The land of Israel was, and I understand still is, full of vineyards. As such, it should not be surprising to find the Bible using various forms of vineyard imagery to convey truths regarding God's purpose and care for His people.
In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is referred to as a choice vine planted in a vineyard. The Exodus from Egypt and inheritance of the Promised Land is referred to as the transplanting of a vine.
"You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. You prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land" (Psalm 80:8-9).
The prophets used vineyard imagery to speak of God's disappointment regarding Israel's apostasy and unfruitfulness.
"Now let me sing to my Well-beloved. A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes" (Isaiah 5:1-2).
"Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?" (Jeremiah 2:21).
"Israel empties his vine; he brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit he has increased the altars; according to the bounty of his land they have embellished his sacred pillars" (Hosea 10:1).
God had caused Israel to grow into a nation in the womb of Egypt. He heard their cries and brought them out with a mighty arm, thus keeping His promise to their father Abraham. God sustained them in the wilderness and drove out the nations before them, allowing them to settle in the land that had been promised to their fathers. As the vinedresser cleared the land and cared for the vines (Isaiah 5:1-2), God had given Israel everything she needed to prosper and be fruitful. In her gratitude, she should have remained faithful to God and produced good fruit to His glory. Instead, she became "the degenerate plant of an alien vine" and brought forth "wild grapes." These "alien" or "wild" grapes refer to Israel's rejection of God and His law. They turned to idolatry and mistreated their own brethren. Because of their continued rejection of God, He had no choice but to destroy the unfruitful vineyard.
"Why have You broken down her hedges, so that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? The boar out of the woods uproots it, and the wild beast of the field devours it... It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance" (Psalm 80:12-13, 16).
This vineyard imagery is found a number of times in the New Testament. Jesus used a vineyard setting for some of His parables (Matthew 20:1-16, 21:33-46), and the imagery of the winepress is used to illustrate the judgment of the wicked in Revelation 14:17-20.
The most notable use of this imagery in the New Testament is when Jesus referred to Himself as the true vine, His Father as the vinedresser, and His disciples as the branches (John 15:1-8). Just as God had provided for Israel of old, so He also cares for the branches of the True Vine today. "...every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit" (v. 2). However, just as God cast the unfruitful vine into the fire (Ezekiel 15), so He will also cut away and burn the unfruitful branches of the True Vine. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away..., If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned" (vs. 2, 6).
The lesson taught by this vineyard imagery is very clear. God provides for His people, but He expects His people to be faithful and fruitful. If they are not, they will be cut away and burned. We are truly blessed by God. He cares for us and provides for us. Let us make sure we are proving to be fruitful branches by abiding in Christ and bringing glory to God in the lives that we live.