Mistaken Identity

Psalm 80:8-9 English Standard Version (ESV)

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
    it took deep root and filled the land.

We Christians are so familiar with John 15:4-5 that we mistake some passages within scripture about the vine to be about Christendom. This vine in Israel. If you read Psalm 80 in its entirety it will be easier to see. The end of that psalm makes it plain where Christ stands.

Psalm 80:17-19 King James Version (KJV)

17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

19 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

John 15:1 English Standard Version (ESV)“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

What is the significance between Jesus the true vine and any other vine? His roots dig deep into the truth. His Father makes sure that anything produced by His Vine bears the fruit of truth. The vine of Israel dug deep into its inheritance and took root in the land.

How do I know? I read Psalm 80.

Psalm 80:12-13 English Standard Version (ESV)

12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
    and all that move in the field feed on it.

God removed the hedge of protection because that vine did not produce the fruit of truth. Their fruit was a yield of the earth and the earthly things took their harvest.

When we read of a vine in scriptures be sure which vine is being addressed and see if truth is in the fruit produced.

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