63. Isaiah Chapter Sixty-Three
Isaiah Chapter 63 The first six verses of this chapter consist of a dialogue between the redeemed remnant of Israel, delivered from their great tribulation, and the Lord. The time is that of Christ’s Personal intervention for the overthrow of the Gentile foes gathered under the Antichrist in Palestine. Accordingly the passage follows appropriately after the divine promises given in chapter 62. The Jewish people, delivered from their enemies ask, with astonishment at the power and glory of their great Deliverer, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, marching [r.v.] in the greatness of His strength? (Isaiah 63:1). He comes not as a traveler (as in the a.v.), but as a Conqueror at the head of His armies (see Revelation 19:14). But why does He come from Edom and Bozrah? The answer is to be found in a comparison of Psalms 29:1-11 with Daniel 11:45, in the latter of which the word rendered “palace” should be “encampment,” the military base of the king of the North after his return from conquering Egypt, with a view to the overthrow of his national Gentile foes gathered under the ten-kingdomed confederacy of the Roman powers. All the Gentile nations are thus assembled at the warfare of Har-Magedon (Revelation 16:16). Psalms 29:1-11 describes poetically the complete overthrow of all the nations by the power of the voice of the Lord. The geography of that Psalm is interesting and significant. The overthrow begins in Lebanon (Psalms 29:5-6) and sweeps down to the wilderness of Kadesh (Psalms 29:8), the center of which is Bozrah (cp. Numbers 13:26). The destruction is swift and complete. The distance from Sirion in Lebanon to Bozrah in Edom is 200 miles, or 1600 furlongs, which is the very distance foretold in Revelation 14:20 in a passage parallel to Isaiah 63:1-19, concerning the winepress of the wrath of God. The harmony of Scripture in its various parts is thus strikingly illustrated. In reply to the question of the delivered nation, the Lord answers “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” The “I that speak” corresponds to “the voice of the Lord” in Psalms 29:1-11 (see also Psalms 2:5) and to the sword which comes forth out of His mouth, as mentioned in Revelation 19:21. His righteousness will then be manifested in the deliverance of His earthly people. In Isaiah 63:2 a second question is asked by them: “Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat [or rather, winevat]?” The Lord’s response to this in Isaiah 63:3-4 makes clear the time of the event, namely, the final destruction of Gentile powers before the Millennial reign. He says “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples [plural] there was no man with Me: yea, I trod them in Mine anger, and trampled them in My fury; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.” With this vividly metaphorical description of the treading of the winepress compare Joel 3:9-16; Revelation 14:17-20 and Revelation 19:15. The day and the year are contrasted. The time of the Lord’s wrath is short, for “the Lord will execute His word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short” (Romans 9:28). The tenderness of the heart of the Lord toward His people, His by covenant and promise, is manifested in the rest of His response to the second question, “And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me; and My fury, it upheld Me. And I trod down the peoples in Mine anger, and made them drunk in My fury, and I poured out their life blood on the earth” (Isaiah 63:5-6). In Isaiah 63:7 speaking as representing his people at the time of their deliverance, as just mentioned in Isaiah 63:1-6, and by way of response to the Lord’s goodness, says “I will make mention of the lovingkindneses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us; and the great goodness toward the house of Israel which He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.”
Such language befits our lips who have been granted Heavenly and spiritual deliverances and blessings, in addition to earthly mercies.
Isaiah 63:8 expresses God’s approval of His redeemed people, the righteous remnant who have waited for His salvation during the time of the great tribulation, in contrast to the many who will have remained in apostasy, owning allegiance to the Antichrist. This contrast is intimated in the Divine declaration, “Surely, they are My people, children that will not deal falsely.” The prophet then records that for this reason “He was their Savior,” and proceeds to show how He acted as such: “In all their affliction He was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9).
Some manuscripts have the word “not” in the latter part of this statement, with the meaning that in all their adversity He was no adversary to them (see the r.v. margin). The weight of evidence, however, supports the rendering of our Versions. In a day long gone by, when Israel returned to the Lord in repentance for their sins as a result of His chastisements, “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel” (Judges 10:16; cp. Judges 2:18). So in the coming time of Jacob’s trouble His dealings will have in view both the overthrow of their enemies and the removal of His chastening hand at the appointed time. The statement reveals the tenderness of the Lord’s compassions. His chastisements are ever ministered in love (Hebrews 12:5-11). “The Lord doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33). It grieves Him to see their waywardnesses. It likewise grieves Him to be compelled to afflict them.
