Chapter 63

Introduction: the necessity for Israel’s deliverance. This refers to the second advent of Christ at which time the Jews who are alive are on the verge of annihilation and only the second advent saves them from annihilation. There are two reasons why Israel must be delivered: 1. Because this is the point of the termination of Israel’s discipline; 2. God has four unconditional covenants with Israel and He will keep them to Israel. It is very difficult to keep a national promise to Israel when they have been removed. So they will not removed, they will be delivered before they are annihilated. Of course this refers to regenerate Israel.

Verses 1-9, the deliverance of Israel.

Verses 1-2, two questions regarding the appearance of the Deliverer.

There are two groups of believing Jews who will be delivered: the mid-Tribulation Jews who were saved in the first half of the Tribulation and fled to the hill country of Edom, Moab and Ammon; the believing Jews saved in the last half of the Tribulation [described in Zechariah 14:1-4] when they are besieged in Jerusalem.

Verse 1 — the first question [about His identity]. This question is asked by Jews in Jerusalem as they see Christ coming to deliver them: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bazrah?” This is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ who is now coming to Jerusalem after He has delivered regenerate Jews in the hill country of Edom. He is said to come from Edom, and this is confirmed by Isaiah 34:1-8 and by Joel 3:19. Edom is the country which was known by the Romans as Idumea. It was the country of Esau. The Edomites are the children of Esau and they lived in the mountainous south eastern part of Palestine. There were three major cities — Petra, Bazrah, and Teman. The Jews and the Edomites were cousins but very very hostile.

History of Edomite antagonism

1. The Edomites refused to permit the Exodus generation of Jews to pass through their land — Numbers 20:18-21. This was the beginning of the formal antagonism between the Edomites and the Jews.

2. Saul fought and defeated the Edomites — 1 Samuel 14:47.

3. David carried on the fight which Saul began. He defeated the Edomites and annihilated nearly all of the males population — I Kings 11:15,16.

4. But there was one who got away — Hadad, who was a member of the royal family of the Edomites. He escaped into Egypt. After the death of David he slipped back into his own country and tried to rouse the Edomites but there would be another generation before they would recover from that annihilation from David. Therefore, he failed and he ran off to Syria where he operated as the great enemy of Solomon — 1 Kings 11: 14-23.

5. In 875 BC the Edomites in conjunction with Ammon and Moab attempted an invasion of Judeah which at that time was ruled by Jehoshaphat. But the invading forces were miraculously destroyed in the valley of Berachah — 2 Chronicles 20:22.

6. In the reign of Jehoram the Edomites finally got back enough male population to have a strong generation who revolted against the Jews. They succeeded; they elected a king; and for the next fifty years they lived as an independent nation — 2 Chronicles 21:8.

7. There were two kings Amaziah and Sela who carried out successful expeditions against them — 2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chronicles 25:11-12.

8. In spite of the military success of the Jews they were never able to subjugate them again — 2 Chronicles 28:17.

9. When Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem the Edomites joined him and took an active part in the slaughter of the Jews — Psalm 137:7. And for this reason Edom is denounced by the prophet Jeremiah 49:17, Lamentations 4:21; Amos 1:11,12; Obadiah 8:10ff; and Ezekiel 25:13,14. Their denunciation is based on the fact that they tried to have the entire population of Judeah slaughtered by Nebuchadnezzar.

10. As a reward for helping Nebuchadnezzar the Edomites were given the entire southern Palestine, the area occupied by Jerusalem, the Negev and the high plateau between Egypt and southern Palestine. But just as they took over this great area they were suddenly driven back into their mountains by one of the most mysterious people of the ancient world, the Nabateans, a people that the Romans couldn’t even conquer.

11. For the next four hundred years the Edomites lived in the mountainous regions of southern Palestine and prospered, until the day of the Maccabeans. The Maccabeans conquered them completely and integrated them into Judaism.

12. Just before the siege of Jerusalem in 69 and 70 AD 20,000 Idumeans were permitted to enter Jerusalem to help in its defence against the Romans. As soon as they got inside they spent all of their time robbing the population inside while the Romans were knocking on the door outside.

13. With the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD the Edomites disappear from history as a separate people.

