The first person in the Bible to be described as a vinedresser was Noah (Gen. 9:20). While God’s
chosen people were wanderers, there was little or no opportunity for growing vineyards, for such
an occupation requires permanent settlement. The land of Canaan was evidently ideally suited to
the growing of grapes (Numbers 13:23,24) and there are frequent mentions of vineyards and
vinedressers in the Old Testament following the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan.

David, Solomon, and Uzziah hired vinedressers to keep their vineyards (1 Chron. 27:27, 2 Chron.
26:10, Eccl. 2:4, and Song of Solomon 8:11). Naboth had a vineyard for which he was murdered
by King Ahab (1 Kings 21:1-16).

Vineyards were such a familiar sight in Israel that God used the figure of the vineyard in an
allegorical sense to describe His relations with the nation of Israel. He was the vinedresser; Israel
was the vine or vineyard. God had brought the vine out of Egypt and planted it in Canaan where
it flourished. The divine Vinedresser had taken good care of His vineyard and had fenced it in to
protect it from enemies. But instead of bringing forth good fruit, it had brought forth wild grapes.
In judgment, God was going to remove His care from the vineyard and allow the wild beasts to
destroy it (see Psalm 80:8-16, Isa. 5:1-17, and Jer. 2:21).

The Lord Jesus used the figure of the vineyard in several of His parables. In Matthew 21:33-41
and Mark 12:1-9 the religious leaders of Israel were the hired vinedressers who refused to produce
the fruits of the kingdom of God and instead murdered God’s servants and finally the Son of God
Himself.

The Lord also used the figure of a householder hiring workers for his vineyard to illustrate the
truth that the rewards of the kingdom are dispensed by God according to His grace and goodness
and not according to our ideas of who deserves what (Matt. 20:1-16).

Perhaps the reference to vinedressing which has the most meaning for us today is found in John
15:1-8. "I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman [vinedresser]. Every branch in Me
that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it
may bring forth more fruit…. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me …. If a man abide not in Me,
he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned . . . ."

God expects anyone who wants to be a branch in His vineyard to bear fruit. The only source of
power for fruit-bearing is to be found in Christ the Vine (or main trunk). If the branch is not truly
connected to the Vine, it will eventually wither and its lifelessness appear to all and it will be
burned. (The same thought is expressed in James 2:14-26.)

The expression in this passage to which I wish to direct our attention is, "My Father is the
husbandman . . . and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
fruit." What does a good vinedresser do in order to have his vines bear the maximum amount of

fruit? In almost any book on vine growing a great deal of attention is given to proper pruning.
This pruning is not done in a haphazard fashion but according to a careful plan. I will not go into
detail as to these methods, but I would like to quote one who has had experience in growing
grapes.

"The grape vine bears only on new wood, never on old wood. The branches must be pruned
drastically every year. This is done before the leaves appear in the spring. It may look as if the
vine dresser is killing the vine. The more heavily the branches are pruned, the larger will be the
bunches of grapes. If the branches are pruned less heavily, there will be more bunches; but they
will not be of so high a quality."

Heavy pruning brings forth high quality fruit. Is not this what God is telling us through the writer
of Hebrews when he discusses chastening in chapter 12:3-11? Verse 11 states, "Now no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." Just as the human
vinedresser prunes his vines according to a careful plan, so the Father chastens and purges us
according to His careful plan. Nothing that happens to us is an accident. He must purge out all
the old, dead growth (anything of the flesh) which would hinder the production of the fruit of the
Spirit. Just as the literal vines must be pruned yearly, so God’s pruning process goes on
throughout our lives.

Let us not despise or rebel against or try to evade the chastening of the Lord. Let us be exercised
by it so that we may bring forth the maximum amount of fruit of the highest possible quality.