This article is dedicated to my father, Mike Thomas Buratovich, who served his family, community and church as a grape farmer.

What can growing up on a grape farm teach us about the Scriptures? Read on and find out.

Farming grapes requires painstaking, exacting work: “My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut
out a winepress as well (Isaiah 5:1-2).” The average Israeli hillside is very rocky. The farmer manually removed rocks from the soil and used them to build a wall around the vineyard and a watchtower. Establishing and sustaining a vineyard requires extensive, back-breaking work.

Because of their massive personal investment, grape farmers closely identify with their grapevines. This explains why the cultivation of a vineyard is used in Scripture as an image for wooing someone (Song of Solomon 7:8-9, 12; 8:11-12). As a symbol for Israel, the vineyard demonstrates God’s profound personal investment in His chosen people. However, this is a risky investment, since with great love comes great risk. Even under the best conditions, hardest work and meticulous planning, the vine does not always cooperate. Yahweh bemoans this fact in Isaiah 5:4: “What more could I have done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” Even during years when everything goes well, a single rain storm at the wrong time can destroy an entire year’s work. Just as the farmer sweats over and is preoccupied with the vineyard, the Lord labors over and is consumed with us, His people, His vineyard.

Grapevines are usually established from other vines whose branches, or “canes,” are cut and planted in pots until they sprout roots, after which they are planted in the ground (Psalm 80:8-9). A fraction of the cut and planted branches, or “cuttings,” sprout and form new vines, while the rest wither and die. Grapevines that grow vigorously and produce copious quantities of high-quality grapes, often called “choice vines,” tend to make the best sources for these cuttings: “I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock” (Jeremiah 2:21). God viewed Israel as a choice vine — the best He had: “Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength” (Deuteronomy 4:37). Today His church is His choice vine: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). The farmer’s concern for and pride in his grape crop mimic, in a very limited fashion, God’s concern for and pride in His people.

Even from their earliest stages, grapevines (creeping plants that require constant “training” in order to grow in the desired direction) are planted next to wooden posts. A grapevine “in training” must touch a post to ensure that it grows upward. Young grapevines also require the farmer’s protection, since they are susceptible to gophers, birds and other creatures that can nibble them to death (Song of Solomon 2:15; Psalm 80:13). Protecting young grapevines requires an engrossing strategy (Isaiah 27:2-3). When the farmer (God) withdraws his protection, the results are nothing short of disastrous (Isaiah 5:5-6).

Pruning is an essential part of grape farming. While allowed to grow freely during their first year, in the late winter the vine is pruned back to a single stem with two or three buds to encourage root growth. During the second year, in the early spring all side branches are removed to strengthen it and encourage hearty growth. Two canes are selected for growth and tied to wires to train them. These practices differ for particular grape varieties. Grape plants produce a great deal of wood, and without pruning, the grapevine becomes too dense for the sun to properly ripen the fruit. Also, grapes are produced further away from the trunk, which decreases overall fruit quality and plant vigor. After the canes produce a crop of grapes, new buds emerge along their length, heralding next year’s crop. Keeping the entire cane is wasteful, since the plant will invest its energy into making more wood to the detriment of fruit development. Pruning the extraneous buds that are too far from the trunk helps the plant concentrate its energies on making good fruit.

Unpruned vines have a wild, unkempt appearance and produce “wild fruit,” which is usually extremely sour. In Jeremiah 2:21, God speaks of Israel as His choice vine — one that He planted but that became a wild vine: “How did you then turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?” Scripture also makes reference to “sour grapes,” which are plucked from wild vines, or cultivated grapevines whose fruit is unripe or did not receive enough sunlight. Sour grapes contain minimal sugar and copious amounts of acid, and “set the teeth on edge” when bitten into (Jeremiah 31:29 and Ezekiel 18:2).

Jesus identifies Himself as the “true vine” and God the Father as the only one who can properly prune His church (John 15:1-2). His pruning augments productive canes but severs the nonproductive ones from the vine. True disciples remain connected to the source of all life, Jesus, and can do nothing other than be fruitful.

False disciples might believe they are connected to the vine stock, but in reality they are already dead. Often in the Gospel narratives, fruitless crops wither, are cut off and burned (Matthew 13:24-30; Mark 4:5-6, 11:12-14, 20-21). John 15:6 reads: “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” Damage from wind, rain, insects or disease kills portions of trees or vines. Dead branches serve as reservoirs for fungi and insects, and the wisest course of action is to remove the dead parts and burn them.

The connection between the branch and the stock drives it to grow and be fruitful, but overabundant growth can shut out the sunlight or divert the nutritional resources from the vine stock, so the vinedresser prunes the vine to maximize its productivity. Often we drive ourselves in a variety of unproductive directions that sap our energy from the things God wants us to do. To refocus us, God prunes us and keeps us from wasting the life He freely gives. Furthermore, our natural propensities influence us to grow toward the dirt. Without the training of the Vinedresser, we would grow toward the ground and wallow in the mud.

We are the vine to which God has devoted much time, energy and effort. We might mistake God’s pruning and training for chastisement, when in fact without them we would become unmanageable, dirty, wild and fruitless. Respond to His touch and pruning and be fruitful!