Isaiah 63

CHAPTER 63THEME: The winepress of judgment; in wrath the Savior remembers mercyThe content of the first six verses of this chapter is certainly in contrast to the preceding section. It really seems out of keeping with the tenor of this entire section of Isaiah, but judgment precedes the Kingdom, and this has always been the divine order. When Isa_53:1 described Christ at His first coming “there was no beauty that we should desire Him,” but here there is majesty and beauty, which identifies this passage with His second coming. Also, the day of vengeance has been identified already with Christ’s second coming rather than His first coming, as the Lord Himself clearly stated. Compare Isa_61:2 with Luk_4:18-20. I find no delight in the first part of this chapter, because we see the wrath of Christ likened to a winepress in His coming judgment. Then the second part of the chapter reveals the lovingkindness which Christ manifests toward His own.

Isaiah 63:1

THE WINEPRESS OF JUDGMENTThe form used here is an antiphony. Those who ask the question concerning the One coming from Edom are overwhelmed by His majesty and beauty. He comes from Edom and the east, and we are told elsewhere that His feet will touch the Mount of Olives on the east. “Edom” and “Bozrah” are geographical places, and are to be considered as such, but this does not exhaust the mind of the Spirit. Edom is symbolic of the flesh and the entire Adamic race, and here we see the judgment of man.

Isaiah 63:2

In that day men would get into the winepress barefooted to tread out the grapes. The red juice would spurt out of the ripe grapes and stain their garments. That is the picture you have in this verse, and that is why this question is asked. The spectators see that there is blood on His beautiful garments just as if He had trodden the winepress. Now listen to His answer

Isaiah 63:3

Notice that it is their blood, not His. The early church fathers associated these first six verses with the first coming of Christ. They mistook the winepress as the suffering of Christ on the Cross. Such an interpretation is untenable, as the blood upon His garments is not His blood but that of others. It is the day of vengeance. It is identified already with the second coming of Christ rather than with His first coming. The Lord Jesus made that clear in Luk_4:18-20 when He read Isa_61:2. The Lord Jesus shed His own blood at His first coming, but that is not the picture which is presented here. He was trodden on at His first coming, but here He does the treading. This is a frightful picture of judgment. Now we are told the reason for His judgment

Isaiah 63:4

He has come to save forever His redeemed ones from their vicious oppressors. This is His judgment upon the earth, and it is defined as the day of vengeance.

Isaiah 63:5

The Lord Jesus Christ wrought salvation alone when He was on the Cross, and judgment is His solo work also.

Isaiah 63:6

This is the end of man’s little day upon the earth. The King is coming to the earth in judgment. There are those who will say, “This is frightful. I don’t like it.” Then, like the proverbial ostrich, they will put their heads in the sand and read John 14 or some other comforting passage of Scripture. However, we have to face up to this verse. The next time the Lord comes it will be in judgment.

Can you think of any other way He can come and set up His Kingdom? Suppose the Lord Jesus came the second time the way he came the first time, as the Man of Galilee, the Carpenter of Nazareth who walked the countryside telling people that He had come from heaven. Suppose He knocked on the door of the Kremlin. Do you think those people are ready for Him? I don’t think they are. I think they would put Him in front of a firing squad before the sun came up.

No nation and no church today is prepared to turn their affairs over to Jesus. If they are prepared, why don’t they do it? He was rejected when He came nearly two thousand years ago, and He has been rejected ever since. I can’t think of any other way for Him to come the second time but in judgment. Now others may say, “This verse is in the Old Testament. You have a God of wrath in the Old Testament, but when you get to the New Testament, He is a God of love.” One of the reasons that the Book of Revelation has never been popular with the liberal is because it is filled with judgment. The Book of Revelation is in the New Testament, and the language is the strongest in the Bible (except what came from the lips of the Lord Jesus, who spoke more of hell than anyone else). The Book of Revelation speaks of Christ’s coming to put down the unrighteousness and rebellion and godlessness that is on the earth. Consider this one segment of the Book of Revelation: “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shall be, because thou hast judged thus” (Rev_16:1-5). You see, immediately the critic will say, “God is not fair; He is not righteous to do this.” God lets us know that when He judges like this, He is indeed being righteous. “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments” (Rev_16:6-7). God is right in what He doeswhether we think so or not.

After all, to compare you and me with this tremendous universe would make it obvious that we don’t amount to very much. Your opinion and my opinion, even when they are put together, aren’t worth very much. It is what God says that is important. When God says He is righteous, but we don’t think He is, that means that we are wrong. God is righteous in what He does. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory” (Rev_16:8-9).

