Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 63

Verses 1-6

Isa 63:1-6

Isaiah 63:1-6

This chapter is particularly distinguished by a brief, cameo-like description of the final judgement in the first six verses. As we should have expected, the critical writers, who have never yet found a description of the judgment day that they thought was not out of place, have declared this one to be, "Isolated from the context,” and as, "Having no immediate connection with what goes before or what follows.” Some have even supposed the passage to be, "A mere fragment that, by mistake, found its way into this portion of the book,” a view which, however, the same author rejected, admitting that, "There is great propriety in the paragraph’s appearance where it is.” Barnes also wrote that the chapter belongs where it is, and that, "It should not have been separated from Isaiah 64.”

The interpretation of the first six verses has taken a number of directions. As Lowth pointed out, "Many interpreters suppose that Judas Maccabeus is prophesied here"; but he concluded. "This prophecy has not the slightest relation to Judas Maccabeus."

Many others have understood these verses as a reference to Jesus Christ, a position maintained by the late, illustrious G. C. Brewer. Douglas, Archer, Lowth and others have subscribed to the same view; and Jamieson, quoting Gesenius, gives the answer as to "Who" this mighty one is, as "The Messiah." We accept this as the only valid interpretation.

We deeply respect this interpretation and are able to accept it, because we construe the paragraph as a prophetic picture of the final judgment, depicted in terms of God’s summary destruction of the Edomites. The apostle John’s unmistakable references to this passage in Revelation lend convincing proof of the accuracy of this view.

See the notes below for difficulties attending this interpretation.

Isaiah 63:1-6

"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no one with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 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 wrath, it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

The first objection to our interpretation is that Christ did not come from Edom. Very well, he did not. However, Edom in this passage does not stand for any literal place on earth; but Edom and its peoples are a symbol of the whole earth and its sinful enemies of God’s people. "They are a type of the last and bitterest foes of God’s people, as revealed in Isaiah 34:5 f." See my introduction to Isaiah 34, where the propriety of choosing the Edomites as typical of all of God’s enemies is discussed. Rawlinson was doubtless correct when he wrote that, "The Edomites represent the world-power; and the `day of vengeance’ may be one still future."

Cheyne represented the "victorious warrior" here as "Jehovah"; and, of course, Isaiah 63:2 of the text shuts us up to just two options. The "mighty one," traveling in the greatness of his strength, must positively be one or the other, either Jehovah himself, or the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Only one of these could have declared, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Note too that this is, by definition, a judgment scene; and, from the New Testament we learn that, "God hath committed judgment unto the Son of God" (John 5:22; John 9:39). This of course, drives us squarely back to the proposition that the mighty warrior here is none other than Christ.

Another objection is that, in this scene, Christ’s garments are red with blood, but not his own blood. It is the blood of God’s enemies that stains them here. Oh yes, as Kidner said, "The garments red with blood may indeed remind the Christian of Calvary, but the meaning is given in Revelation 19:15."

"And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness, he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. And he is arrayed with a garment sprinkled in blood: and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceeded a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS; AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:11-16).

Here, of course, is the key to the proper interpretation. The passage (Isaiah 63:1-6) is a prophecy of the final judgment of mankind, a judgment in which the Mighty Warrior with the garment red with the blood of his enemies, shall be the chief executive. This is one of the noblest and most astounding of all the prophecies in Isaiah. No vocabulary is rich enough adequately to describe the wonders and glory of this passage.

Ewald, as quoted by Cheyne, stated that, "This highly dramatic description unites depth of emotion with artistic perfection. What wonderful force of phraseology and pictorial power! It is impossible to read it without shuddering with reverence. No wonder the Seer on Patmos interwove some of these striking phrases into one of the most sublime, but most awful, passages of the Apocalypse!”