14. One of the objectionable phases of the activity of the Edomites throughout their history, from the time of the Exodus to 70 AD, was their engagement in the horrible religious practices of child sacrifice, and so on — the Canaanitish religion, 2 Chronicles 25:14,15, 20.

Now, why does Isaiah 63:1 picture the Lord Jesus Christ as coming from Edom? The Edomites had disappeared but the land had not. He came from Edom because there were Jews hiding in the caves — Matthew 24:15-17ff. They were to flee to the mountains of Edom, cf Daniel 11:41 — Edom, Moab and Ammon.

Isaiah 63:1 — “with dyed garments.” The word “dye” is a qal passive participle and it means being bright red. They are not bright red from dye but from blood. Bazrah is the capital of Edom; “this one who is glorious in his apparel” — He has on beautiful glamorous clothing — “travelling in then greatness of his strength.” “Travelling” means to stride with power. And then He answers; Jesus Christ now identifies Himself: “I [Jesus Christ] who speaks in righteousness” — here is Christ slaying the enemy by the Word of His mouth, Revelation 19:15, “mighty [powerful] to save [deliver].” The word “save means to deliver. It is a hiphil stem — to cause to deliver; it is an infinitive expressing God’s purpose. It is His purpose to deliver the believers at the end of the Tribulation.

Verse 2 — the second question [about His appearance]. “Wherefore [why] art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth the winefat?” They’re stained as if He had been treading our grapes in a winevat, which is exactly what He has been doing in the winevat of divine slaughter, Revelation 14:19,20.

Verse 3 — He explains why His clothes are stained with blood — the slaughter of the enemies of the born again Jews at the end of the Tribulation. They have come to slaughter and annihilate the Jews and they are annihilated and slaughtered instead.

“I have trodden the winepress” — There are three passages which describe the treading of the winepress or the slaughter — Revelation 19:13,15; Isaiah 34:2,3,5,6; Revelation 14:19,20; “alone; and of the peoples there is none with me.” There are people at His back but they are not involved in the slaughter. This is the same picture as in Revelation 19 where the Church comes back with Christ but He does all the fighting. “I will tread them in mine anger” — that is, He will destroy them in His anger — —“and trample them in my fury; and their lifeblood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will have all of my raiment stained.” Principle: You can only meet violence with violence. When Jesus Christ comes back He doesn’t give them any sweet talk. He doesn’t say: Fellas, let’s all sit around a table and disarm. He goes after them and slaughters them. When you are dealing with the violent the only thing they understand is greater force that they can muster and use.

Principle: On a personal basis, as believers, we meet false doctrine with a clear declaration of Bible doctrine.

Verse 4 — the announcement of the second advent. “For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” Two aspects: First of all the day of vengeance is the time when Jesus Christ slaughters the violent, and one of the first items on the agenda at the second advent is warfare, the like of which the world has never known. The slaughter will be so great throughout the world that it will take seven months to bury the dead. “In my heart” is literally, in my frontal lobe. In other words, God has planned this ahead of time and He intends to meet this violence with slaughter; “the year of my redeemed” is simply the year of redemption in the sense of deliverance. “For my redeemed is come” is the idea. This goes back to the year of Jubilee concept.

Principle: Before the plan occurs it is formed in the mind of God. God has a plan on which He operates; He does not operate without a plan. What is so important about that? Here is what is important about it. Today we have believers operating without a plan. God has a plan outlined in the Word — doctrine. When believers know doctrine they operate on God’s plan. And if they don’t know doctrine then they just jump around like a chicken whose neck has just been wrung. This is the way most believers live; they do not know that there is a plan formed, declared, and in writing.

Verse 5 — the helplessness of those who are delivered. They are helpless to hold out indefinitely. They both faced hopeless situations. First of all we have the group in the mountains who were saved in the first half of the Tribulation. They are in desperate straits because the enemy is now moving into the mountainous areas and when their ammunition and supplies are exhausted they will have “had it.” The same thing is true in Jerusalem; the believing Jews who are saved in the last half of the Tribulation are bottled up and are continuing to fight against hopeless odds. They will be able to fight until their ammunition is exhausted and then they have had it. But they are all continuing resistance even though the situation is hopeless and just before their resistance is turned to slaughter, in the darkest moment that they face, the Lord Jesus Christ comes to deliver them.

