The delayed salvation 63:7-64:12

If the Lord was capable of defeating Israel's enemies, as the previous revelation of the Warrior claimed, why had He not acted for Israel already? This intercessory communal lament explains that delayed salvation was not because of Yahweh's inability or disinterest but because of Israel's manipulative attitude toward Him.⁷⁰⁵Israel's experiences were a result of her relationship with the Lord.

"The Isaianic literature is characterized by a wonderful perception of the future, yet every time we are brought to the point where all seems to be fulfilled we meet a not yet'. Chapter 12 sings in joy over the glory of the coming king (chapters 6-11), but chapters 13-27 intervene to remind us of the scale in time and space on which the Lord is working. Again, we trace the work of the Servant to the point where all is done and only the enjoyment of the Messianic banquet remains (chapter 55), and then we discover (56:1) that salvation is still to come. Finally, we reach the sombre [sic] but marvellous [sic] 63:1-6. Surely now, with the overthrow of every foe, the redeeming work is fully done! But no, the remembrancers take their place on the walls to give the Lord no rest till he fulfils [sic] all that is promised."⁷⁰⁶

"The glories of chapters 60-62 and the vision of the decisive action in 63:1-6 stir the prophet to one of the most eloquent intercessions of the Bible as he surveys the past goodness of God and the present straits of his people."⁷⁰⁷

 The reminiscence 63:7-14

This part of Isaiah's lament consists of a review of Israel's relationship with the Lord (vv. 7-10) and a call for Israel to remember who He is (vv. 11-14).

63:7 The poetic prophet announced that he would reflect on the loyal love (Heb. hesed) of Yahweh toward His people Israel. The Lord had been super-abundantly good and compassionate in blessing them.

63:8 God had elected Israel as His son. This was not due to anything in Israel but totally due to God's loving selection of Abraham and his descendants for special blessing (cf. 1 Cor. 15:9-10). God had a right to expect that the nation, so chosen, would respond with loyalty and integrity toward Him. This mutual commitment would have resulted in God delivering His people whenever they needed salvation. Note that the result would not be God insulating the Israelites from difficulties but delivering them from them.

63:9 The Israelites had responded to God's grace in electing them by committing themselves to Him (Exod. 19:8). Consequently, Yahweh had participated in their afflictions with them and rescued His people from them throughout their history.

The identity of "the angel of His presence"is the messenger who came from the Lord's presence to deliver His people.⁷⁰⁸This may refer to an angel, but it probably refers to the second person of the Trinity, the primary agent of salvation in the New Testament.

"Verse 9 is one of the most moving expressions of the compassionate love of God in the OT, reminding the reader of some of the great passages in Hosea, Isaiah's older contemporary."⁷⁰⁹

63:10 Even though the Israelites pledged themselves to follow the Lord faithfully, they rebelled against Him and so grieved His Holy Spirit.⁷¹⁰

"Most commentators recognize that the understanding of the Holy Spirit here and in v. 11 is close to the fully developed NT concept of the third person of the Trinity. Here he is clearly a person who is capable of being hurt by human behavior, and in v. 11 he is the empowering and enabling presence in the human spirit. As Delitzsch says, He is the Spirit who is both holy in himself and capable of producing holiness.' In v. 12, although the adjective holy' is not used, the same Spirit is the one who guides and provides for the people of God."⁷¹¹

The Israelites' rebellion led God to oppose them by fighting against them, resisting them. It was not God who changed but His people. He consistently resists sin.

63:11 Having experienced the chastening of the Lord for some time, the Israelites then reflected on former times when God had fought forHis people rather than againstthem. The Exodus is the occasion in view, and Israel's shepherds were Moses and Aaron. Then God's Holy Spirit was obviously among His people.

63:12 Then God had manifested His power through Moses, His right-hand-man in the Exodus. The Lord had divided the waters of the Red Sea and had divided the waters of the Jordan River. He had thereby earned an everlasting reputation among His people and even among the nations.

63:13 He had led them through every obstacle as their deliverer, and made them as sure-footed as a horse traversing open country.

"God's power enables His people to go in confidence and nobility, not being overcome or falling because of any obstacles in the way."⁷¹²

63:14 The Lord had also given His people rest in Canaan, as cattle go down into a valley and there find rest and refreshing provisions. He had done all this for them to demonstrate His character to them and to the whole world.

God's commitment to His people had led Him to discipline them for their sins as well as to deliver them in their need. Consequently a change in Israel's rebellious attitude toward God was the key to their experiencing His blessing again. He did not need to change; they did.

 The complaint 63:15-19

Isaiah next appealed to God, on behalf of the nation, to have pity on Israel. The prophet was speaking for the faithful remnant after the exile who found little evidence that God was among them then as He had been during the Exodus and wilderness wanderings.

63:15 Isaiah called on God to condescend to look down from His holy and glorious habitation, heaven, on His miserable chosen people below (cf. 1 Kings 8:44-53). The prophet could see no evidence of His zeal and mighty deeds for them. Even His affection and compassion for them were hidden from view (cf. Ps. 22:1). The poet knew of God's commitment to His people (vv. 7-14), but he saw no evidence of it.

63:16 He reminded God that He was Israel's true Father. Abraham and Israel (Jacob) may have forgotten their children and may have been incapable of helping them, but the Lord had not forgotten and could help. A second basis for appealing for help was that Yahweh had been Israel's Redeemer in the past as well as its Father (cf. vv. 12, 14). Fathers characteristically feel affection and compassion for their children (v. 15), and redeemers (kinsman redeemers) normally demonstrate zeal and perform mighty deeds for their relatives (v. 15).