The terrible slaughter of the race of Adam, (that is, the vast majority of them) that awaits our rebellious race, now on a collision course with disaster, is frequently mentioned, but not always in such terminology as we have here. The blood shedding is not often mentioned in that terminology; but it is mentioned often enough. The Great Supper metaphor is used in Revelation 19:17-18, where dead bodies are represented as covering the earth. The treading of the winepress of God’s wrath, mentioned in Revelation 14:17-20, speaks of the blood reaching to the horses’ bridles and extending two hundred miles. The fall of Babylon the Great, identified with the so-called Battle of Har-Magedon (Revelation 16:16) is also understood as an occasion of great destruction of Adam’s race.

In view of all these consideration, Gleason Archer’s interpretation of these verses appears to be trustworthy:

"Divine judgment will be executed upon the world-power. Edom here, as in Isaiah 34:5 f, typifies the rebellious world as implacably hostile to God’s people. Christ’s garments stained with blood are red by the blood of God’s enemies to be slain at Armageddon (Revelation 19:13) ... The scene here is the same as in Revelation 14:18-19. A Christ-rejecting, Gospel-spurning world leaves the Lord no other alternative but to send terrible and fearful destruction when the time of his longsuffering is past."

Isaiah 63:1-6 CONQUEST: The prophet sees “Someone” coming from the direction of Edom (southeast of the Dead Sea) with “dyed” garments. The Hebrew word is khamutz and means, highly colored, indicating royalty or affluence. The remainder of verse one indicates the approaching One is majestically divine since He is One that “announces vindication” (davver tzedakah in Hebrew) and is “mighty to save.” Later, the prophet praises Jehovah for His lovingkindnesses as expressed in the judgments upon Zion’s enemeies. The unrecognizable figure coming from Edom is Jehovah. Bozrah was the ancient capital of Edom. The Edomites were inveterate enemies of Israel. They rejoiced with spite-filled hearts at any misfortune befalling the Jews. Edom participated in every opportunity that came their way to plunder Jerusalem and Judah, selling Jewish captives into slavery and killing them unmercifully (cf. Obadiah 1:1-14; Isaiah 34:5-15; Ezekiel 35:1-15). Many of the prophets predicted the judgment of God upon the Edomites. Edom is often mentioned as typical or representative of all the ungodly powers that oppose Jehovah’s redemptive work through Israel. We believe that is the case here also. The picture here is of Jehovah’s judgment of all that opposes His messianic program.

The Hebrew word ‘adorn is translated red and is the same word we apparently translate man and Edom. The garments of the One approaching are splattered with red like a man who has just come from tramping in the winevat and has splattered red grape juice all over his clothing. This red is the “lifeblood” of his enemies (cf. Isaiah 63:3). A similar picture is painted by John the apostle as he portrays the judgment of God upon the Roman empire in Revelation 19:13.

Lest someone get the idea that Edom ’s downfall (and that of any other nation for that matter) is a matter of chance, or that it might have been averted if other circumstances had fallen just right, Jehovah emphasizes that He alone brought it about. The One approaching (the Lord) had trodden the “winepress” alone. He had no assistance, not only because no one else would be adequate for the task, but also because He needed no one else! The emphasis of this whole passage is that Jehovah is personally involved in and responsible for the deliverance, salvation and redemption of Zion—even to the destruction of her enemies. In a prior statement (Isaiah 59:16) the Lord emphasizes the same ideas. The Lord has everything needful for Zion’s messianic destiny exactly scheduled in history and He carries it out according to His own righteous pleasure. The “day” of His vengeance was in His own heart and the “year” of His “redeemed” comes precisely according to His timetable, (cf. Isaiah 61:1). The Lord sets times and seasons (Daniel 2:20-23); He deposes and sets up kings and kingdoms to fit His own plans (Daniel 5:18-21); He has a definite time schedule for the messianic nation to bring forth the Messiah (see comments Daniel 9:24-27). He has the power in His own “arm” to bring salvation to His people and needs no other assistance (cf. Isaiah 40:10; Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 53:1 for comments on “arm”). The Lord made His enemies drunk with His wrath. This is a figure of speech indicating two ideas. First, His enemies have caused the Jews to “drink” their cup of wrath in plunder and slavery; Jehovah will recompense these enemies with His own cup of wrath filled to the brim. God is not mocked; whatever a nation sows, that shall it reap, double! Second, when Jehovah’s enemies are made to drink His cup of wrath, they will stagger and reel under it as drunken men reel (cf. Isaiah 29:9; Isaiah 49:26; Revelation 17:6; Revelation 18:3-7, etc.). God’s wrath is perfect; it is complete and lacks nothing.

