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Read Isaiah 63
The Point: God is the deliverer. God is the judge. God is the saviour. Everyone will go thorugh God one day as He is the absolute, sovereign, God of the Universe. As Christians, let this overflow you with peace.
1. God is the perfect judge. The work of judgement and salvation belongs to God alone.
It is important to note who God is judging here (or who He will eventually judge).
“Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why is your apparel red, and your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?...I also trod them in my anger and trampled them in My wrath’”
-Isaiah 63:1-3
“If God is holy, then He can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then He can’t sin against me. If He can’t sin against me, shouldn’t that make Him the most trustworthy being there is?”
-Jackie Hill Perry, Holier Than Thou.
We have to look at God’s judgement in this light, which Jackie Hill Perry is reminding us, we must understand that God is set apart. God is Holy, God is sinless, therefore everything He does for and to His people is all done in goodness for His people. Here, God is setting up a coming judgement for the people of Edom (Edomites).
With dyed garments from Bozrah is also significant. Bozrah was the capital city of ancient Edom, and “The important city of Bozrah is singled out because its name means ‘grape-gathering,’ and Isaiah developed a detailed comparison between treading grapes and pouring out blood.” –Enduring Word Commntary.
The Edmonites were Judah’s ancient enemy. They descended from Esau (Jacob’s Brother) and were the most prominent nation around Israel at the time AND they hated Israel. They were proud especially of their hatred for God’s people. Yet, God is putting the focus on Himself, why is God wearing red? Why are God’s garments like the one who treads in the wine press?
God is doing this to judge Israel’s (Judah’s, Jerusalem’s) enemies, He literally will wear their lifeblood on His garment because of His wrath and Judgement. It is clear that Israel has enemies and it is also clear that God will protect His people, He will deliver His people and judge His people’s enemies.
In God’s great plan of the Ages, Jesus accomplishes two things alone. First, He atones for our sin alone. He alone hung on the cross, bearing the weight of all our guilt. Second, He judges the world alone. God does not need us to execute His ultimate judgment; we leave that to Him.
“You will hear one say, that such-and-such a good man was punished for his transgressions; and I have known believers think that their afflictions were punishments sent from God on account of their sins. The thing is impossible; God has punished us, who are his people, once for all in Christ, and he never will punish us again. He cannot do it, seeing he is a just God. Afflictions are chastisements from a Father’s hand, but they are not judicial punishments. Jesus has trodden the wine-press, and he has trodden it alone: so we cannot tread it.”
-Charles Spurgeon
“‘For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, 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 days of old.’”
Isaiah 63:8-9
2. Instead of rebelling we, God’s people, must call out to God. - God’s People Repent and God forgives.
Isaiah 63:15-19 shows how God’s people call out to God. They cry out and question God,
“Why, O Lord, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You?
Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while,
Our adversaries have trodden it down.”
God’s people are calling back to God in the midst of their judgment, in the midst of God pressing them like wine and they recognize that they have become like those God doesn’t rule. This is what true repentance looks like.
“Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while,
Our adversaries have trodden it down. We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, Like those who were not called by Your name.”
Isaiah 63:18-19
God’s people are recognizing that they have fallen away from Him. They recognize their sin, their disobedience and frailty towards God. What do they do when they discover this? They run back to God, their deliverer, their saviour, their one true hope.
3. This Prayer of Isaiah 63 shows that God is the deliverer. God is there even in the darkest moments of our lives.
“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD…according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us: This prayer is prophetically placed in the mouth of one of Judah’s Babylonian exiles. Despite the agony expressed later in the prayer, the praying one first will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD. This is a glorious example of how, even in the lowest place, we can praise the LORD and remember His goodness. This can keep us moving forward trusting in God.”
-Enduring Word Commentary
“If God is holy, then He can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then He can’t sin against me. If He can’t sin against me, shouldn’t that make Him the most trustworthy being there is?”
-Jackie Hill Perry, Holier Than Thou.
The Point: God is the deliverer. God is the judge. God is the saviour. Everyone will go thorugh God one day as He is the absolute, sovereign, God of the Universe. As Christians, let this overflow you with peace.
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