Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 59:15

Yea, truth faileth; and he [that] departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw [it], and it displeased him that [there was] no judgment.

15. Yea, truth faileth ] Lit. And truth is missing, conspicuous by its absence.

maketh himself a prey ] i.e. must submit to extortion (Psa 76:6). Another, and possibly a better rendering is, “withdraws himself”; compare the peculiar use of the simple verb in Rth 2:16 (= “draw out” corn from the sheaf).

15b introduces the peroration of the discourse, in which the prophet describes the manner in which salvation shall at last “overtake” the sinful and misgoverned community. The logical development of the argument seems to be arrested by the conviction that the existing situation is hopeless, and only to be terminated through the personal intervention of Jehovah. This conviction clothes itself first of all in a prophetic vision of Jehovah as He appears to judgement; which is followed by an announcement of the consequences of His interposition for the two classes within Israel and for mankind at large. Although the transition in the middle of this verse is abrupt and unexpected there is no sufficient reason to doubt the unity of the discourse.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Yea, truth faileth – That is, it is not to be found, it is missing. The word used here (from adar) means to be left, to remain 2Sa 17:22; then to be missing or lacking 1Sa 30:19; Isa 40:26. Here it means that truth had no existence there.

And he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey – Margin, Is accounted mad. Noyes renders this, And he that departeth from evil is plundered. Grotius renders it, The innocent man lies open to injury from all. The Septuagint, They took away the mind from understanding; or, They substituted opinion in the place of knowledge. (Thompsons Translation.) The phrase, He that departeth from evil, means evidently a man who did not, and would not, fall in with the prevailing iniquitous practices, but who maintained a life of honesty and piety. It was one of the evils of the times that such a man would be harassed, plundered, ill-treated. The word rendered maketh himself a prey ( mish^etolel from shalal), is a word usually signifying to strip off, to plunder, to spoil. Some have supposed that the word means to make foolish, or to account mad, in Job 12:17, Job 12:19. Thus, in the passage before us, the Septuagint understood the word, and this sense of the word our translators have placed in the margin. But there is no reason for departing here from the usual signification of the word as denoting to plunder, to spoil; and the idea is, that the people of honesty and piety were subject to the rapacity of the avaricious, and the oppression of the mighty. They regarded them as lawful prey, and took every advantage in stripping them of their property, and reducing them to want. This completes the statement of the crimes of the nation, and the existence of such deeds of violence and iniquity constituted the basis on which God was led to interpose and effect deliverance. Such a state of crime and consequent suffering demanded the divine interposition; and when Yahweh saw it, he was led to provide a way for deliverance and reform.

The passage before us had a primary reference to the prevalence of iniquity in the Jewish nation. But it is language also that will quite as appropriately describe the moral condition of the world as laying the foundation for the necessity of the divine interposition by the Messiah. Indeed, the following verses undoubtedly refer to him. No one, it is believed, can attentively read the passage, and doubt this. The mind of the prophet is fixed upon the depravity of the Jewish nation. The hands, the tongue, the eyes, the feet, the fingers, were all polluted. The whole nation was sunk in moral corruption; and this was but a partial description of what was occurring everywhere on the earth. In such a state of things in the Jewish nation, and in the whole world, the question could not but arise, whether no deliverer could be found. Was there no way of pardon; no way by which deserved and impending wrath could be diverted? From this melancholy view, therefore, the prophet turns to him who was to be the Great Deliverer, and the remainder of the chapter is occupied with a most beautiful description of the Redeemer, and of the effect of his coming. The sentiment of the whole passage is, that the deep and extended depravity of man was the foundation of the necessity of the divine interposition in securing salvation, and that in view of the guilt of people, God provided one who was a Glorious Deliverer, and who was to come to Zion as the Redeemer.

And the Lord saw it – He saw there was no righteousness; no light; no love; no truth. All was violence and oppression: all was darkness and gloom.

And it displeased him – Margin, Was evil in his eyes. So Jerome, It appeared evil in his eyes. Septuagint, Kai ouk eresen auto – And it did not please him. The Hebrew, vayera means, literally, It was evil in his eyes. That is, it was painful or displeasing to him. The existence of so much sin and darkness was contrary to the benevolent feelings of his heart.