Verses 7-9

Isa 63:7-9

Isaiah 63:7-9

"I will make mention of the lovingkindness of Jehovah, and the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah 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. For he said, Surely, they are my people, children that will not deal falsely: so he was their Saviour. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them and carried them all the days of old."

The words in this paragraph are the background for God’s terrible disappointment in Israel. God mentioned here his personal love of Israel, the mercies without number conferred upon the chosen people, the constant and remarkable evidences of his loving-kindnesses, his bearing their sorrows and afflictions, and his constant concern for their well-being. Look at what God supposed would be the result of all this loving care. He said, "Surely, the children of these people will not lie or deal falsely!" (Isaiah 63:8). "There was a condition, however, that if God was to abide among them, Israel would be required to hearken unto God’s voice (Deuteronomy 6:3; Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 11:20)); but God was disappointed in them."

The near-universal extent of wickedness is emphasized by the statement that "There was none to help" (Isaiah 63:5). However, it is probably best to view such statements as hyperbole for the sake of emphasis. The use of this figure of speech is frequent in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

"They are my people, children ..." (Isaiah 63:8). Here God "picks up the metaphor of his being the `father’ of his people, corresponding to the opening theme of Isaiah (Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 1:4)," thus affirming once more the unity of these final chapters with the very first chapter, identifying the book as one, and the author as one.

"The angel of his presence saved them ..." (Isaiah 63:9). "Inasmuch as Christ accompanied Israel in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4), and is the `image of God’ (2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 1:15) and `the effulgence of his glory’ (Hebrews 1:3), the angel of God’s presence here is probably the Word of God that became flesh (John 1:1).”

Isaiah 63:7-9 CELEBRATION: Zion, through the prophet Isaiah, is led to rejoice in Jehovah’s judgment of her enemies. It is not sadistic for those who love righteousness to praise God when He judges and defeats evil. The Bible insists that an Omnipotent, Absolutely Holy and Just God must, by His very nature, ultimately uphold and give complete victory to truth, holiness and justice. He must, on the other hand, bring about complete defeat and incarceration of evil. That is why He made Hell! God intends to accomplish those objectives through two means. First, He will make available an opportunity and a way for all human beings, who so choose, to be declared righteous (by Jesus’ blood) and to grow into the image of His own righteous nature (through faith and obedience to His revealed New Covenant). These, He will save and give Life everlasting. Second, He creates an everlasting penitentiary (Hell) where He will ultimately defeat and imprison all those who choose against His will and desire to live in rebellion against Him. Now a part of recreating in His own righteous image those who choose that Life by surrender to His will is that they shall also hate evil and love good (cf. Isaiah 1:16-17; Proverbs 8:13; Amos 5:15). Heaven and the saints are told to rejoice over the fact that God destroyed the “harlot,” “Babylon” (the city of Rome and the Roman empire) with blood, war, pestilence, fire, destruction and torments (cf. Revelation 17-18, esp. Revelation 18:20; Revelation 19:1-8)1 A person who cannot hate evil, cannot love good! The uniqueness of Jesus’ fleshly nature was that as a man He “loved righteousness and hated lawlessness” (Hebrews 1:9) and thus was the Perfect Man!

Thus in these verses it is a mark of the righteousness and godliness of Zion that she praise God and speak of His loving-kindnesses in response to His wreaking vengeance upon those who despise Him, rebel against Him and oppress His people. He vindicates His holiness, He upholds His absolute justness and He delivers His people and vindicates their faith in Him. If He cannot thus vindicate man’s faith in His absolute holiness and justice and righteousness, then His faithfulness is compromised and there is no hope in worshipping Him as opposed to any other god!

