Isaiah · chapter 63 of 66
Updated on
Isaiah 63 describes a warrior in stained garments coming from Edom and Bozrah after treading the winepress of wrath alone against the nations. Then the people recall the Lord's love, who was afflicted with them and saved them, though they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. The chapter ends with a prayer that the Lord look down from heaven, for he is their Father and Redeemer.
Isaiah 63 links the promise of salvation in chapters 60 through 62 with a long prayer of lament that continues into chapter 64. It begins with a scene of judgment on the enemies and moves into a remembrance of the people's history, especially the exodus, before turning into a plea.
The chapter opens with a question: who is this who comes from Edom, from Bozrah, in crimsoned garments, splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? He answers: it is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. He is asked why his garments are red like those of one who treads the winepress. He answers that he trod the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with him. He trampled them in his anger and trod them down in his wrath, and their lifeblood spattered his garments. He looked, and there was no one to help; he was appalled that there was no one to uphold, and his own arm brought him salvation.
From verse 7 the remembrance begins. I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, the great goodness to the house of Israel. 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, lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit, and he became their enemy and fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people: where is he who brought them up out of the sea, who put his Holy Spirit in the midst of them, who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness?
The prayer in verses 15 through 19 asks the Lord to look down from heaven: where are your zeal and your might? You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those not called by your name.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The warrior says he trod the winepress alone and that from the peoples no one was with him. The winepress is an image for God's judgment on the nations, and Revelation takes it up in 14:19-20 and 19:15.
In all his people's affliction the Lord was afflicted, and in his love and pity he redeemed and carried them. God is not a distant spectator: he shares the suffering of his own.
The people rebelled and grieved the Lord's Holy Spirit, so God became their enemy. The image of grieving the Spirit shows that sin affects the relationship with God; Paul uses a similar phrase in Ephesians 4:30.
The people cry that though Abraham and Israel do not acknowledge them, the Lord is their Father and their Redeemer from of old. Faith clings to the relationship with God when every human support fails.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: From Edom, from Bozrah, in crimsoned garments. — Isaiah 63:1
Answer: To those of one who treads the winepress. — Isaiah 63:2
Answer: No one; he did it alone. — Isaiah 63:3
Answer: That in all his people's affliction he was afflicted and the angel of his presence saved them. — Isaiah 63:9
Answer: They rebelled and grieved him. — Isaiah 63:10
Answer: Our Father and our Redeemer from of old. — Isaiah 63:16
Isaiah 63 combines two things we find hard to join: God's judgment and his compassion. The warrior who judges the nations is the same one who was afflicted with his people. In a class you can talk about how to speak of God's justice without losing sight of his love, and about why it matters that God acts when we cannot.
The closing prayer teaches us to cry out honestly. The people remember, confess and cling to the Lord as Father. For a small group, a useful exercise is to recall aloud what God has done in the history of the church or of families, and then pray with the same frankness as this text.
Isaiah 63 joins the judgment on the enemies with a prayer of lament that clings to the Lord as Father. Chapter 64 continues that plea with the request that God tear open the heavens and come down.
The text presents him as the Lord himself, who acts alone to save and to judge. Edom and Bozrah were traditional enemies of Israel, so the scene represents judgment on the adversaries of God's people. Revelation uses similar imagery for Christ in 19:11-16, and many Christians read the passage in light of that connection.
In this text the people rebelled against the Lord and thereby caused pain to his Spirit. The idea is that sin is a personal offense against God, not only the breaking of a rule. In Ephesians 4:30 Paul asks believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God.