“And I looked” — the word means to look around for help. There is nothing more they can do; “there was no one to help” — humanly speaking they’ve had it. “I wondered [lit. I was astonished, or shocked] that there was no one to help: therefore mine own [the word “own” does not occur here] arm brought salvation” — “my arm” is a title of Jesus Christ, cf 41:10; 51:5,9; 52:10; 53:1 — “salvation” is deliverance. These people are already born again spiritually; here they are delivered physically. Hiphil stem “my arm [Jesus Christ] caused me to be delivered”; “and my fury” — this word doesn’t mean fury as we understand it. It means to be motivated with anger in a righteous cause. Until Christ came to deliver them they were motivated with anger to resist this type of enemy. Basis for their motivation: doctrine. They knew the character of their enemy.

Do you understand the character of your enemy today? Do you understand the character of religion? Do you understand the character of internationalism? Do you understand the character of communism? Here is the principle: they knew their enemy. Therefore they were motivated to resist. You cannot resist what you do not understand. Basis for understanding in that day is doctrine, and these believers are going to learn an awful lot of doctrine in an awfully short time.

“it sustained me” — that means that they were motivated through understanding their enemy to resist until Christ came to deliver them.

Verse 6 — the deliverance is timely. “I will tread down the people in mine anger” — this is Christ speaking now. The people are those who are besieging Jerusalem — Zechariah 14. “in mine anger” is an anthropopathism expressing God’s righteousness and justice. God is right; God is just; God is fair in slaughtering these people besieging Jerusalem. “I will make them drunk in my fury.” In other words, He is going to pour His wrath on them and they are going to be staggered and lose orientation. This is a very important principle in battle. So great will be the battle and so great will be His wrath that they will lose all orientation. These people are going to be staggered by the blows that come their way.

“I will bring down their strength to the earth” — the word “strength” is literally the word “blood.” Literally it means “I will bring their blood out of their bodies and on the earth", an idiom for I will slaughter them. These things are done from perfect righteousness, therefore God can only be right in the slaughter. The people who are the recipients of this slaughter are, if anything, long overdue. And what ever they receive prior to their death in the last moments of the Tribulation it is long overdue. They must be removed just as you would seek to kill a mad dog who was attacking your child. But they are destroyed by One who is perfect and just and righteous. Righteousness and justice express themselves through the violence of warfare.

Verse 7 — the testimony of the delivered believers. “I will mention [cause to remember — hiphil stem] the lovingkindnesses [grace in action — should be translated “mercy"].” They will always remember God’s mercy in delivering them. They didn’t earn or deserve the right to be delivered. “of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord.” The word “praises” is an expression of the believer’s response to grace.

“according to” — a preposition of norm or standard — “the norm of all that the Lord hath bestowed on us” — the criterion for this deliverance is grace. The word to “bestow” means to cause someone to have something regardless of who or what he is; “the great goodness toward the house of Israel” — “goodness” is, again, a word of grace. The house of Israel doesn’t earn or deserve it but God is good to them. The house of Israel refers to two groups, the Jews in the caves of Edom and the Jews besieged in Jerusalem.

“which he hath bestowed on them according to the standard of His mercy,” not according to the standard of their just desserts, “and according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses [grace in action].”

Verse 8 — the first grace principle of deliverance: salvation. “For he [Christ] said, Surely, they are my people [by regeneration], children that will not deal falsely [disappoint, literally].” What does He mean, Children that will not disappoint? He simply anticipates what He is going to do for them. He is going to make it so they can’t disappoint Him — give them a resurrection body. This anticipates ultimate sanctification; “they will not” is future; “so [therefore] he was their saviour” — saviour in the sense of spiritual, Acts 4:12.

Verse 9 — the second grace principle in deliverance: doctrine of eternal security. “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; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”

“In all their affliction he was afflicted” — he was afflicted is a noun. It should be translated, “in all their affliction, unto him affliction.” What is the point? Christ shared in every affliction and in every suffering of the children of Israel in the past, just as He shares in our troubles and our afflictions. No believer will ever have a pressure or a trial or a sorrow or a heartache but what the Lord Jesus Christ shares in it. In effect, the Lord was with Israel at all times. This is so stated in three verses that every believer ought to memorise: Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:6, 8. The reason they should be memorised is because they ought to be used. These three verses develop the principle that there never was a problem that came to Israel or any Jew individually, in the Old Testament, but what Lord was there to share that problem. The principle is that He provides for every difficulty of life. If we have difficulties in life and we find no solution to them it is simply because of ignorance of doctrine.

