Isaiah 63

Isaiah 63:1

6. The Day of Vengeance (63:1-6)When the Lord returns to set up His kingdom, He must first destroy His enemies. That destruction takes place at different times and in different places. One stage occurs in the Valley of Armageddon (Rev_16:16), another in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joe_3:12), and still another in Edom. The latter is what we have here in chapter 63. The Messiah is marching up from Bozrah, a metropolis of Edom, in glorious garments that are red with the blood of Israel’s foes. When asked why His apparel is red, He uses the figure of a winepress to describe His trampling of His enemies. The time had come for Him to wreak vengeance on them and to redeem His people. In the absence of any merely human deliverer, He stepped in and won the victory.

Isaiah 63:7

7. The Prayer of the Remnant (63:764:12)63:7-10 Next the prophet, speaking for the remnant in captivity, seeks deliverance from their pitiable condition. First he rehearses God’s past dealings with the nation. Jehovah has displayed nothing but lovingkindnesses, great goodness, and mercies. God had called them as His people. Though He knew in advance exactly what they would do, He is here represented as considering it unthinkable that they would ever forsake Him for other gods.

So He became their Savior. He also became their partner in all their trials, and particularly in all their affliction in Egypt. The Angel (same word as Messenger) of His Presence, that is, the Messiah, saved them. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them out of Egypt, and cared for them throughout their wilderness journeys. They repaid His love with rebellion, and so He became their Adversary. 63:11-13 But even remembering the days of old, of Moses and his generation, would raise the questions: “Where is He who brought Israel through the Red Sea with Moses and Aaron and their other shepherds? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in Moses, then divided the sea so that Moses could lead them through, thus bringing everlasting honor to His name? Where is Jehovah who brought them through the sea, making the way as smooth as a flat desert where a horse never needs to stumble?” 63:14 As a beast goes down into the valley to find rest and refreshment, so God led His people into the land of rest, and in so doing, He earned a glorious name for Himself. Note the Trinity: the Lord Jehovah (v. 7); the Angel of Jehovah (v. 9); the Spirit of the LORD (vv. 10, 11, 14). 63:15, 16 The recital of past mercies leads the prophet to look ahead to the Babylonian captivity and to intercede for the exiles. It seems that God’s zeal, strength, and mercies are being withheld from the remnant. Isaiah pleads that God is still their Father, even though Abraham and Israel were to disown them. 63:17-19 In verse 17, the remnant seems to blame the LORD for their backsliding, but the truth is that God only hardens men’s hearts after they have first hardened their own heart. Probably the remnant means to say, “Why did you permit us to err from Your ways?” God is often said to do what He permits. In any case, the exiles cry to Jehovah to return to them in grace. Israel had possessed the land in peace for only a comparatively short time, and now the sanctuary lies in ruins, and the Israelites, God’s people, are no better off than the other nations who never had a covenant relationship with the Lord.