That there was no judgment – No righteousness; no equity; and that iniquity and oppression abounded.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 15. And the Lord saw it – “And JEHOVAH saw it —–“] This third line of the stanza appears manifestly to me to be imperfect by the loss of a phrase. The reader will perhaps more perfectly conceive my idea of the matter if I endeavour to supply the supposed defect, I imagine it might have stood originally in this manner: –

lo veyachar Yehovah vaiyar

mishpat ein ki beeyinaiv veyera

“And JEHOVAH saw it, and he was wroth;

And it displeased him, that there was no judgment.”

We have had already many examples of mistakes of omission; this, if it be such, is very ancient, being prior to all the versions. – L.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Truth faileth: q.d. Truth is more than fallen, which he had said in the former verse; it faileth. For being only fallen it may recover itself again, but failing notes the loss of its very vitals; as being every where neglected, in court, in city, in country, in inferior as well as superior ranks, in the streets, in the gates, in the markets, in the fairs, in all public places of commerce, the condition much like that under the beast coming out of the earth, Rev 13:11, &c. See Psa 10:7,8, &c. All things are amiss, neither judgment, nor justice, nor truth is to be found among us, but fraud and deceit; yet none troubled at it.

He that departeth from evil, that separateth himself from evil things and persons, will not be as vile as others,

maketh himself a prey; or, is accounted mad; is laughed at that talks of justice, so some. Josephus tells us that immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem, it was matter of scorn to be religious. Though there be no solid ground for nor need of that marginal reading, yet is it a truth. The translators reach the meaning by prey; the wicked, like wild beasts, endeavouring to devour such as are not as bad as themselves: where wickedness rules, innocency is oppressed: in bargaining, as buying and selling, they that are simple and innocent are outwitted by the crafty and fraudulent, as not willing, or rather daring, to oppose fraud with fraud, but to do all things in sincerity.

The Lord saw it, i.e. took notice of it: it is spoken of God after the manner of men, as Gen 11:5; 18:21, and many other places.

It displeased him: q.d. If you would know why God is so angry with you, it is for such things as these; the Lord takes notice of it, and it is a great evil in his eye.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15. failethis not to befound.

he that departeth . . .preyHe that will not fall in with the prevailing iniquityexposes himself as a prey to the wicked (Psa 10:8;Psa 10:9).

Lord saw itTheiniquity of Israel, so desperate as to require nothing short ofJehovah’s interposition to mend it, typifies the same necessity for aDivine Mediator existing in the deep corruption of man; Israel, themodel nation, was chosen to illustrate his awful fact.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Yea, truth faileth,…. Or, “is deprived” f; of its life and being; it not only falls in the street, and there lies, without any to show regard unto it; but it fails; it seems as if it had given up the ghost and expired; so very prevalent will error be, before light and truth spring up again and be victorious, as they will:

and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey; he that does not give in to the prevailing vices of the age in which he lives, now become fashionable, but abstains from them, and departs from doctrinal as well as practical evils; from all false doctrines, and from all superstitious modes of worship; becomes a prey to others; a reproach and a laughing stock to them; they scoff at him, and deride him for his preciseness in religion; for his enthusiastic and irrational notions in doctrine; and for his stiffness in matters of worship: or, “he makes himself reckoned a madman” g; as some render it; and this is a common notion with profane men, and loose professors, to reckon such as madmen that are upright in doctrine, worship, and conversation; see Ac 26:24:

and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment; he took notice of all this, and resented it, though in a professing people, that there was no judgment or discretion in matters of doctrine and worship; no order or discipline observed; no justice done in civil courts, or in the church of God; no reformation in church or state.

f “privata”; so “privatio”, often with the Rubbins. g “facit ut insanus habeatur”, Junius Tremellius “habitus est pro insano”, Vitringa; so Abendana, “he that fears God, and departs from evil”, , “they reckon him a fool or a madman.”