“and the angel of his presence [Jesus Christ] saved [delivered] them” — recall two groups of Jews at the end of the Tribulation who were in grave danger and were delivered by the Angel of His presence — the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called here the Angel of His presence because in Isaiah’s day Jesus Christ was better known as the Angel of Jehovah than by any other title or manifestation. Therefore Isaiah used the title that they would understand.

The doctrine of Christophanies — the manifestations of Christ in the Old Testament in angelic form, or even in human form.

1. The Angel of Jehovah is identified as Jehovah — Genesis 16:7-13; 22:11-18; 31:11-13; 48:15,16; 45:5; Ex. 3:1ff cf Acts 7:30-35; Ex. 13:21; 14:19 — every one of these occurrences of the Angel of Jehovah being identified as Jehovah occurred before one line of the Bible was written. This is important. The Bible was not written until after the Exodus and most of the occurrences/ appearances of the Angel of Jehovah were before the canon of scripture was even started. There are some exceptions and these exceptions always occurred at a time of apostasy — in the book of Judges 6:11-23; 13:9-20.

2. While the Angel of Jehovah is identified as Jehovah He is distinguished from Jehovah — Genesis 24:7; 24:40; Numbers 20:16; Ex. 23:20; 32:34. What does it add up to? Every time you find the word “God” in the Old Testament, the word is a translation of Elohim. “im"is plural and Elohim always refers to God in essence. And every time you find the word “Lord” in the Old Testament it always refers to Jehovah which is a singular word and always refers to a person.

God is one in essence and so when He is regarded from the standpoint of essence He is called Elohim. But there are three persons who have the same essence and each one at some time is called Jehovah, a singular word. But only one of them is the Angel of Jehovah and that is the second person of the Trinity.

3. The Angel of Jehovah is Jesus Christ.

a. The second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, is the visible God of the New Testament — John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12.

b. The Angel of Jehovah no longer appeared after the incarnation of Christ.

The Angel of Jehovah and the incarnate person of Christ are the same person, and once the incarnation occurs Christ no longer appears as the Angel of Jehovah, but from that point on He always appears as the God-Man. In the Old Testament Jesus Christ could not appear as homo sapien, as the God-Man, because it was not time for Him to die on the cross. But in the fulness of time He came. He came after every philosophical, psychological and religious system that the world has ever known or ever will know had been tried and was exhausted and demonstrated bankrupt. By the time the Roman empire had moved along about 100 years every religious system had been tried and failed and therefore every resource of man had been exhausted. And when Christ came in the fulness of time He brought in the answer. Until that time He appeared as the Angel of Jehovah. Once in a while He appeared as a man only when it was necessary to do a man’s job. Jesus Christ appeared as a man to wrestle with Jacob. And Jesus Christ, as a man, wanted to demonstrate that Sodom and Gommorah were corrupt beyond description; therefore, He went into Sodom and Gommorah as a man and on the way He visited Abraham’s tent as a man. But He only appeared as a man, He was not actually a man. He did not become true humanity until the incarnation.

c. Both the Angel of Jehovah and the incarnate person of Jesus Christ are said to be sent by the Father.

d. The Angel of Jehovah cannot be the Father or the Spirit because neither the Father or the Spirit are ever seen. Only Christ is seen; only Christ is visible; only Christ is sent by the Father, even as the Angel of Jehovah was sent by the Father. Therefore, the Angel of Jehovah is God the Son.

“in his love and in his pity he redeemed them” — “deliver” is physical deliverance; “redeem” is salvation; “the angel of his presence saved them” — physical deliverance; “he redeemed them” — salvation. The motivation for salvation is said to be love and pity — “love", characteristic of the essence box [Rom.5:8]; pity also means grace. So in His love and in His grace He redeemed them.

“and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” Here is where eternal security comes in; “he bare them” — piel stem, intensive, means he lifted them up. It has the same concept as lifting from the miry clay and setting their feet upon the rock. It has to do with salvation.

