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September 16, 2026 |
| Isaiah 63 | ||
In Isaiah 63, we see an odd combination: a slaughter, a praise, and a prayer of dejection. What connects these together?
This study goes with the Isaiah 52 study and Isaiah 34. Though Isaiah 52 doesn't mention Edom, the study talks about the people who are hiding there and their trip back to Jerusalem, which Isaiah 34 also talks about.
Who is this who comes from Edom,
With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah,
This One who is majestic in His clothing,
Marching in the greatness of His power?
“It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
2 Why is Your clothing red,
And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?
3 “I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And from the peoples there was no man with Me.
I also trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath;
And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I stained all My clothes.
4 For the day of vengeance was in My heart,
And My year of redemption has come. (Isaiah 63:1-4)
Edom and Bozrah also appear in the other chapters of Isaiah I listed at the start. Where Isaiah 34 focused on the physical destruction of the land of Edom, this chapter metaphorizes the destruction of the people as grapes, though the word "grapes" isn't used, being stomped in a grape press.
The skin of a grape keeps yeasts from getting inside, so grapes last for a while. Grape juice, however, quickly becomes wine or vinegar because of its high sugar content. The process of making wine converts the sugar into alcohol. If you grew grapes at that time, you could market your product in two forms: as grapes or as wine, which lasts a very long time, but not as juice. So if you were crushing grapes, it was for local consumption or for wine.
Revelation talks about this event as well.
[…] he shouted with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle with him: "Send your sharp sickle and gather of the clusters of the vineyards of Earth, because its grapes are large.” 19 And the Angel thrust his sickle on Earth and gathered the vines of Earth and cast into the great winepress of the passion of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city and blood came out of the winepress unto the bridle of the horses for 1200 stadia. (Revelation 14:18-20)
In this metaphor a large grape is an evil person. The largeness may also infer arrogance toward God.
In the Revelation text, we see the phrase "trodden outside the city." The phrase "outside the city" is a solid Christian concept because Jesus was crucified "outside the city," but these are not Christians. Therefore this seems to be a tit-for-tat thing; that is, this is how you treated me, now it's your turn to be slaughtered outside of your city.
The phrase "unto the bridle of the horses" appears to be an idiom about the greatness of a slaughter. The 1200 stadia is more interesting. That's 120 miles.
I think this tells us more. We know which city that is - Jerusalem. The distance from Bozrah to Jerusalem, taking the shortest route, is very close to 120 miles. It is just short of Jerusalem, as far as the city of Ma'ale Adumim, using current roads, but we know that there was a powerful earthquake 3½ years before that split the Mount of Olives in half and moved the halves north and south. Therefore roads may be very different then. So these verses would be telling us that the slaughter continues for that distance as Jesus travels it.
God is using a literary technique to tell us something. He uses a fictional questioner to bring out this information.
From the other Isaiah prophecies on this topic, we know this is Jesus - which answers that question. The text also gives us a couple of hints: He "speaks in righteousness" and is "mighty to save." At this time he is walking in his majesty and using his great power … therefore the slaughter.
The questioner asks why his clothes are stained with red, as though he had been treading in a winepress. Jesus says that he has been treading a winepress (metaphorical - blood comes out instead of grape juice). He says he was very angry with them and took it out on them.
More importantly, he says he is doing it without the help of any group of people or nation. He is bringing the escapees from Jerusalem back, but the entire world is against him. It appears they can also read Isaiah's prophecies and have stationed people all along the way to try to stop Jesus. Though the anti-Christ knows this won't succeed, the Second Coming is very near, and he doesn't mind a vast slaughter of his supporters at this point.
Verse 3 ends with these phrases, "their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments" and "I stained all My clothes." This is curious in a couple of ways. The first one is non-causal, but the second one says "I" was the cause. Also, "garments" and "clothes" are different words in Hebrew, as they are here in English. The difference between the Hebrew meanings is not that clear. The first word, "garments" here, is used 217 times in the OT (some AI), and has the meaning of common outer garments. The second word, "clothes" here, is a much rarer word, being used only 8 times (some AI), and has the meaning of special garments.
