What, then, is the vineyard? The owner explains: “The vineyard of Jehovah of armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation of which he was fond.”​—Isaiah 5:7a.

14. What fruitage does Jehovah expect of his nation, but what does it produce instead?

¹⁴ God expects the nation to produce good fruits. Isaiah’s contemporary Micah declares: “What is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God?” (Micah 6:8; Zechariah 7:9) However, the nation fails to heed Jehovah’s exhortation. “[God] kept hoping for judgment, but, look! the breaking of law; for righteousness, but, look! an outcry.” (Isaiah 5:7b) Moses predicted that the unfaithful nation would produce poisonous grapes from “the vine of Sodom.” (Deuteronomy 32:32) Likely, then, sexual immorality, including homosexuality, is part of their deviation from God’s Law. (Leviticus 18:22) The expression “breaking of law” can also be rendered “outpouring of blood.” Such brutal treatment has no doubt resulted in “an outcry” from mistreated ones​—an outcry that has reached the ears of the Planter of the vineyard.​—Compare Job 34:28.

15, 16. How can true Christians avoid producing the bad fruits that Israel produced?

¹⁵ Jehovah God is “a lover of righteousness and justice.” (Psalm 33:5) He commanded the Jews: “You people must not do injustice in the judgment. You must not treat the lowly with partiality, and you must not prefer the person of a great one. With justice you should judge your associate.” (Leviticus 19:15) We must therefore shun partiality in our dealings with one another, never allowing such things as race, age, wealth, or poverty to color our judgment of people. (James 2:1-4) It is particularly important that those serving in positions of oversight ‘do nothing according to a biased leaning,’ always seeking to hear both sides of a matter before making judgment.​—1 Timothy 5:21; Proverbs 18:13.

Identifying God’s Vineyard Today

10. What parable involving a vineyard did Jesus give?

¹⁰ Jesus may have had Isaiah’s words in mind when he gave the parable of the murderous cultivators: “There was a man, a householder, who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and erected a tower, and let it out to cultivators, and traveled abroad.” Unhappily, the cultivators betrayed the vineyard owner, even killing his son. Jesus went on to show that this parable involved more than just literal Israel when he said: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you [fleshly Israel] and be given to a nation producing its fruits.”​—Matthew 21:33-41, 43.

11. What spiritual vineyard existed in the first century, but what happened after the death of the apostles?

¹¹ That new “nation” proved to be “the Israel of God”​—a spiritual nation of anointed Christians totaling 144,000. (Galatians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:9, 10; Revelation 7:3, 4) Jesus compared these disciples to “branches” on “the true vine,” namely, himself. Naturally, these branches are expected to bear fruit. (John 15:1-5) They must manifest Christlike qualities and participate in the work of preaching “this good news of the Kingdom.” (Matthew 24:14; Galatians 5:22, 23) But ever since the death of the twelve apostles, the great majority of those who claim to be branches of “the true vine” have proved to be counterfeits​—producing wild grapes instead of good fruits.​—Matthew 13:24-30, 38, 39.

12. How do Isaiah’s words condemn Christendom, and what lesson do they hold for true Christians?

¹² Therefore, Isaiah’s condemnation of Judah applies today to Christendom. A study of her history​—her wars, her crusades, her Inquisitions—​reveals just how sour her fruit has been! Nevertheless, the true vineyard of anointed Christians and their “great crowd” companions must heed Isaiah’s words. (Revelation 7:9) If they are to please the vineyard’s owner, they must, individually and as a group, produce fruits that please him.