“and carried them” — piel stem, and it means to keep secure. He lifted them out of the miry clay and set their feet upon the rock and He kept them there. Eternal security is brought out by the piel imperfect of the verb “he carried them”; “all the days of old” — but the literal Hebrew says “all the days of eternity” .

The doctrine of eternal security

1. Logical approach. It is impossible to lose your salvation because God provided for you when you were His enemy and now that you are His child He cannot do less for you than He did as your enemy, therefore He has to do much more for you, being kept saved.

2. The positional approach. Once you are in Christ you cannot get out of Christ — Eph. 1:6. You are not accepted on the basis of who and what you are you are accepted on the basis of who and what Christ is. You are in union with Christ and you can’t get out.

3. The doctrine of God’s hand. Psalm 37:24 says even though we fail we are still in God’s hand. He never lets go — John 10:28 says the same thing.

4. The experiential approach. 2 Tim. 2:23 — even though a believer turns around and denies Christ he still is saved.

5. The family approach. Once you are in a family you don’t get out — Galatians 3:26; John 1:12.

6. Description of our inheritance. Our inheritance can never be removed — 1 Peter 1:4,5.

7. Doctrine of the sovereignty of God. 2 Peter 3:9 — it is God’s will that we be saved and stay that way. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to a change of mental attitude.

8. The principle of the Greek tenses. The perfect tense of Ephesians 2:8 says literally, “For by grace have you been saved in the past with the result that you keep on being saved forever.

9. The body approach. The Church is said to be the body of Christ — 1Cor. 12:21, the head cannot say to the foot I have no need of you. Christ is the Head — Col. 1:18.

10. The sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit — 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30. The Holy Spirit is a seal guaranteeing eternal life.

Verses 10-19, the discipline of Israel.

Why go from nine verses talking about Israel’s deliverance and then start talking about Israel’s discipline? No matter how God had to spank Israel they were still saved, no matter what they did and they did everything wrong. They were saved but they were spanked. The principle of application to us: we may fail the Lord in many ways but it is impossible to lose our salvation. The marvellous passage in verses 1-9 is simply to show what God is going to do in spite of how Israel has failed. The failure is brought out in verses 10-19 along with their discipline. The whole passage has in mind the Exodus generation. It is interesting that whenever an illustration for discipline and carnality is used in the Old Testament invariably reference is made to the Exodus generation, 40 years of concentrated carnality. In the New Testament the illustration is the Corinthians.

Verse 10 — the reason for divine discipline. “But they rebelled, and grieved his holy spirit.” The rebellion is specifically the story of Numbers 14 where the Jews refused to enter the land, and they sat down and they cried all night. It is very interesting. God told them to enter the land and when the spies came back with the report they were frightened of giants; they were afraid of fortified cities; they said, We can’t do it; and, because they had been living by their emotions they all expressed their emotions at one time — and they cried all night. And in their crying there was rebellion. They “grieved” — piel stem, perfect tense, they had constantly grieved His Holy Spirit. This is the reason for the discipline.

“therefore he [God] was turned against them” — one of the most awful kinds of discipline is to have God fighting against you. He “turned” — which means to change the mind — “and fought against them.” God repented, complete change of mental attitude toward them. Isaiah refers to the Exodus generation because the people of his day were about to get into the same thing as the Exodus generation. The discipline of the forty years in the desert is analogous to the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity and Isaiah anticipates that once again the Jews are going to receive terrible discipline. God is going to bring Nebuchadnezzar up against Jerusalem and God is going to fight against the Jews with the result that Jerusalem will be captured and the children of Israel will go into captivity. And so Israel will be discipline from 70 AD on, until the second advent of Christ. But such divine discipline never includes loss of salvation.

That brings up a principle: the certainty of Israel’s discipline

1. Israel’s discipline in the days of Moses lasted forty years and every one from twenty years old and up had to die — except Caleb and Joshua — before the Jews could cross the Jordan.

2. Israel’s discipline after Isaiah’s time — the Babylonian captivity.

3. Israel’s discipline during the Church Age — the Jews are dispersed today and will remain so until the second advent of Christ.

