27:4,5
Back in 5:5,6 God was angry with the vineyard and was destined to take severe action. Now He declares that He is not angry, and that even if there were only briers and thorns confronting Him (ie relatively minor enemies) He would still take direct action. But an even better alternative is then offered. Let the thorns and briers (ie the enemies of God) come and make peace with the Lord, let them come to Him for refuge instead of regarding God as an enemy. In all this talk of God being angry and then not angry we should be aware that He is using anthropomorphic language, describing eternal attributes in terms of human traits. So again we see that the salvation of Israel actually opens up the door to the salvation of many nations.
27:6
This is the summary of God’s purpose for Israel and Judah. They were to take root in God, they would then be fruitful, and would fill all the world. This is not a filling of the world in a domineering sense, but in a blessing sense. Now Israel was so often a beleaguered nation. The church goes astray when we act as if we are beleaguered. This is not to deny the reality of opposition, but we must remain faithful to Christ, and expect to bring blessing to the whole world.
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