God is true! Those who wish to be known as His children must be true. They must rejoice at the defeat of evil and the establishment of righteousness because this is the absolute truth. Those who oppose good and rejoice in evil cannot be His children because that is the ultimate falsehood. In addition, His sons will act upon their choice and do righteousness. Those who claim to be His children will not deal falsely. A citizen of Zion cannot say he stands for righteousness and refuse to do it. That is falseness (cf. 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10). God cannot save the declared rebel and He cannot save the pretending servant; the pretender is as much a rebel as the declared one!

There is a difficult problem with the opening phrase of verse nine. The modern, vowel-pointed Hebrew text reads, bekal-tzaratham l’o tzar, or, “In all their affliction he was not afflicted.” The ancient Hebrew text was strictly consonantal (without vowel-points). There is a consonantal text known as Kethiv, or, “written” which acquired a standing of sacredness and prohibited any scribe from tampering with it. It could not be changed. But the Massoretes (cir. 950 A.D.), a group of Hebrew scholars, produced a text which preserved traditional readings in variance with the “sacred” Kethiv; this was called Qere, or, “to be read.” The Qere was a text with the “traditional” variant consonants out in the margin. Because the vowels, being added later, did not have the sacredness of the consonants, the Massoretes felt it was proper to put the vowels for the marginal consonants (Qere) with the old consonants in the text (that is, with the Kethiv). This, of course, resulted in some impossible forms. The problem in verse nine is that the Kethiv text has l’o while the Qere text has lo. Young advocates the adoption of the Qere reading which would make the phrase read, “In all their affliction, there was affliction to him.” Keil and Delitzsch say, “The Masora actually does reckon this as one of the fifteen passages in which lo is to be read for l’o.” The Qere reading of lo certainly fits the context better and suits the concept already expressed concerning the suffering Servant (cf. Isaiah 53:4-6; Isaiah 53:10-11). The context indicates that when His people suffered affliction from their oppressors, God Himself felt that affliction and acted in judgment. That is no strange teaching in the Bible. The experiences of Hosea were indicative of the feelings God experienced toward a nation of people who had spurned His love (cf. Hosea 1:2-3; Hosea 3:1; Hosea 11:1-4, etc.). Our God feels—He is not a robot or a stoic, impassive, insensitive Idea. Jesus proved God feels (cf. John 11:33-35).

Another interesting phrase in verse nine is, “and the angel of his presence saved them . . .” The Hebrew word translated presence is panaym which means literally, face or person. The word male’k is angel and means messenger. God promised to send the messenger of His face or person to His people (Exodus 23:20-23) and actually did send to them this messenger (Exodus 14:19; Numbers 20:16). He is the Lord’s messenger (Exodus 33:14-15) and is actually the Lord Jehovah Himself (Exodus 33:12). Keil and Delitzsch say, “This mediatorial angel is called ‘the angel of His face,’ as being the representative of God, for ‘the face of God’ is His self-revealing presence (even though only revealed to the mental eye); and consequently the presence of God . . . is called directly ‘His face’ in Deuteronomy 4:37 . . . and ‘my face’ in Exodus 33:14-15, by the side of ‘my angel’ in Exodus 32:34, and the angel in Exodus 33:2, appears as something incomparably higher than the presence of God through the mediation of that one angel . . .” Young says, “The angel of His face is the angel who is His face or in whom His face is made clear. In him the Lord is Himself present.” When the Lord said He would send His angel to slay 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (Isaiah 37:36) it is reported that the Lord Himself did the deed (cf. Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 10:33-34).

The next section (Isaiah 63:10-14) indicates the judgments over Zion’s enemies here declared (Isaiah 63:1-9) were past judgments upon which Zion might base her trust in Jehovah for deliverance from the Babylonian captivity which was apparently inescapable as Isaiah was writing these words. But, as the next section indicates, Zion is having difficulty believing that Jehovah will work for her deliverance as He did in days gone by.