But divine discipline to Israel does not imply or suggest that Israel is forsaken by God. The second advent demonstrates that and, in addition to that, even while the discipline is going on many thousands of Jews are being saved.

Verses 11-13, what questions they are going to ask once the discipline of the 70 years begins.

Verse 11 — “Then he remembered the days of old” — the word “he” isn’t he at all. The Hebrew says: “Then his people remembered the ancient days of Moses"— not He, His people. “His people” is a reference to the Jews in the Babylonian captivity.

Anticipating the questions in the rest of this verse — The first: Where is Christ who delivered Israel at the time of the deliverance at the Red Sea; where is He now? Secondly, Where is He, the Father, who put the Holy Spirit in Moses? Why doesn’t the Father help us?

“Where is he [Christ] that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock?” — reference to the Red Sea incident of Exodus 14. The shepherd is Moses; the flock are the Jews.

“Where is he [God the Father] who put his Holy Spirit in Moses?” — the Holy Spirit did indwell Moses, but not all believers at that time. The Holy Spirit did not indwell all believers in the Old Testament, He only indwelt a few believers for special jobs. All believers could not be indwelt until Christ was glorified — John 7:39. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in this age, the Church Age — He indwells every believer — John 16:14.

Doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

1. The Holy Spirit indwelt only a few Old Testament believers to perform special functions. Examples: Joseph — Genesis 41:38, so that he could rule the Egyptian empire in a good manner ; the tailors were indwelt by the Spirit when they made the priestly garments — Exodus 28:3; the craftsmen who built the tabernacle — Exodus 31:3; the seventy elders of Israel — Numbers 11:17, 25; Joshua — Numbers 27:18; certain judges (in a time of great apostasy): Othniel — Judges 3:10; Gideon — Judges 6:34; Jephthah — Judges 11:29; Samson — Judges 13:25. There are more passages on Samson being filled with the Spirit than almost anyone else and yet he was in many ways a real rat! Judges 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; Saul and David — 1 Samuel 10:9-10; 1 Samuel 16:13; Daniel — Daniel 4:8; 5:11-14; 6:3.

2. For reasons of discipline the Holy Spirit could be removed, as in the case of Saul — 1 Sam. 16:14. And in Psalm 51:11 David prayed that he would not lose the Holy Spirit, because he was out of fellowship. (In the Church Age a believer cannot lose the Holy Spirit, He indwells to stay).

3. It was possible to ask for the Holy Spirit in the previous dispensation. Elisha asked for the Holy Spirit and received Him — 2 Kings 2:9-10; Luke 11:13 — operating under the old dispensation still: “If [first class condition] ye then being evil [and you are], know how to give good gifts unto your children [and you do know how to], how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” This verse took place in the dispensation of Israel; this verse operates under that dispensation, and in the dispensation of Israel you can ask for the Holy Spirit and receive Him. There is a similar passage found in John 20. Jesus told the disciples they could ask for the Holy Spirit but they didn’t do it. So to sustain them Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit — all Old Testament modus operandi. It was the previous dispensation and had nothing to do with the Church Age. Today you cannot ask for the Holy Spirit, you receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.

4. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the saved disciples to sustain them until the Church Age began — John 20:22. This time He didn’t tell them to ask, He gave them the Holy Spirit because He knew they couldn’t make it to the Day of Pentecost without the Holy Spirit.

5. Once the Church Age began every believer was indwelt by the Holy Spirit and could not lose the Holy Spirit, even when under discipline.

Verse 12 — “Where is the one who caused his glorious arm [reference to God the Son] to go at the right hand of Moses?” (In other words, Christ was with Moses during this time.) The Jews take the position that God has deserted them; “his glorious arm is a reference to Christ. “Glorious” refers to His deity [His essence] and “arm” to His humanity, and it anticipates His first advent. Christ is the God-Man and the “arm” the Lord is a reference to the humanity of Christ dying on the cross.

“that divided the waters” — in other words, when the Jews get in a jamb they always remember something that God did in the past for them. As soon as they get into captivity this is their attitude; they expect God to perform a miracle and get them out of the Chaldean captivity, just as believers who fail the Lord and get into a serious jamb expect God to work miracles.

