 
Mat 20:32  And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? 
Mat 20:33  They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
Mat 20:34  So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. 

These verses recount how the Lord has shown mercy to us, His elect. The two blind men represent the Lord’s witnesses when we were minding our own business and were spiritually blind. Through the multitude, which signify the church system of this world or Babylon, we heard about our Lord Jesus Christ as shown in verse 30.  However, we faced great opposition from our brothers and sisters in Babylon, when we wanted to see Him as He is. Here we see that the key role of the church system of this world is to keep the Lord’s people blind as shown by their opposition to the two blind men from getting close to the Lord. However, if we are called and chosen, then like the two blind men, the more we are frustrated by the church system of this world from seeing Christ, the more we raise our voice to Him to show us mercy. This mercy we have received is at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon as shown in the following verses:

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 

In the fullness of time, the Lord in His mercy, came to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness. The brightness of the Lord’s coming is His opening our eyes to see and our ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:  

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 

In verses 32 and 33, the Lord asking us about what we want Him to do for us and our response being that we want to see, is to show us what the Lord is doing in this age. He is opening the eyes of His elect in this age so that we can see and hear the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 

In verse 34, we can see that it is the Lord’s compassion on the two blind men which moved Him to open their eyes. It is this compassion, which has kept us in Him to date and will continue to keep us until we are perfected by the first resurrection. 

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  

Amen!!

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 20 Discussion

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Isa 5:1-7  Wherefore, When I Looked That It Should Bring Forth Grapes, Brought It Forth Wild Grapes?

Isa 5:1  Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Isa 5:2  And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Isa 5:3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
Isa 5:4  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
Isa 5:5  And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
Isa 5:6  And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
Isa 5:7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

The scriptures really are the retelling of the same story over and over and over. Each telling of the story gives us additional details about the mind of our Creator not included in the previous revelations of His mind. These words in Isaiah 5 are a retelling of what happened between God and His creation at the very beginning. God planted a garden in Eden, and in Adam He placed us all in that garden and gave us everything we needed to be well fed and healthy. All we had to do was be obedient to His commandment: "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it". But we listened to the deceiver who told us that God was lying to us, and so we ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We became aware of the fact that we are naked and that we need to hide the shame of our nakedness. We did not just naturally become aware of our need for repentance of what we had done. Instead we just naturally blamed others for our own sins, and so it has always been. As the book of Job demonstrates, we even go to the extreme of condemning God for the way He has chosen to deal with His creatures. We condemn our Creator so we can maintain our own integrity and our own righteousness (Job 27:5; Job 29; Job 40:1-8). We want to be responsible for our sins so we can also take credit for all the good things we do. We do not like the way God is working with His creatures, and we just know that we could do a better job than He is doing. We think that we have a plan which is manifestly better than His way. So we question our own Creator, as if our ways really were better than His.

Paul was inspired to point out what we just naturally do:

Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Paul is referring to this event:

2Ch 20:4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
2Ch 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
2Ch 20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

Our Creator has every right to judge us, and He is doing so:

Rev 16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

This is figurative language, but all who come to Christ do so only after having blasphemed His name, after believing in and living by the false doctrines of Babylon, and being scorched with fire and having those doctrines and those works burned up by the great heat of His fiery words:

Jer 5:12  They [God's own people] have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
Jer 5:13  And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Just "because [we] speak this word" His words are in our mouths fire, and our old man becomes wood to be devoured by the fire of His Word.

In this particular 'speaking of His Word', which is telling us what God is doing, instead of a 'garden' we are told "My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill". It is the same story. "The dream is one (Gen 41:25)." We are Christ's work. We are His vineyard, and He gives us all we need to be His children. He gives us all His Words, and yet even after we witness Him miraculously feed thousands, and even after we "believe on Him", we still deny and reject Him and His Words (Joh 8:30-44). We do so because we "cannot hear His words", and because we were formed as marred vessels, with the law of sin and death in our members, from the Potter's hand.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 

Young's Literal Translation gets the Hebrew qual tense right, demonstrating that God's creation is a work in progress and was never to be considered as having been completed at the time of the Garden of Eden.

