63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength? “It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!”
Isaiah was sitting at some high point of Israel. He looked towards the east and saw a vision. He looked into the future through the eyes of the Jewish believing remnant. He asked two questions.
The first question is, “who is marching from Edom?” Edom is the location of the city of Petra. Petra is currently located in southern Jordan. According to the Book of Habakkuk, the Messiah will come through the Jordan city of Teman.
The second question is, “Who is the one who is wearing bloody royal robes?”
These two questions will be answered by the Messianic King. The Messiah identifies Himself as the Vindicator and Savior of Israel.
63:2 Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat?
Isaiah asked the Messiah, “Why are you wearing bloody garments? Why do you look like you have stomped on grapes in a wine vat?” In Revelation 19:13, Jesus appears in Israel with robes of stained blood. Most commentators ignore this chapter and falsely identify Christ's blood as His own.
63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage. Their juice splashed on my garments, and stained all my clothes.
Verse 3 correctly answers the questions from Isaiah in verses 1-2. The Gentile armies of the Antichrist gathered together at Petra to exterminate the Jews. The Messiah showed up at Petra, defended the helpless Jews, and stomped all of the Gentiles with His feet until the blood squirted out upon his royal robe. The blood is not that of the Messiah, but it is the blood of His enemies.
It is important to note that the angelic army and an army of believing saints will return with Christ to Petra. However, neither of these armies will do any fighting. The Messianic King will do all of the fighting. The two armies of Christ will simply witness the fight.
63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived.
This Gentile army of the Antichrist violated the Abrahamic Covenant, so they will receive the kind-for-kind judgment.
63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was shocked because there was no one offering support. So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on.
No one will come to the rescue of the Jews, so the “right arm” of Jehovah will rescued Israel. The right arm of Jehovah will be the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.
63:6 I trampled nations in my anger, I made them drunk in my rage, I splashed their blood on the ground.”
The Messiah grew angry at the Gentile army for attempting to ravage His wife, so He squashed everyone of them with His feet.
63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord, of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds. I will tell about all the Lord did for us, the many good things he did for the family of Israel, because of his compassion and great faithfulness.
Isaiah prayed for the Jewish remnant. He reminded Jehovah of the kindness in which God had shown the Jews in the past. He reminded Jehovah of the promises which God made through the Abrahamic Covenant.
63:8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people, children who are not disloyal.” He became their deliverer.
Jehovah has always been the deliverer of Israel.
63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them. In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.
During the Exodus, Jehovah co-suffered with Israel. The Angel of the Lord delivered Israel from Egypt. The Angel of the Lord led Israel through the wilderness. The Angel of the Lord was the Messianic King, the second person of the Trinity.
63:10 But they rebelled and offended his holy Spirit, so he turned into an enemy and fought against them.
Israel rebelled against the Angel of the Lord. This rebellion grieved the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. Only a personality can be grieved. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is a person and not an active force.
63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea, along with the shepherd of his flock? Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them,
Many cults and isms falsely claim that the Holy Spirit is an “active force,” but active forces cannot grieve. Also, the New Testament does not use neuter pronouns for the Holy Spirit. Masculine pronouns are used throughout the New Testament, because the Holy Spirit is a living personality of the Godhead.
It is important to note that the Old Testament contains many verses of the plurality and unity of God. However, there are only two Old Testament passages which reveal the triunity of God. The first passage is Isaiah 48:16, “Approach me! Listen to this! From the very first I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there. So now, the sovereign LORD has sent me, accompanied by His spirit.” The Sovereign Lord is God the Father. The “me” is the Lord Jesus Christ. The “spirit” is the Holy Spirit.
The second triunity passage is found in this chapter, Isaiah 63:7-11. The entire triunity of God was present and active at the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.
63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation,
The other Gentile nations heard what Jehovah did to Egypt. When Joshua came to Jericho, Rahab told the two spies that the Canaanites feared Israel, because they heard what Jehovah had done to Egypt forty years earlier.
63:13 who led them through the deep water? Like a horse running on flat land they did not stumble.
Jehovah led Israel through the deep water of the Red Sea.
63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest. In this way you guided your people, gaining for yourself an honored reputation.
After the Red Sea encounter, Jehovah’s reputation was respected among the Gentle nations.
63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion!
As an interceder for the future Jewish remnant of the Great Tribulation, Isaiah asked Jehovah to look down from heaven and have compassion upon His people. Isaiah asked God to save Israel from the Antichrist by using the same zeal and power that God used at the Exodus. Deuteronomy 28 and Psalm 44 also asked Jehovah to redeem future Israel of the Great Tribulation by repeating the miracles of the Exodus.
63:16 For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our father; you have been called our protector from ancient times.
During the Great Tribulation, two thirds of the Jews will be exterminated by the Antichrist (Zechariah 12-14). One third of the Jews will survive the Great Tribulation and enter into the Millennial Kingdom as Messianic believers. However, Abraham will not recognize this believing Remnant, because he will not be with them during the Great Tribulation. He will be living in heaven. He will not know these Messianic believers until he returns as part of the saint army which will come with the Messianic King on the last day of the Great Tribulation.
The two thirds of the Jews who will follow the Antichrist will not recognize the believing Remnant as Jews. This is a very similar situation of the Jews who are living in modern Israel of today. The Jews in modern Israel do not recognize Messianic Jews as Jews. In fact, the Jews of modern Israel strip away Israeli citizenship and remove Messianic Jews from their nation.
In conclusion, Abraham will not know the Jewish remnant until He returns to earth with Christ. The unbelieving remnant of Jews during the Great Tribulation will not acknowledge them as Jews. However, God knows His children. He is their Father. He is their protector. He will deliver His children from the Antichrist.
63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways, and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!
Isaiah prayed that God would remove the stubborn heart from Israel. The stubborn heart is the mental attitude of modern Israel. Isaiah asked God to return to Israel and save her from the Antichrist.
63:18 For a short time your special nation possessed a land, but then our adversaries knocked down your holy sanctuary.
Isaiah looked into the future and saw the Temple destruction. Many liberals like to late-date this book, because they do not believe in supernatural prophecy. This is bias. God knows the future, because He is the one true God who planned all of history. He told Isaiah what would happen, Isaiah wrote these prophecies down as a testimony of the one true God.
63:19 We existed from ancient times, but you did not rule over them, they were not your subjects.
For centuries, Israel did not had a proper relationship with Jehovah. Israel was chosen by God, but Israel was so rebellious and disobedient to God that this relationship could not be seen by other Gentile nations.
This plea for God to return and restore Israel will continue in the next chapter.