Next comes the actual mode of His delivering power; “the Angel of His Presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them” (Isaiah 63:9). Here the thought is carried not only to the future salvation, but back through the past history of His dealings. The presence of God was with His people of old in the pillar of cloud and fire and in the Tabernacle, and the Angel was none other than Christ Himself (see Exodus 23:20, Exodus 23:23; Exodus 32:34; Exodus 33:2). His presence was more than the mere existence of God in their midst, it indicated the manifestation of Himself in and through the accompanying Angel. The metaphor of bearing and carrying them all the days of old, recalls Isaiah 63:10-12 of the song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:1-52, where he recounts God’s goodness during their journey in the wilderness (cp. Isaiah 63:10 with Deuteronomy 32:19-25). “They grieved His Holy Spirit” (Isaiah 63:10), a sin against which we are warned in Ephesians 4:30.
Isaiah 63:11-14 present the other side of God’s dealings, His mercy to them in delivering them from Egypt and giving them rest so that His Name might become glorious. At the end of Isaiah 63:14 Isaiah addresses God, reminding Him of His goodness, and this forms an introduction to the prayer that follows. The prayer for redemption and deliverance (Isaiah 63:15) begins with the request that the Lord will “look down from Heaven, and behold from the habitation of His holiness and of His glory [or majesty],” indicating that He who had been with His people, manifesting His presence and power, had withdrawn Himself and was to be approached only in His Heavenly dwelling place. His holiness and His glory are specifically mentioned in contrast to the godlessness and shame of His people. This attitude of distance is borne out by the appeal, “where is Thy zeal and Thy mighty acts? the yearning of Thy bowels and Thy compassions are restrained toward me.” When God’s people are in distress because of their waywardness, the necessity of His disciplinary acts and judgments does not remove His compassion; “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” He longs to relieve His people from their afflictions but sometimes necessarily puts a restraint upon His tender mercies.
It is noticeable that Isaiah speaks of himself as the subject of these dealings, thus identifying himself with the condition of his people. So it was with Moses (Exodus 32:31-32), and again with Paul (Romans 9:2-3). So it is with every true intercessor in times when the Lord’s people are in a spirit of declension from Him. The prophet appeals in Isaiah 63:16 to the relationship of God with His people on the same ground. God has begotten His earthly people by His creative power and loving counsel. He was their Father, though Abraham knew them not, and Israel (i.e., Jacob) acknowledged them not. Abraham and Jacob were no longer present to have regard to their descendants. The words rendered “knoweth” (r.v.) and “acknowledge” convey the thought of intimate recognition and active regard (see, e.g., Deuteronomy 33:9; Ruth 2:10, Ruth 2:19). The departed saints do not intercede for anyone. With the Lord, however, the case is different. The relationship is inalienable. So Isaiah repeats the statement “Thou, O Lord, art our Father”; His knowledge and recognition abide. He is their “Redeemer,” and His name “is from everlasting,” that is to say, in the counsels of the past eternity and in His gracious actings in history. The prayer in Isaiah 63:17 now contains the startling appeal, “O Lord, why dost Thou make us to err from Thy ways, and hardenest our heart from Thy fear [or, so as not to fear Thee]?” Isaiah is not imputing to God the responsibility for the sin of His people. Persistent and obstinate rejection of God’s will causes Him, consistently with His righteousness, to forego a continuation of His grace and mercy, giving those who have hardened their hearts against Him up to the effects of their own evil ways, rendering them incapable of faith and of walking in His fear. A striking example of this is the case of Pharaoh. The r.v. should be read in Exodus 7:13, as in both Versions in Exodus 8:19, Exodus 8:32. Again in Exodus 9:7 the statement is “the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn.” Then comes the change in Exodus 9:12, where it says that God hardened his heart. This was the case with the greater part of Israel. There were some, however, who remained faithful, and the prophet makes two appeals, first on behalf of these and then on the ground that the nation was God’s inheritance: “Return,” he says, “for Thy servants’ sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance.” There was a remnant “according to the election of grace.” The Lord’s people had possessed the land “but a little while” (Isaiah 63:18). Adversaries had trodden down His sanctuary, and the people had become “as they over whom Thou never barest rule; as they that were not called by Thy Name” (Isaiah 63:19). Their condition resembled that of Gentile nations.
Believers need to give heed against departing from the will of God and becoming conformed to the world. Persistent Laodicean lukewarmness makes us resemble the unregenerate, and the Lord has to withdraw Himself and stand outside the door (Revelation 3:15, Revelation 3:20).