Isaiah 27:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

However, we who will come - those destined to arrive - shall transition from darkness to light, from ignorance of the Hellenic ways to the knowledge of the one true God, from sin to righteousness. We shall seek peace with Him, having eradicated the ancient hostilities, we will be reconciled to God; for by removing sin and vanquishing Satan, encountering no obstacles that could deter us from Christ, we will align our lives with His commandments, pursue His desires, and adhere to His teachings, humbling ourselves before the gospel, thus reconciling with Him. The Apostle Paul conveys a similar message to those called from among the Gentiles, stating, ‘For we who have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1). Therefore, extending an invitation to those who approach, to whom the blessed David proclaimed, ‘The coming generation shall declare to the Lord’ (Ps. 21:31), turning His words toward the holy apostles, recognizing by the Holy Spirit that they would bring the whole world to the Lord, he rejoiced and proclaimed, The children of Jacob shall wither, and Israel shall flourish, and the whole universe shall be filled with the fruits thereof: for the divine disciples were descendants of Jacob, who received the name Israel. However, since their message spread from east to west (Psalm 112:3), and their words reached all corners of the earth, many nations were called to embrace the truth, and as the prophecy indicates, the universe became abundant with His fruit. Who are these fruits? Clearly, they are Israel, the lineage of Israel; for those who believed constituted the harvest of the apostles' labors; the divine Paul referred to them as his joy and his crown; indeed, the true honor and glory of the holy messengers are found in those who are saved through their efforts.

The prophet thus declares, Trust in the Lord forever, in the Lord God, strong forever, whose assistance is eternal. He will bring low those who dwell on high, for all who rise will be humbled—those who reside in lofty places, who took pride in having Abraham as their Father and boldly claimed to the Lord, 'We were born of fornication' (John 8:41). He will humble the proud city, regarded by the Jews as Rome, while we more accurately understand it to be Jerusalem, the very city that persecuted the prophets, stoned those sent to it, and ultimately killed the Son of the Landowner, thereby causing the inheritance to be lost after the heir's death (Luke 13:20). It is not referred to as a city, in Hebrew ir, but as sagia, a term Aquila translated as πολίχνην, which we can render as either a town or a small city—this is how Jerusalem is frequently described in Scripture.

From the depths of Christ’s Church, in this new vineyard, it will awaken, after a prolonged period of spiritual apathy, to a renewed spiritual existence, much like a vine revives after winter, blossoming anew; it will achieve a state of societal flourishing reminiscent of the days of David and Solomon, and the whole cosmos will be enriched by its abundance—meaning that the entire world will be touched by the richness of its influence in matters of faith, while for many years, as they were scattered across the earth, the Israelites were merely a burden to the nations, weighed down by their own self-interest.