63:17 Isaiah, and all Scripture, does not present God as the direct cause of sin, unless this is the only verse in the Bible that does so, and it is not. God allows sin, and He allows people to sin, but He does not make it inevitable that they sin in any given instance of temptation (James 1:13). Isaiah meant that God had caused Israel to sin and had hardened the hearts of the people in a judicial sense (cf. 6:9-13; Rom. 1:18-32). Because they had chosen to continue in sin, He judged them by allowing sin to dominate them. Isaiah wanted to place as much responsibility for the Israelites' condition on God as possible. He had not saved them, so He could be said to have caused them to stray from Him and to harden their hearts. Really Israel had done these things, but because God had allowed it He could be said to be responsible for it.

"Why do you make us wander from your ways?is not an attempt to lay the blame on the Lord but, in Old Testament thought, a recognition of guilt of such proportions that the Lord could not let it pass but judicially sentenced his people to the consequences of their own choices."⁷¹³

Similarly Isaiah called on God to return to His people. Really the people needed to return to Him. By asking Him to return to them, Isaiah was asking God to act for them, to step in and deliver them. He strengthened his appeal by referring to Israel as the Lord's servants and His heritage, terms of relationship that God Himself had used to describe His people (cf. 41:9; 42:19; 43:10; 44:1; 45:4; Deut. 4:20).

"This is the prayer of intercession, the passionate entering into of the need of those for whom we are praying, and a storming of the gates of heaven with every tool we can use. Why? Because God is callous and uncaring? No, because we are callous and uncaring, and until our passion is in some small way connected to the great passion of God, his power is in some way restrained. This seems almost unimaginable, but the testimony of history and of Scripture is that it is so."⁷¹⁴

63:18 The holy people that the Lord had redeemed were dispossessed following the Exile. They had possessed the temple only briefly.⁷¹⁵Instead of God treading down Israel's adversaries, those adversaries had trodden down the temple.

63:19 The Israelites had become like any other nation with whom Yahweh had no special relationship. Isaiah's reason for pursuing this line of argument was to move the Lord to act in salvation for His people, to change their hearts.

 The confession 64:1-7

64:1 The prophet called on God to make another appearance among His people, as He had done at Mt. Sinai and at other times (cf. Exod. 19:18-20; Judg. 5; Ps. 18; Mic. 1:3-4; Hab. 3). The Israelites' condition was so desperate that another special visitation from God was what they needed. The next time God did this was at the Incarnation.

64:2 Had God appeared He would have ignited the brushwood of people's lives and brought them to a rolling boil in judgment. Then the nations would know who Yahweh really was and would tremble at His presence.

64:3 At the Exodus God had done awesome things that no one had expected. Isaiah wished that instead of remaining quiet the Lord would do something spectacular again, something that would move the Israelites and the nations to respect Him.

"We too who are so often baffled by the way the Lord runs the world can identify with the spirit which wonders why he has acted in some other way--why he has not done something to check evil, change circumstances and people, rescue his own--rather than, as it appears, doing nothing!"⁷¹⁶

64:4 Isaiah respected Yahweh because he knew who Yahweh was, but so many of his contemporaries were spiritually blind and deaf that they could have profited from a dramatic revelation (cf. Matt. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:9).

64:5 The prophet knew that God had fellowship with those who practice righteousness and who remember His ways to walk in them. He wondered if there was any hope of Israel being saved since she had sinned so much for so long and since this sinning had angered God.

64:6 Israel's sins had thoroughly polluted her and had placed her in an apparently hopeless position (cf. 6:5). Furthermore she could not stop sinning. Was there any hope for her? She was as unclean as a leper, as repulsive as menstrual cloths, as spiritually lifeless as a dead leaf on a tree ready to be blown away by more sin.

64:7 Furthermore, none of the Israelites felt concerned enough about their sinful condition to seek the Lord and try to lay hold of Him in prayer. This was understandable since God had hidden Himself from His people; they saw no hope that He would respond even if they did pray (cf. 59:16; 63:5).

 The appeal 64:8-12

64:8 Yet Isaiah did appeal to God for help. He appealed on the basis that Yahweh had brought Israel into existence and was, therefore, responsible for her regardless of her condition (cf. 63:16). She was just inert clay, but He was the Potter who had formed Israel as the work of His own hands (cf. Jer. 18:1-6; Rom. 9:19-21).

64:9 The prophet pled with God not to be overly angry with Israel and to put the memory of her sins behind Him. God should look on Israel in mercy simply because Israel was Yahweh's chosen people.

64:10 Judah lay desolate. Jerusalem was in ruins. The holy cities of the holy God reflected nothing of His greatness.

64:11 The holy temple had burned and all the precious things associated with Yahweh worship in it were gone.⁷¹⁷Thus the Israelites were ashamed as well as ruined. Would God not do something in view of a situation that reflected so negatively on Him and His promises?

64:12 In conclusion, Isaiah asked the Lord if He would restrain Himself from acting in view of all these conditions. Would he remain silent to His people's prayers and allow their affliction to continue beyond what they could endure? Would He show no compassion?

The next two chapters give the Lord's response to this impassioned prayer of intercession for hopeless Israel.