To me it looks like the Bible is pointing out something, but being intentionally unclear about it. The reader can understand the second phrase as saying, "I was the indirect cause because of the slaughtering I did." In English we don't say that. Instead we would say "I got blood on my clothes" because it was an unintentional outcome, so we don't see ourselves as the cause. The reader can also understand it as saying, "I got my own blood on my clothes." We do say that in English. If we get a nosebleed, we would say "I bled on my shirt." Even though we aren't the cause of the nosebleed, it is our blood.
I think the second understanding above is the intentionally hidden meaning. This isn't the only place that talks about Jesus being bloodied.
In Revelation 19:13, we see the phrase "he wore a garment soaked with blood." This is probably a reference to the consequences of the event described here, though it is a little less clear.
The phrases "day of vengeance" and "year of redemption" appear exactly this way in Isaiah 34:8, and in descriptions of the same event. I discuss what that might mean in that study.
I looked, and there was no one to help,
And I was astonished, and there was no one to uphold;
So My own arm brought salvation to Me,
And My wrath upheld Me.
6 I trod down the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk in My wrath,
And I brought down their lifeblood to the earth.” (Isaiah 63:5-6)
We see a repetition here of the idea from the previous verses that Jesus is doing this by himself and being surprised that, from all the nations, there is no one to help him.
I shall bring to remembrance the lovingkindnesses of Yahweh, the praises of Yahweh,
According to all the ways that Yahweh has dealt bountifully with us,
And the abundant goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has dealt bountifully to them according to His compassion
And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.
8 And He said, “Surely, they are My people,
Sons who will not deal falsely.”
So He became their Savior.
9 In all their distress He was distressed,
And the angel of His presence saved them;
In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them,
And He lifted them and carried them all the ancient days.
10 But they rebelled
And grieved His Holy Spirit;
Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy;
He fought against them.
11 Then His people remembered the ancient days, of Moses.
Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,
12 Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
Who split the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,
13 Who led them through the depths?
Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble;
14 As the cattle which go down into the valley,
The Spirit of Yahweh gave them rest.
So You led Your people,
To make for Yourself a glorious name. (Isaiah 63:7-14)
This is a praise to God from Israel for being faithful to them, even when they weren't faithful to him. The praise brings to mind God leading his people through the Sea of Reeds with walls of water on both sides.
There is more going on here, though. The escapees from Israel find themselves in the same situation again. They haven't been faithful to God, this time for a very long time, and he is again leading them, this time down a highway with enemies on both sides. They now follow him, trusting that he is able to save them.
Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation;
Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The tumults within You and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
16 For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us
And Israel does not recognize us.
You, O Yahweh, are our Father,
Our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
17 Why, O Yahweh, do You cause us to stray from Your ways
And stiffen our heart from fearing You?
Return for the sake of Your slaves, the tribes of Your inheritance.
18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while;
Our adversaries have trodden it down.
19 We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who were not called by Your name. (Isaiah 63:15-19)
This passage is a repentance. It recognizes that God no longer seems to care about them - doesn't seem to even know who they are. It calls him to return to them.
Some of this dejection-becoming-repentance may seem a little backhanded, for example, "Why do You cause us to stray?" They are saying that God tested them and they failed. So the question is more like, "Why did you test us when you knew that we would fail?" The answer would be, "So that you would know how far you were from me."
This chapter is about Israel accepting Jesus and returning to God, and what follows after. The steps we would expect are: repentance, faith and praise, and action. We see all of those here but in reverse order.
Dejection / Beginning of Repentance - the Jews have been driven out of Jerusalem, again, they thought they had found their Messiah, but he turned on them. They had rebuilt the temple and restarted the sacrifices, but now the temple is at least defiled and under the control of the anti-Christ, and possibly destroyed. They have lost everything. They feel like their God has forgotten who they are.
About 50 years before, God had intervened to save them from annihilation, but here they are again, outside of the land of Isarel. What happened? What did they do wrong? This dejection and soul-searching is an early stage in their road to repentance.
Praise - they have come to realize that they killed their Messiah and have now accepted him. Praise flows from their mouths as they prepare to head back to Jerusalem with him. They walk in faith, knowing that there are enemy armies all along the road they will travel, but knowing Jesus is their conquering king Messiah.
Action - As they walk back to Jerusalem with Jesus leading them, their enemies are destroyed. Their faith is rewarded.