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

15. Truth faileth. Hence it clearly appears that Isaiah, in the preceding verse, did not speak of punishments; for, without interrupting the stream of his discourse, he proceeds to show that the people ought not to complain of the severity of chastisements, since they have so grievously offended and provoked God. He therefore confirms what he formerly said, that “truth hath fallen, that there is no place for equity;” and he enlarges this statement the more, by adding that he who hath withdrawn from evil hath become a prey. (143) Almost all the Jewish expositors, reading the two clauses consecutively, explain them thus: — “Truth hath failed, and, by departing from evil, hath been made a prey.” Why they adopt that meaning, I do not see.

Jerome’s exposition, which I follow, is much more correct; and appropriate; and a similar mode of expression is frequently employed in the Scriptures. Job is said to have been

“

an upright and perfect man, fearing God, and departing from evil.” (Job 1:1)

Solomon also says,

“

The fool is confident, but the righteous man looketh well to himself, and departeth from evil.” (Pro 14:16)

The Prophet means that all uprightness was so greatly abhorred, that the true worshippers of God, if any remained, were not permitted to be safe. As if he had said, “Whoever wishes to live among men must vie with them in wickedness,” (144) according to the common proverb, “Among wolves we must howl; but he who wishes to live innocently shall be torn in pieces, as a sheep is torn by wolves.” Finally, he describes the utmost pitch of wickedness; for he shows that “truth hath failed,” so that no good man is allowed to remain among them; because every one that abstains front acts of injustice “lays himself open to be a prey.”

And Jehovah saw. This relates to the consolation of the people; for he declares that, although they have grievously offended, so that it may appear as if there were no room for pardon, still the Lord will have regard to his people, and, although he has inflicted very severe chastisements, will at length remember his covenant, so as to bring incredible relief by healing their wounds. He speaks here of a future period, and promises that one day, after calamities so numerous and diversified, the Lord will aid the people that are left; for the Jews would have lost heart, and would have been altogether discouraged, if the Lord had not brought that consolation.

Thus men commonly rush forward, and throw themselves headlong into opposite vices; for, when they are reproved, they either grow obstinate and harden themselves, or are terrified and fall into despair. We must therefore observe carefully this order which the Prophet followed. First, it was necessary to reprove the Jews, that, being affected and laid low by repentance, they might cease to find fault with God; and, secondly, a mitigation of punishments, accompanied by salvation, is promised, that they might not be discouraged, but expect assistance from the Lord, who is unwilling that his Church should perish, and punishes his people for a time, in order that he may not suffer them to be ruined and destroyed.

Yet if any one prefer to limit this dislike or displeasure of God to the “judgment,” because he had good reason for abhorring a wicked people, I have no objection; as if he had said that God saw nothing in that people but what was ground of hatred. Hence it follows, that there was no other motive that prompted him to yield assistance, than because their affairs were utterly desperate.

(143) “If you render the Hebrew words thus, ‘Withdrawing from evil, he maketh himself a prey,’ that is, ‘Whosoever shuns vices, exposes himself as a prey to the wicked,’ you will have a meaning which leaves nothing to desire.” ­ Rosenmuller.

(144) “ Doit neeessairement estre aussi mechant qu’eux.” “Must unavoidably be as wicked as they are.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

3. THE CURE

TEXT: Isa. 59:15 b21

15

And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

16

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it upheld him.

17

And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.

18

According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense.

19

So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Jehovah driveth.

20

And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah.

21

And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah; my Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.

QUERIES

a.

Why did Jehovah wonder that there was no intercessor?

b.

When is Jehovah going to come as a rushing stream?

c.

Who is the Redeemer to come to Zion?

PARAPHRASE

The Lord saw all this depravity and it excited His wrath that there was nothing being done to bring justice and righteousness to the nation. The Lord also saw that there was no one strong enough or good enough to intercede with salvation and it appalled the Lord. So the Lord is going to take it upon Himself to intercede with His own power and His own righteousness and bring salvation to His covenant people. The Lord will dress Himself in the armor appropriate for the battle (righteousness, salvation, vengeance and zeal) and He will conquer His enemies and punish them, no matter who they are, according to what they deserve. All over the world those who were His enemies will fear Him because He will overwhelm the world with His Spirit like a flood overwhelms the land when it is sent from heaven. Jehovah will come as a Redeemer to the Zion that has turned from transgression, He says. I, even I, am their covenant, says Jehovah. And when I become their Redeemer, their Covenant, My Spirit will abide with them through their receiving My word and obeying My word and proclaiming My word forever.