Jer 18:4  and marred is the vessel that he is making, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he hath turnedand he maketh it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make. (YLT)

The apostle John demonstrates that God's creation process is not intended to be progressing in but a few men in this age:

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [Greek: helkuō - drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Paul tells us how God has designed that but few will come to Him in this age. He restricts the masses from seeing Him by placing within us all "the law of sin and death":

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh ["vessel of clay"]) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

This same story is repeated in Micah:

Mic 6:1  Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. 
Mic 6:2  Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
Mic 6:3  O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. 
Mic 6:4  For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Mic 6:5  O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord.

God wants us to know that He has given our flesh every opportunity to do what is right, but He also tells us, and He also wants us to know that "in [our] flesh there is no good thing" (Rom 7:18). He wants us to know that this is by His design. He wants us to know that His physical creation was created for the express purpose of taking that physical creation and destroying it. He even tells us it "was made to be taken and destroyed" simply because it is "corruption". It is through the destruction of that physical creation that He is bringing forth the spiritual end-product of which Christ Himself is, at this time, the only begotten Son to have yet received "the redemption of the purchased possession":

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

2Pe 2:12  But these [flesh and blood], as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

We are at this time "sealed with that holy spirit of promise", but not yet possessors of "the redemption of the purchased possession". So God is working a work within us, and it involves Him, "through... Christ in [us]" (Php 4:13), giving us all we need to be obedient to Him, but He has also first placed within our natural bodies the inability to submit to Him and His laws, and He, as our sovereign Creator, gives us this story to bring us to see what He is working in us.

Here we have His own words telling us He made us "corruption", which He is intent on destroying as the means and the mechanism of producing a creature which is conformed to His image:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

How is He transforming us? He is doing so by "the transforming of [our] mind[s]. By burning out the mind of our old man and renewing our mind with the mind of Christ.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

He gives us this parable of what He is doing to us:

Isa 5:1  Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

We must notice how the holy spirit presents this story to us. Christ wants us to "sing a song to [our] beloved touching His vineyard".

What are we commanded to sing to our God?

Jdg 5:3  Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.

2Sa 22:50  Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.

We are to "give thanks to [our] Lord" by singing praises to Christ "touching [us], His vineyard" which He has placed "in a very fruitful hill". Hills are ideal for planting vineyards, and Christ knows what He is doing, and He goes to great lengths to give His vineyard the best of everything in this physical, natural realm:

Isa 5:2  And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

If Christ planted "the choicest vine", how is it possible that it "[brought] forth wild grapes"? We are told the same thing about everything God first created. It was not just a 'good' creation. Rather it was a "very good" creation:

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

If Christ's vineyard is located in "a very fruitful hill... planted... with the choicest vine", how is it possible for 'the choicest vine' to '[bring] forth wild grapes'?

There is only one way for that to happen, and this is how the scriptures tell us it happened:

Job 1:20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Isaiah tells us the same thing. From chapter one Isaiah's message is a message of God's judgment upon His rebellious people. Then in the 63rd of 66 chapters Isaiah is inspired by God to tell us why God's people rebel against Him:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Jeremiah tells us how Christ has "made us to err from [His] ways". This is what the holy spirit reveals to us of the "very good... vessel of clay" which Adam, and all "in Adam" are:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

We are not what we are by our will. We are clay in the Potter's hand. "So are ye in my hand..." Adam, and all "in Adam", are "marred in the hand of The Potter". The apostle Paul makes it abundantly clear that the "very good" creation God made in the Garden of Eden had absolutely no ability to choose to do what is pleasing to God in and of ourselves:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

This is the message of Isaiah five. The reason "no good thing... dwells... in my flesh" is because Christ saw to it at creation that we, "[His] vineyard", were marred in His hand with "the law of sin which is in [our] members... that is in (our) flesh". Our "marred vessel[s] of clay" were designed to "[bring] forth wild grapes" even under the best of conditions, and that is what these verses are telling us. They are telling us that we are flesh in which is no good thing, and that even under the most favorable conditions flesh is still nothing more than "corruption".