Verses 10-14

Isa 63:10-14

Isaiah 63:10-14

"But they rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them? that caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? that divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name? that led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they stumbled not? As the cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah caused them to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name."

"They rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit ..." (Isaiah 63:10). "In these chapters we have the angel of God’s presence (the Son of God), the Holy Spirit, and God Himself, the three persons of the Godhead, all working in behalf of Israel; their rebellion, therefore, was against the total Godhead."

It is generally believed that under the Law of Moses the people did not enjoy the blessed reception of the Holy Spirit, as is true of Christians; and there is nothing here that is contrary to that view. The text clearly states that, "They grieved the holy Spirit", and (when they did) he (the holy Spirit) turned to be their enemy and fought against them. Some translators have rendered the word "grieved" here "vexed," or "rebelled against." In the New Testament, Christians are represented as "receiving" the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), and others as "resisting" the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51) "blaspheming" the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31), "lying" to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). "insulting" the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:29), "grieving" the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), or as "quenching" the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Isaiah 63:10 b here indicates that Israel, as a people, "quenched the Holy Spirit."

Barnes’ comment on Isaiah 63:10 b is that, "The Holy Spirit abandoned them for their sins, and left them to reap the consequences.”

"Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people ..." (Isaiah 63:11). "Most commentators regard the antecedent of `he’ here as `Israel.’" The things that came to Israel’s mind in those days were the marvelous deliverances which God had brought to them in the Exodus. "Where is he that brought them up out of the sea ...?" (Isaiah 63:11). "This question was often spoken in derision by Israel’s foes."^[20] Under their reduced circumstances, it was a plaintive cry indeed..

"The shepherds of his flock ..." (Isaiah 63:11). These were Moses and Aaron.

"His holy Spirit in the midst of them ..." (Isaiah 63:11). That is, in the midst of Moses and Aaron.

Isaiah 63:10 RESISTING HIS SPIRIT: Although the Lord has given the prophet a vision of His power and faithfulness to destroy Zion’s enemies and uphold her when she trusts Him (Isaiah 63:1-9), Zion seems bent on not believing and acting upon it (Isaiah 63:10-14). Therefore the Lord is going to give Zion over to humiliation, destruction and captivity (Isaiah 63:15-19).

The Hebrew word maru is translated rebel and is the strongest word for that circumstance, meaning literally, to revolt. Their revolt pained or sorrowed the Holy Spirit; in Hebrew ‘itzevu ‘eth-ruach kadesho. In Exodus 23:20-21 Jehovah said to the people, “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.” However, the people rebelled from the time they left Egypt (Exodus 17:1 ff; Exodus 32:1 ff), and they continued their rebellion until God finally took them out of their land and into captivity. The third Person of the Godhead was actively involved in the program of redemption in the Old Testament (see Special Study, “The Holy Spirit In Old Testament Times,” pages 458–462). Young sees in this chapter all three Persons of the Godhead: “Thus, . . . there is a distinction of the three persons of the Triune God: He (Yahweh), the angel of His presence and the Spirit of His holiness. In the history of the chosen people each Person of the Trinity was active.” The point of this verse (10) is that the people whom Jehovah chose to cooperate with Him in redeeming the whole world forced Him to be their enemy because they revolted and afflicted His Holy Spirit. Jehovah is against them because they are against Him. He must vindicate His holiness and justice now upon the chosen people. He is giving them up to chastening in Mesopotamia for 70 years. The writer of the Hebrew epistle in the N.T. exhorts, “. . . do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Hebrews 3:7-19). The Lord had to turn from being “afflicted with their affliction,” to “fighting against them” because that was what He said He would do if they rebelled against Him. The Lord keeps His promises!