You would think that all of this would cause them to turn to God, but they didn’t react that way. Instead it just brought out what they really werejust as the plagues of Egypt did in Pharaoh’s day. “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain” (Rev_16:10). I have quoted this extensive passage from the New Testament to show the agreement between the Old and New Testaments. Don’t let anyone tell you that we have a God of wrath in the Old Testament and a God of love in the New Testament! The God of love is the One making these statements in both the Old and New Testaments because there is love in lawin fact, there is law in love. Judgment is frightful, but He is coming in judgment when He returns to this earth, and He has not asked me to apologize for Him.

Isaiah 63:7

IN WRATH THE SAVIOR REMEMBERS MERCYIn this section we see that in wrath the Lord Jesus remembers mercy to those who are His. The entire content and intent changes abruptly at this point. It is like coming out of darkness into the sunlight of noonday. It is like turning from black to white. Our God is glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders, and this is only one aspect of His many attributes. He is good, and He exhibits lovingkindness. He is also a God of mercy. If these attributes were not in evidence, we would all be consumed todayyou may be sure of that! He has to come in judgment to take over this earth. It seems to me that He has given men an extra long time to turn to Him.

Isaiah 63:8

His “people” here are believing Israelites and also a great company of Gentiles who will turn to Christ during the Great Tribulation. (Of course here the church has already gone to be with Him and has been in His presence for some time.) “Children that will not lie.” It sounds as if He had high hopes of them, but they disappointed Him. Certainly He expects you and me to live lives well-pleasing to Him, and He specifically admonished us, “Lie not one to another.”

Isaiah 63:9

How tender are these words. I believe that the angel of the Lord is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ. We are told that in His love and pity He redeemed and carried them. He entered into the sufferings of His people. Now there has been some question about whether “in all their affliction he was afflicted” should be positive or negative. We have good manuscript evidence for the negative: “in all their affliction he was not afflicted.” Which is true? Well, both are true, but I personally like the negative much better. Let me give you my reason. When the Lord went through the wilderness with the children of Israel, He wasn’t afflicted when they were afflicted. For example, when they were bitten by the fiery serpents, He wasn’t bitten.

In all their affliction He was not afflicted. He was like a mother or a father who just stood by and waited for them. He didn’t go on without them. The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire were there. God was waiting for them. For forty years through that wilderness experience He was patient with them, patient like a mother. When I was a pastor in Pasadena, my study was right by the street that led to a market. I used to watch a mother who had two children. One child she carried, and the other little fellow often walked along by himself. Sometimes the little fellow would stop, and his mother always waited for him. Sometimes when he would fall down, or stray a little, doing something he shouldn’t do, she would wait patiently for him. I often thought to myself, That is the way God has been doing with me all of these years. I fall down, or I get in trouble, and God waits for me. That is the way He does with His people.

Isaiah 63:10

I think the Holy Spirit gets rather tired of you and me! But He is patient with us. Thank God for that!

Isaiah 63:11

I think this is a direct reference to Israel, but at the same time it is a picture of the entire human family. Some expositors do not feel that the reference here is to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, because the Old Testament does not contain a clear-cut distinction of the Holy Spirit. However, I believe that the Holy Spirit mentioned here is the Holy Spirit that today dwells in believers. Although in the Old Testament we do not have a clear-cut distinction of the work of the Holy Spirit, I believe this is definitely a mention of it. The Holy Spirit is the One

Isaiah 63:12

Once again God refers to the history of their deliverance out of Egypt. Then He continues the history of how He has led them. Here the prophet and the people plead with God to look upon their great need and desire.

Isaiah 63:15

God was the Father of the nation Israel, but there is no thought in the Old Testament that He was the Father of the individual Israelite. It is a corporate term rather than a personal one in the Old Testament. In the New Testament it becomes personal, not corporate. As Abraham was the father of the nation and not of each individual Israelite, so God, too, was the Father of the nation.

Isaiah 63:17

This is a pleading prayer, asking God to intervene for them.

Isaiah 63:19

Now they surrender completely to God. This should be the attitude of the Christian todaycomplete yielding to God. Most of us are afraid to yield to God because we are afraid He will be hard on us. God wants to be gentle with us if we will give Him a chance. But remember that He also is the God of judgment. He is the One who is coming to earth some day to tread the winepress of the fierceness of His wrath. God is not trying to frighten you; He is just telling you the truth.