There is not one mention in all of scripture of the false doctrine of "the fall of man". Eve, who came out of Adam, had within her members the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life before she ever touched the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and according to the holy spirit, those three sins encompass "all that is in the world":

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, [1] the lust of the flesh, and [2] the lust of the eyes, and [3] the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

It is no coincidence that those are the three original sins committed by Mother Eve, and they are presented to us in that very same order, encompassing "all that is in the [sinful] world":

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was [1] good for food ["lust of the flesh"], and [2] that it was pleasant to the eyes ["lust of the eyes"], and [3] a tree to be desired to make one wise ["the pride of life"] she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

So the Lord's garden had been given every opportunity to bring forth good fruit, and instead it brought forth "all that is in the world... the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life", all before Eve ever touched the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She did so because that was what 'was in her, that is, in her flesh' (Rom 7:18).

We are told "God is love", so why would a loving God "[make] us to err"? Why would a loving God 'give and then take away'? Why would the Lord plant His vineyard in a fruitful hill, gather out the stones, plant the choicest vines, and build a tower and a winepress in His vineyard if His intention is to make it bring forth wild grapes?

The answer to all those questions is that the fruitful hill is a temporal 'fruitful hill'. It is not a spiritual Mount Zion, and it cannot bring forth anything but wild grapes even though it was planted with the choicest grapes. The choicest vines are our "very good... flesh and blood...  bodies of... corruption" (1Co 15:50). We are just naturally the kind of vines that bring forth wild grapes, simply because the fruit and works of a "marred... wild beast" with "the law of sin in [his] members" is 'wild grapes'. As long as we are in that state we "cannot enter into the kingdom of God".

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Before someone comes to me and tells me that in quoting Jeremiah 18, I stopped just short of the verse which proves that we have free choice, and that all these verses of scripture I have quoted just do not mean what they say and that God does not "make us err from [His] ways", let me deal with that blind and rebellious spirit.

Here is the next verse of Jeremiah 18:

Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

Of course it is obvious that the words "free will" appear nowhere in that verse. But our rebellious Babylonian "man of sin" is incapable of voluntarily abdicating the throne of God in the temple of God within us (2Th 2:3-12). So he makes that verse say that we can voluntarily choose to "turn from [our] evil" ways.

It is Christ Himself who informs us:

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

And then He adds this little bit of truth:

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

The point Christ is making to us here in Isaiah 5 is that our dying temporal flesh, when given every opportunity to bring forth good fruit, is utterly incapable of doing so. So He poses the question concerning His vineyard:

Isa 5:3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 

Isa 5:4  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 

Having just been told that He fenced it, gathered out the stones, planted the choicest vines, and built a tower in a fruitful hill (vs 1-2), it is obvious that there is nothing more that can be done with this particular vineyard to get it to produce good fruit.

What to do? What was it Christ had intended to do all along?

Isa 5:5  And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
Isa 5:6  And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

False doctrines from false prophets and false ministers are the briers and thorns of scripture as this verse among many others demonstrates:

Eze 2:6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

"I will take away the hedge thereof", is the same as taking away all the cloths and jewels the Lord had given "His pleasant plant", which demonstrates that the vision of Isaiah 3 and 4, is the same as the song we are to sing to our beloved here in chapter 5:

The vision is one (Gen 42:25-26):

Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
Isa 3:19  The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
Isa 3:20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
Isa 3:21  The rings, and nose jewels,
Isa 3:22  The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
Isa 3:23  The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

That is what happened to Job. This is what Job said after losing everything he owned in one day, including his seven sons and three daughters:

Job 1:20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Job is a type of us, and we are "the vineyard of the Lord":

Isa 5:7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Before the Lord began to judge Job, He had "a hedge" around Job, just as He fences in His vineyard and places a tower in it to protect His prized possession. In Isaiah 5:5 He even refers to His fence as "the hedge thereof", which He tells us He is taking away, just as He removed His 'hedge' from about Job. Then He actually sent Satan to destroy all Job owned. But the Lord's prized possession is a work in progress, and the taking away of the hedge and the destruction of the kingdom of our old man is but an essential part of the work the Lord is doing to the children of men.

This is how Paul frames what God is doing with all men of all time:

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Along with His Christ, Christ is securing the salvation of all who are "in Adam":

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

So it is "in Christ... the last Adam" that we become the "vineyard of red wine" of Isaiah 27, and we will "sing a new song" in praise to God for His new vineyard:

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Isa 27:2  In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
Isa 27:3  I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. 
Isa 27:4  Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
Isa 27:5  Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me. 
Isa 27:6  He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
Isa 27:7  Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?
Isa 27:8  In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
Isa 27:9  By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. 

Psa 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.