Isaiah 63:11-13 REMEMBERING HIS SPIRIT: The subject of “remembered” could be either Jehovah or Zion. It appears Zion would fit the context better. With the downfall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity imminent, Zion (the people of Judah) is remembering (and evidently praying for a return of) the Holy Spirit of God in power and deliverance as He did through Moses at the crossing of the Red Sea. If the Holy Spirit of God could part the waters of the Red Sea, can He not now deliver them from Babylon? The phrase, “where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?” is interesting arid perhaps should give us pause to rethink our concept of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament age. The Hebrew word kerev is translated midst; the usual word for midst is tok. Kerev is unique and means inward part, inwards, bowels; hence, the heart. Kerev is the word in 1 Kings 17:22 where “the soul of the child came into him again.” Did God’s Spirit indwell the believer of the O.T.? Could it be that God put His Holy Spirit in the hearts of the people as He was leading them in the exodus from Egypt—and there they grieved Him? One N.T. passage appears to preclude the possibility of the Spirit dwelling in believers of the O.T. age. John notes, “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). Note, however, the word given (in John 7:39) is a supplied word—it is not in the Greek text. Does this indicate that the Spirit was not yet for everyone who believes (including Gentiles)? or does it mean that the Spirit was not yet given at all (not even for Jews) until after Jesus was glorified? The latter has been the traditional interpretation. If the latter interpretation is to be followed, what is one to do with the apostle Paul’s clear statement that, “. . . if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his . . .” and, “. . . if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through the Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:9-11)? If eternal life and resurrection from the dead necessitates the Spirit of God dwelling in man, and if the Spirit was not given at all until Christ was glorified, how do we account for the eternal life apparently granted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:28; Luke 16:23, etc.). How could Abraham be justified by faith without receiving the Spirit of God also by faith (Romans 4:2-9; Galatians 3:6-7; James 2:23)? How could the beggar be borne to Abraham’s bosom if the beggar did not have the Spirit of God (Luke 16:22)? How could Moses and Elijah be transfigured with Christ in glorified appearance without having the Spirit of God (Matthew 17:1-5; Luke 9:30-31, etc.)?

The only resolution of this dilemma appears to be to recognize that the Spirit of God was certainly in men of the Old Testament (Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David and the prophets, cf. Numbers 27:18; Psalms 51:11; Psalms 143:10, etc.). Rotherham says on Psalms 51:11, “David . . . had enjoyed the presence of the Holy Spirit, or he could not have prayed, Take it not from me. Was that Spirit, not hallowing, as well as illuminating and revealing? Can we really enter into the undercurrent of this psalm, without perceiving that a hallowing Divine Presence had lain at the roots of the writer’s spiritual life; . . . By how much soever this is clear, by so much also must it be clear that the Evangelist (John) spoke comparatively when he said (John 7:39) that the Spirit could not be given until Jesus was glorified.” (Studies In The Psalms. Vol. I, by J. B. Rotherham, pub. College Press, pg. 352).

B. B. Warfield in his Biblical and Theological Studies, (pub. The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1952), says, “The Spirit of God, in the Old Testament, is not merely the immanent Spirit, the source of all the world’s life and all the world’s movement . . . He is as well the indwelling Spirit of holiness in the hearts of God’s children.”

We submit that the message of the Messiah was therefore, that the Spirit of God was not come in His fulness until Jesus was glorified and redemption was completed. After the redemptive work of God was completed through the Son, the indwelling presence of the Spirit would give man a greater, more strengthening participation in the inheritance God had stored up for believers. The New Covenant is certainly better, far surpassing and the fulfillment of the Old. The New is enacted upon better promises. But it would seem to us that the Spirit of God was in those saints of old who were justified and thus given eternal life (historically accomplished at the death of Christ, Hebrews 9:15-17; Romans 3:21-26), which they appropriated by faith. Perhaps it was a matter of “good, better and best” as pictured in the following chart. Or, perhaps the Spirit of God was given to the O.T. saints “on credit” or “retroactively” to guarantee their resurrection to eternal life much as their forgiveness was “on credit” (cf. Hebrews 9:15). One thing is certain, having the Spirit of God is necessary to being raised from the dead!

Be that as it may, the point of this passage is to portray the frustration of the people over the impending captivity. It appears to them as if God’s Spirit has deserted them and that God Himself does not care that His name will be debased if He does not save them as He saved their ancestors. He led their ancestors across the bed of the Red Sea as easily and swiftly as a horse runs through a desert where all the obstacles have been removed. Why does He not do that now?