The premise of Christian suffering

1. All suffering in the Christian life is designed for blessing.

2. The exception: discipline from God — Hebrews 12:6. The expression of God’s love is to discipline us.

3. The exception is removed by means of rebound — 1 John 1:9.

4. Therefore, under all suffering circumstances, once rebound is accomplished, there are only two attitudes: thanksgiving — 1 Thess. 5:18; orientation — Romans 8:28.

Mechanics

1. Rebound.

2. After you rebound, forget it — Philippians 3:13,14. Keep moving; don’t sit around and cry about it.

Verse 13 — “Where is he that led them through the depths” is literally, Where is he that caused them to go through the depths? The “depths” refer to the Red Sea. In other words, He performed a miracle then, O God perform a miracle now! It is often a sign of the carnal mind and the human viewpoint for a person in any kind of a serious jamb to immediately want a miracle.

“as an horse through the desert” — a picture of an Arabian horse cantering over the desert without stumbling or falling. So Christ led the Jews through the Red Sea without stumbling or falling.

Verse 14 — Under discipline they start to remember divine faithfulness. They make an analogy. “As the beasts go down into the valley” — the beast here is a sheep. The sheep goes down into a valley for feeding, for rest, for blessing. The sheep is analogous to the generation of Joshua; the sheep were not resting during the forty years in the desert; “so the spirit of the Lord caused them [the Jews] to rest” — the Spirit of the Lord refers to the fact that Joshua was indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

“so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.” What are the Jews in the captivity saying here? Isaiah’s telling them what they are going to say, and this is what they are going to say in the captivity: “all right, as you led Joshua of old, you were faithful to him, now lead us and be faithful to us.” You see they have been faithless and now they are under discipline.

Verses 15-18, an analysis of the thought pattern of the Jews of the Babylonian

captivity. There are four thought patterns or reactions to divine discipline recorded in this context. Three are negative and one is positive.

Verse 15 — the bewildered reaction. This is the thought pattern of the believer who understands the doctrine of the divine essence. They understand some doctrine and something of grace. But they do not understand their relationship to divine discipline. In other words, they assume that God will never spank them; they assume that the essence box means that God cannot spank them and wouldn’t dare. Bewilderment, disorientation. Why doesn’t God help me? is what verse 15 is saying.

Verse 16 — the surprised reaction. Again there is some understanding of doctrine. In this case they understand the doctrine of eternal security but they do not understand the application of this doctrine to experience. They assume that eternal security means that God won’t spank. This thought pattern emphasises the relationship of the family of God without taking cognisance of the responsibility of the father in the field of discipline. It is the responsibility of love — Hebrews 12:6.

Verse 17 — the critical reaction. The doctrine: positional truth, as they had it then. Positional truth for Israel: the four unconditional covenants. Here is the thought pattern of the believer who understands positional truth but blames God for experiential adversities. He assumes that positional truth means that he can never have adversity. This means that this believer will not accept responsibility for his own carnality.

Verse 18 — the oriented or stabilised reaction. Here is the thought pattern of the believer who is able to properly evaluate the situation. He recognises the validity of divine discipline, that it is an expression of divine love, that God has set up a technique for facing discipline. Such a believer distinguishes between the place of fellowship and blessing with God as over against cursing and discipline. And so to such a believer the enemy in the land is a token of God’s discipline to His people. When the enemy comes into the land he recognises why.

Verse 15 — “Look down,” hiphil imperative. “Cause yourself to look down”; “behold the habitation of thy holiness” — essence box. Specifically in the essence box, righteousness and justice, the holiness of God; “and of thy glory” — “glory” is the entire essence box, e.g. Romans 3:23; “where is thy zeal [omnipotence in action] and thy strength [omnipotence in repose]? the yearning of thy bowels” — literally, the abounding of thy lovingkindness [grace in action]. In other words, Where is thy abundant grace? This believer understands essence and he understands grace but he fails to properly relate these to his status and discipline. He assumes erroneously that discipline implies the withdrawal of grace, which it does not. Actually, God disciplines us in grace. The rest of the verse should be translated: “with reference to me, why are thy mercies restrained?” In other words, Why are you holding back grace from me?

