Isaiah 63:1-19
God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption
1 Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
2 Why are your garments red,
like those of one treading the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redemption has come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me.
6 I trampled the nations in my anger;
in my wrath I made them drunk
and poured their blood on the ground.”
Praise and Prayer
7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the LORD has done for us—
yes, the many good things he has done
for the house of Israel,
according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
sons who will not be false to me”;
and so he became their Savior.
9 In all their distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.
10 Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned and became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.
11 Then his people recalled the days of old,
the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,
with the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who set
his Holy Spirit among them,
12 who sent his glorious arm of power
to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters before them,
to gain for himself everlasting renown,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in open country,
they did not stumble;
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD.
This is how you guided your people
to make for yourself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven and see
from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.
16 But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
or Israel acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 Why, O LORD, do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your inheritance.
18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place,
but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We are yours from of old;
but you have not ruled over them,
they have not been called by your name.
As Isaiah writes about our LORD in his Praise and Prayer section we learn about His kindness, the good things He has done, and how the LORD at times withheld His tenderness and passion...Isaiah writes about our LORD in a personal way...In such a way, we see our Father's emotions, His love...We can relate to these emotions, because we are emotional...We would be very stoic and robotic without our emotions...We are , in fact, without our emotions, something very similar to a machine, or robot...Without emotions, we can appear cold and aloof...As Isaiah writes, we can see and feel God's compassion and love for us, and His hate of sin...It is our sin that causes Him to hide from us, to withdraw His tenderness and passion for us...When we sin He takes it personally...We are created in His image, and when we sin, we sin against Him...He no doubt is upset with our sins...And even though we know God is eternal and infinite, and words cannot come near in explaining Him fully, we get a slice of Him here...Isaiah shows the emotional, feeling, and personal side of our LORD...
God chose the Israeli people, to be His people...This nation is unique in that situation...Before we had Jesus, we had Moses...In fact, Moses wrote about Jesus in his writings...These two men stand out, if it is fair to call Jesus a Man...These two men are unique, leading a unique nation...These two were uniquely chosen by our LORD...The Hebrews are the one's He made the covenant with...And that first covenant was made with Abraham, a Chaldean from Ur...The LORD told Abraham to go from Ur of the Chaldeans and go to Canaan, and He did (Genesis 11:31)...He trusted the LORD...Truly Israel and its story is a unique one...
Isaiah says that in the days of old that Moses brought God's people through the sea and divided the waters...But where is He now, the One who set His Holy Spirit on them?....God gives us choices and we drift from Him sometimes... Sometimes this wandering from Him, seems to just happen in our lives, as our life unfolds daily...We seem to get caught up in things..God everyday gives us free choice, to choose this or that, and many times, we do not even notice, that in a small thing we have done or choice -we have drifted from the LORD...In a simple decision we might make, Isaiah says we can wander away from His ways...But sin is sin, and it is ours...God is not causing us to sin...He wants (us to do) the very opposite of sin...
In verse eight, we are told of a Savior who will come and the future sons of His people will not be false to Him...For He will be with that Savior, and in that Savior...In fact, it will be His Son...It is written, that I AM in the Father, and the Father is in Me (John 14:10)...And in the midst of the prayers and distress of Israel their prayers will be answered, and a Savior will be born, and He will be Christ the LORD...He will be our Redeemer, and He shall overcome death...For those who did not believe this, they would see the sign of Jonah (Matthew 16:4)...He would overcome death and this world (John 16:33)...Three days after His death, He would return to earth for forty days, further teaching His ways about His Father...
So the one coming from Edom, the One coming from Bozrah, with His garments red stained in blood, and looking like they came out of a winepress is the One to come...He is our Messiah....He had to trodden the winepress alone...With His clothes and garments all stained with blood, He looked around for help, but no one gave support, no one was there to help...He helped many, He healed many, He taught many, but in His hour of need and in the hour of distress, they poured His blood on the ground and His followers watched...
Moses came and led God's people through the desert to the Promised Land...We drifted and wandered from Him and sinned...Jesus came and walked the earth for us...He came and died for our sins...These are and were the people from the old...Yet, even today, we, at times, still drift and wander away from Him...We struggle with sin...It is like we have two lives...We have and know good, and yet we see and have evil...God didn't sin, we did...Isaiah teaches us that God sees our two sides...God hates sin...God shows us anger, discipline, exile, and justice for His people, but the other side of God, we see His grace, His forgiveness, and His love...A very personal God...A God of LOVE, mercy, and grace...