Was not The Spirit of God in the saints of old in order to keep them from eternal death? (Romans 8:9-11) YES. Or, perhaps the Holy Spirit was theirs in promise before Jesus was glorified and theirs in fact, retroactively, after His glorification (like forgiveness, Hebrews 9:15 f).

Isaiah 63:14 RESTING IN HIS SPIRIT: The people remember that their ancestors were led by the Spirit of God into the land of Canaan like contented cattle are led securely and easily down into the wadis to graze. The Spirit of God was the cause of their nukh (“rest, settling down, having repose, abiding”) in Canaan. Now they are wondering why He cannot cause them to remain in their land. Could it be that their prayer is not really a penitent prayer but a selfish one? Could it be that they want Jehovah to deliver them in their rebellion and not from it—as so many of us are prone to want to be saved in sin and not from it? On the other hand, perhaps this is a prediction of the prayers of penitence the people will offer down in Babylon when they have had time to consider their sins and truly repent. Perhaps this is prophecy! When they have truly repented (cf. Daniel 9:3-19) God will hear their prayer (Daniel 9:20-23) and return them to their land to fulfill their messianic destiny (Daniel 9:24-27).

Verses 15-19

Isa 63:15-19

Isaiah 63:15-16

"Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and thy glory: where are thy zeal and thy mighty acts? the yearning of thy heart and thy compassions are restrained toward me. For thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name."

"Thou art our Father ..." (Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8). "The triple repetition of these words give this prayer its special intensity, as Israel’s sense of estrangement struggles with their desire for acceptance."

Beginning with Isaiah 63:15, and to the end of the chapter, "We have Israel’s earnest prayer for God to look down from heaven and save them, because he is their `Father.’"

The ground of Israel’s appeal is that God is their `Father’; which, of course, was true enough; but Isaiah’s prophecy had answered the questions they raised about God’s apparent indifference to them in the very first chapter of his great prophecy. "They had rebelled against God (Isaiah 1:2)."

Isaiah 63:17-19

"O Jehovah, why dost thou make us to err from thy ways, and hardenest our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servant’s sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. Thy people possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. We are become as they over whom thou never barest rule, as they that were not called by thy name."

The judicial hardening of Israel announced in Isaiah 6:9-10, at this time, "had been going on ever since." And from the appearance of Isaiah 63:17, it would seem that some of the people, no doubt a few of those faithful souls in the `righteous remnant’ were fully aware of what was happening. "It was as easy for the Israelites to believe that he had hardened their hearts as that he had once hardened the heart of Pharaoh.” We believe that only the `righteous remnant’ at that Point in Israel’s history were capable of any such discernment. The near hopeless state of the nation as a whole surely appears in this.

We interpret these last two or three verses as words of the `righteous remnant,’ who indeed did understand the situation in which the secular nation found itself. As Lowth expressed it:

"The Israelites were saying, `Not only have our enemies taken possession of Mount Sion, and trodden down thy sanctuary; even far worse than this has befallen us. Thou hast long since utterly cast us off; and dost not consider us as thy peculiar people.’”

This, of course, is a true appraisal of the situation that began to be discussed in Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 6:9-10, etc.

Isaiah 63:15-17 DISOWNED: The Hebrew word shamayim is plural for shamah which means high, heavenward, height. The word is always in the plural form in the O.T. God most often manifested Himself from the direction of the sky in the O.T. and the Hebrew thought of the sky (or beyond) as the place of Jehovah’s habitation. Actually, due to the limitations of human language (which is limited by human experience) designating the heavens as God’s habitation is about as accurate as any man can be. The point seems to be that these people feel Jehovah is so utterly transcendent, dwelling in such absolute holiness (separation from this world) He is disowning His creatures. The petition is that He will look down from His high and lofty place and give attention to their predicament. Based upon the historical record of Jehovah’s dealings with their ancestors (Genesis, Exodus, et al.) He was eager, zealous and arduous in delivering, guiding and sustaining their nation in centuries past. But suddenly, it appears, Jehovah has deliberately restrained (withdrawn) His zeal for their nation. It is their assumption that Jehovah does not even care about them anymore. How could they get that idea? Jehovah repeatedly told them of His love and care through the prophets. But their accusation that Jehovah was deliberately insensitive to their needs was based upon their carnal concept of what their need was and their carnal ideas as to how God should act toward them. They believed their imperative need was to be delivered from those who would take them into captivity. They believed God should act in supernatural, judgmental power now upon their enemies as He had done in the past.