COMMENTS

Isa. 59:15-18 MEDIATION: These last verses form a fitting climax and summation to the two sections entitled, Salvation Through Gods Servant (ch. 4053) and Communion Through Gods Covenant (ch. 5459). In this text (Isa. 59:15 b21) the prediction that God Himself will become the atoning Intercessor and that God in The Spirit will Himself become the Covenant is summarized.

What the Lord God saw in the wickedness of Isaiahs generation agitated His heart. The Hebrew phrase is rabeayin which is translated in the KJV . . . it was evil in His eyes . . . but means more precisely, it excited His displeasure . . . The point is that what Jehovah saw not only excited His displeasure but it also moved Him to compassion as is evidenced by the subsequent plans to intercede Himself for salvation to those who will accept His covenant. Jehovahs agitation of spirit here is similar to that of Jesus at the graveyard in Bethany when He groaned and wept over the death of Lazarus (caused by sin) and the trying of the faith of Mary and Martha (cf. John 11).

The Hebrew word maphegia is translated intercessor. It means literally, to strike upon or against, or to assail anyone with petitions. In Rth. 1:16 it is translated urge or beg. It is the word used in Jer. 7:16; Jer. 27:18; Job. 21:15; Gen. 23:8; Isa. 53:12 (of the Servant) and in Jer. 36:25. When the Lord saw the wickedness and lostness of Judah, He also saw that there was no man interested or capable of petitioning Him on their behalf. They were all sinners, even Isaiah (undone Isa. 6:5). Who will intercede, who will stand between their wickedness and lostness and the just vengeance of Jehovah? He will! God interposes Himself in the Incarnate Servant (cf, our comments on Isa. 45:23; Isa. 53:12; Isa. 54:9). Gods own arm brought salvation (comments on arm see Isa. 40:10; Isa. 51:5; Isa. 52:10; Isa. 53:1). God upheld His own absolute faithfulness by imputing or supplying His righteousness to unrighteous man through the incarnated intercession of Himself! He accomplished both a vindication of His justness and the justification of those who believe through the vicarious, substitutionary atonement of Christ (cf. Rom. 3:21-26).

See our comments on Isa. 53:1-12; Isa. 55:1-5; (and Dan. 9:24-27 in Daniel, by Butler, College Press) for extended discussion of Gods imputed righteousness.

It was the zeal of the Lord who sent Him into this world as the incarnate Son clothed in righteousness, salvation and judgment (justice). See comments Isa. 9:6-7. It was zeal for Gods house that consumed Christ (Joh. 2:17).

These words of Isaiah may have been intended initially to predict the salvation of Judah from the Babylonian captivity by the intercession and mighty arm of Jehovah. As we have already seen, however, the release from captivity had a much more glorious goal (the messianic redemption) as its ultimate fulfillment. And these words of Isaiah are no less messianic-oriented! Indeed, Jehovah delivered Judah from exile and recompensed her Gentile captors (the islands). But He also judged all earthly kingdoms when He established His own eternal kingdom through the work of the Messiah as we have already pointed out. By the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God demonstrated with all the finality and absoluteness He could that the kingdoms of this world were judged. The great apostle Paul makes that the authentication of the worlds judgment in Act. 17:30-31; 1Co. 15:20-28; Col. 2:14-15, etc. These words of Isaiah, then, point ultimately to the Messiah and His kingdom.

Isa. 59:19-21 MEMBERSHIP: The mediation (intercession) provided by God also provides membership or communion with God through covenant relationship. And that is precisely what this whole section of Isaiah (ch. 5459) is all about. The isles of the Gentiles, from the west and east will fear Jehovahs name and His glory. Jehovahs name and glory will flood the world (as a rushing stream). The Hebrew word ruakh is translated breath (Isa. 59:19), but is more generally translated spirit. Ruakh is the same word that is translated Spirit in Isa. 59:21. It would make more sense to us to translate the word spirit in Isa. 59:19. Thus the name and the glory of Jehovah that floods the world will be by the power of His Holy Spirit as He converts Gentiles and Jews through the preaching of the gospel of Christ.

