Isaiah 5:8-10

Isaiah 5:8-10

[8] Woe  unto them that join  house  that lay  field  till there be no  place,  that they may be placed  alone in the midst  of the earth!  [9] In mine ears  said the LORD  of hosts,  Of a truth  many  houses  shall be desolate,  even great  and fair,  without inhabitant.  [10] Yea,  ten  acres  of vineyard  shall yield  one  bath,  and the seed  of an homer  shall yield  an ephah. 

What does Isaiah 5:8-10 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The first quality that spoiled Israel"s fruit was greed, an example of which Isaiah detailed (cf. Micah 2:1). The Israelites were buying out their neighbors, as they had opportunity or made the opportunity, to increase their land holdings. The wealthier or smarter members of the community took advantage of their less fortunate brethren and so deprived them of their opportunity to live on land that God had given them (cf. Leviticus 25:23). The carpetbaggers who descended on the South following America"s Civil War similarly took advantage of many southerners whose farms had been decimated by invading northern troops. They bought up their land for a fraction of its worth and drove the former owners into destitute poverty.
Buying additional land is not wrong in itself, but when it involves abusing other people it becomes wrong. Isaiah was not decrying large farms or estates per se; he was condemning squeezing out the small man to make oneself more prosperous, secure, and admired. Those who did this in his day ended up isolated, rather than enjoying the fellowship of their brethren (cf. Matthew 16:25-26; Colossians 3:5).
God would judge this greed by causing the families of these isolated rich people to dwindle ( Isaiah 5:9). Ironically, by the time a person has enough money to build a mansion he is often too old to enjoy it, his family has grown up and moved out, and his spouse may die soon because she is usually old too. God would judge the farmers by decreasing the productivity of their crops ( Isaiah 5:10; cf. Deuteronomy 28:20-24; Psalm 106:15; Haggai 1:5-6). The land-hungry would become hungry. No matter how many acres a person may own, God still controls the weather. Agricultural productivity was one of God"s promised blessings under the Old Covenant ( Deuteronomy 28:11-12; cf. Isaiah 4:2).