Verse 16 — “Doubtless thou art our father” — no verb in the Hebrew, meaning there is no question about it; “though Abraham be ignorant of us” — Abraham is in heaven. In other words, while Abraham would not approve of our activity or recognise us, you have to approve and recognise us because you are our father. They understood eternal security; “and Israel [Jacob].” Notice how respectable they have turned! They call him Israel now — Prince of God. His original name was Jacob [worm, chiseller]. They are trying to tell God, Look, we know Abraham, we have Abraham’s genes, we have Israel’s [Jacob’s] genes. Doesn’t this merit some consideration? Answer: No! There is nothing in physical birth that merits consideration. But then again they can say, You are still our Father [salvation and eternal security], doesn’t this merit consideration? Yes, it does and that is why I am going to keep you in captivity. You are my children, I am not going to perpetuate on the world a monster called Israel. I am only going to permit Israel to operate under the dictates of the Word of God and under my provision, when Israel can do so in a manner which will glorify me. Therefore, cool your heels for seventy years. Remember that even among those such as Daniel and others there was a change of attitude which resulted in great blessing, even in captivity.

“Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou, O Lord, art our father; our redeemer, thy name from everlasting” — literally, “the one redeeming us forever is thy name.” In other words, We’re saved. Forever — eternal security; redeeming — salvation. They can put salvation and eternal security together but they can’t apply it properly. While Christ redeemed us forever He does approve of our sins and carnality in time. While the believer is in phase two he possesses and old sin nature which is the source of sin. Therefore, the OSN will be dealt with in discipline. This is an expression of God’s righteousness as well as God’s love.

Verse 17 — “O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways.” In other words, Why did you let us sin? This is operation cry-baby. Is God the author of sin? — doctrine of divine essence — He can’t be the author of sin. Here is the believer who fails to assume responsibility for his own sins and a person ,who cannot accept responsibility for anything that he does is always a critical, malicious type of individual. These people never have the ability to see themselves objectively.

“and hardened our heart [mind] from trusting thee” — faith comes from the mind — “Return thou for thy servants’ sake” — in other words, Come back and help us. They should be praying, Return, not because we are anything but because of who and what Christ is; “the tribes of thine inheritance” — they know positional truth; they know that they have an eternal inheritance, that there are thirteen tribes involved in this inheritance and they are the tribes. Principle: No one is indispensable in the Lord’s service. He can get along without us but we cannot get along without Him. It is not the man but the message that counts. It is not getting relief from pressure that is important, but it is trusting God in the midst of pressure that counts.

Verse 18 — “The people of thy holiness [the Jews, with emphasis on regeneration].” It should be translated, “Thy holy people”; “hath possessed the land for a short while” — these are the believers who recognise the principle of temporal fellowship. While the nation was as it were in fellowship they were greatly blessed in the land. But now they recognise discipline; “our adversaries [the Chaldeans] have trodden down thy sanctuary” .The sanctuary is the temple and the Chaldeans have destroyed the temple. The oriented believers saw the coming of Nebuchadnezzar and the destruction of the temple, and all that took place, as bona fide discipline. The oriented believer always faces up to discipline.

Verse 19 — “We are thine; thou never bearest rule over them [the Chaldeans]; they were not called by thy name. Oh that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.” Note: Chapter 64:1 is a part of chapter 63:19. In the Hebrew chapter 64 begins at verse 2.

Corrected translation: “We have become like those over whom from ages past thou hast not ruled.” In other words, We have become like those who have never been ruled by thee. We act as though the theocracy never existed; “thy name is not named among them [the Chaldeans]. Oh that thou wouldst split the heavens and come down [a cry for the second advent, the coming of Messiah], at thy presence mountains shake.”

In principle, because of divine discipline the Jews become like any heathen nation. They want a change. We have lost our uniqueness in this discipline; thy name is not named [idiom: people are not accepting Christ in Israel].

A description of what will happen at the second advent: “the mountains will quake at thy presence” .The second advent of Christ means the fulfilment of the covenants; it means the end of any discipline that will ever come to Israel; and this is the cry or the thought pattern of those in Israel who are born again. They want Jesus Christ to come back so that these glorious covenants can be fulfilled and so that never again will they enter into any kind of discipline. This is the cry of the regenerate of Israel in the Tribulation. In that day they will cry for the coming of the Lord; they will know that it is near and constantly on their lips will be a prayer for the second advent.