The Hebrew word goel is translated redeemer. The original meaning of the word was to demand back, or to extricate. In Leviticus 25-27 the word signifies the liberation of property from a mortgage against it or a vow against it by payment or exchange. In cases of poverty, where no payment was possible, the nearest of kin was made responsible for performing the work of redemption. Thus a kinsman came to be called by the name goel, (cf. Num. 5:8; 1Ki. 16:11; Rth. 2:20; Rth. 3:2; Rth. 3:9; Rth. 3:12, etc.). Jesus is our goel (kinsman) (see Heb. 2:10-18). That this message is messianic is well established by its quotation in Rom. 11:26-27. All Israel in Rom. 11:26 is the New Israel (Gal. 6:14-16) the church of Christ. The salvation of all Israel is accomplished when the Redeemer redeems both Gentiles and Jew in one body (cf. Eph. 2:11 ff) and that is the intent of Isa. 59:15 b21 and Rom. 11:26-27! Goel is a favorite theme of Isaiah (Isa. 35:9; Isa. 41:14; Isa. 43:1; Isa. 43:14; Isa. 44:6; Isa. 44:22-24; Isa. 47:4; Isa. 48:17; Isa. 49:7; Isa. 49:26; Isa. 51:10; Isa. 52:3; Isa. 62:12; Isa. 63:4). The Redeemer comes to redeem those who wish to be redeemed and express that wish in a voluntary turn from transgression.

Two Hebrew pronouns are side by side at the beginning of Isa. 59:21; eni zoth would read literally, I, this very One, am covenant for them. God interposed Himself with an oath. He, Himself became covenant. All the promises of God find their Amen in Him (2Co. 1:20-21). His life (atoning death and justifying resurrection) became the New covenant (Mat. 26:26-29). To partake of Christs life is to partake of His Spirit (Joh. 6:52-63). To partake of Christs word is to partake of His life and His Spirit (Joh. 14:21-23; Act. 2:38; Act. 5:32; 2Pe. 1:3-5; see comments in The Gospel of John, by Butler, College Press, chapters 1417). The Spirit of Christ dwells in man through faith (Eph. 3:17); faith comes by hearing and obeying the Word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). The exclusiveness of the instrumentality of the Word in the dwelling and working of the Spirit is emphasized even here (Isa. 59:21). The Spirit of God was in the prophets (1Pe. 1:10-12) but He functioned through their preaching. The Spirit of God was in the apostles, but He functioned through their preaching. The Spirit of God is in Christians, but He functions through their printing or preaching the Word which the apostles preached and printed and left for the salvation of the world. The apostolic message is the only message of the Spirit; He has no further word for the world! He will not function in the life of any one in the world except through the instrumentality of the apostolic Word. Covenant relationship to God has always been made available exclusively through the instrumentality of a revealed Word. God has always limited the delivery of His Word to a few selected individuals in order to preclude the possibility of deception (1Jn. 4:1-6). God has always authenticated His messengers by signs and wonders (Heb. 2:1-4). Once the messengers have been authenticated and the message has been delivered in human language and committed to the printed page, anyone claiming to have a revelation of the Spirit beyond that message is a false messenger! All that is needed for the rest of the world to come into covenant relationship is that the completed, perfected message of the Spirit be passed on by printing or preaching from one generation to another.

The covenant accomplished by the Redeemer and inscripturated by the Spirit will last forever. It will never need updating, changing or superseding. It will need simply to be passed on from generation to generation. It is for the whole world so long as the world shall last!

QUIZ

1.

How do these last verses fit in with what has been written in Isaiah 40-59?

2.

What all is involved in the excitation of Gods displeasure?

3.

What is an intercessor? Why did God have to intercede?

4.

Give as many reasons as you can why this points ultimately to the Messiah.

5.

Who is the Redeemer in Isa. 59:20, according to Rom. 11:26?