Man has always had the tendency (ever since the devil taught him in Eden to do so) to blame God, or someone else, for the consequences of his own faults and failures. Judah has been indulging in false religion which induces false ethics which results in social disintegration; she has been playing the dangerous game of international intrigue and politics which results in war and invasion; now she is blaming God for her predicament. Judah suggests that Jehovah has defaulted on His Fatherhood! Acknowledging that He is the only Father capable of saving their necks, the implication is that He is unwilling now to act as their Father. He has disowned them! There is no disavowal of their ancestry to Abraham and Jacob here—the point is the contrast between human fathers and Supernatural Father. An emergency has arisen and now they need their heavenly Father; they did not seek Him before (cf. Isaiah 8:19-22; Isaiah 30:9-11; Isaiah 58:2-5; Isaiah 59:1-3, etc.). The Hebrew word tate’enu is from the Hife’iyl stem which denotes causative manner and is thus translated make us to err in Isaiah 63:17. Certainly God does not force man to sin. God does not even cause man to sin in the sense that He makes man’s choice for him. Of course, man very often accuses God of making him sin, or being the cause of his sin. That is the way of rebellion, dishonesty, lawlessness and devil-mindedness!

Man may be even more subtle (as we have given it in our paraphrase) and blame God for not preventing him from sinning! It is the old cliche, “If God is a good God, why does He permit evil to happen?” The Lord tried every way possible consistent with the free will of man to keep man from wandering into rebellion and lawlessness. Judah, by the use of the hife’iyl stem, has betrayed her moral dishonesty in trying to blame God for her wandering and hardening of heart against Him. In one sense of the word God must, by the fact of man’s freedom to choose, allow man to either choose that which will soften his heart and bring him to walk in God’s way, or, choose that which will harden his heart and lead him to wander away from God’s way. But God will also make the ultimate sacrifices to furnish man with every opportunity to make the right choice; He will send His Spirit in His word through the prophets, leaders and kings; and finally in His Son He will Himself atone and offer a New covenant.

God has not disowned His people. He is about to demonstrate, through the captivity, just how much He owns them. The child who is not chastened has no real father (cf. Hebrews 12:1-11). So, our Father-child relationship to God depends upon our perspective. These people of Judah could not look upon their impending captivity as the chastening of a loving Father (which is what it was revealed to be by Hosea, Isaiah and others). They looked at it through carnal eyes, not eyes of faith. Looking thus, they charged God with desertion!

Isaiah 63:18-19 DISPOSSESSED: In these two verses the people are dangerously near impugning the honor of the Lord. They complain that although God gave them the land of Palestine and built them a Temple, they had lived in it only a brief time (from approximately 1400 B.C. to 600 B.C.) and now it was about to be invaded by enemies and they would be dispossessed. So the Lord appears to them unable to maintain His people in His land and keep His Sanctuary standing. The time in which the Lord maintained His people in His land by His sovereign power was so relatively short (800 years), it hardly seems worthy of calling it a “rule.” The length of time in which the Hebrews were called “the people of Jehovah” seems so short it is as if they were never His people at all. They are saying, in essence, Lord if Your name is ridiculed because of our being taken from our land, it is your fault. Their attitude is if God does not help them now and on their terms, He cannot blame anyone but Himself. How often all men are tempted to evaluate their circumstances through the dying eyes of carnal mindedness and blame God for them. May it not be so in New Zion!