6.

What does the Spirit of God have to do with covenant? and how?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(15) Truth failethi.e., is banished, and becomes as a missing and lost thing. The man who departs from evil is but the victim of the evil-doers. Other renderings are (1) is outlawed, and (2) is counted mad, but the Authorised Version is quite tenable. The words remind us of the terrible picture of Greek demoralisation in Thuc. iii.

And the Lord saw it . . .The verse at first suggests the thought that what Jehovah saw were the sins thus described. The sequence of thought, however, tends to the conclusion that the words are properly the beginning of a new section, and that the supplied pronoun refers to the repentance and confession of the people. It displeased Himliterally, was evil in His eyesthat the penitents were still subject to oppression, that they found no leader and deliverer, and therefore He came, as it were, alone and unaided, to the rescue. (Comp. Joe. 2:17-19.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15-17. The Lord saw it Dramatic for the statement that he accepts the confession as he promised. Isa 58:8-14.

It displeased Literally, It was evil in his eyes.

No judgment That there was no just judgment (always so dear to him, Isa 61:8) among the Jewish people.

Saw that no man No man who executed justice and sought truth.

Wondered Amazed. He sees with dismay that no one is there to interfere or to intercede.

Therefore Upon knowledge of what was wanting. This passage is strongly dramatic, figuring God as a human supervision.

His arm Symbol of omnipotence. “His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory.” Psa 98:1. His own equity came to the rescue.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

God Will Act To Deliver Zion ( Isa 59:15-21 ).

When God looked down He saw that there was no one who could deliver, none who was fitted to be the Servant. And (speaking from a human point of view) He could not understand it. Why was there no one fitted to act as a go-between, an intercessor, on behalf of men? But really He knew the answer, and, just as God did, Isaiah also knew the answer, ‘woe is me for I am undone. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I come from a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts’ (Isa 6:5). ‘We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags’ (Isa 64:6). No one was fitted for the task by their manner of life. And so God determined to act Himself.

Isa 59:15-16 a

‘And Yahweh saw it,

And it displeased him that there was no judgment,

And he saw that there was no man,

And he wondered that there was no intercessor.’

We have been here before. God looks for a man, but there is no man. See Isa 50:2. ‘Why when I came was there no man? When I called was there none to answer?’ Compare also Isa 41:28, ‘and when I look there is no man, even among them there is no counsellor’. That was the problem. There was no man, not even Isaiah or Micah, who was fit for the position. There was no man suited to act as Redeemer. And it was at that point that Yahweh found the answer in raising up the great Servant of Yahweh, the unique representative of Israel (Isa 50:3-8; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12).

Here again there is no man. No one to plead. No one to intervene. No mediator. But Yahweh is displeased that justice is lacking, that man stumbles on foolishly and blindly in his sin. He is displeased that there is no one, that there is none to stand in the gap. He is depicted in human terms as wondering why this could be, but this is in order to bring out the desperateness of the situation, for He knows what He will do. He will raise up a Redeemer.

‘There was no intercessor.’ Maphgiya’ (intercessor) strictly denotes ‘causing to meet or come together, bringing into contact’. Thus it is applied to intercessory prayer. But it has been suggested that the context, etymology and usage combined, may rather be seen as recommending the wider sense of ‘intervention and interposition’, both in word and deed. (See Isa 53:12)

Throughout history God looked for a man. He found one in Abraham whom He called as His Servant. But he could only take the first steps of faith. He found one in Moses, ‘the Servant of Yahweh’. But he began timidly and his inadequacy was constantly revealed, and he died as a direct result of failure. He found one in His Servant David, the man after His own heart. But he was too much a man of blood. Each of these was simply an onward faltering step in His purposes as He looked for a man. And now the final step is taken as His Servant as revealed in Isa 50:3-10; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12, with Isa 49:1-6, Who will bring about all His will, Immanuel, God with us.

Isa 59:16-18

‘Therefore his own arm brought salvation to him,

And his righteousness it upheld him,

And he put on righteousness as a breastplate,

And a helmet of salvation on his head,

And he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,

And was clad with zeal as a cloak.

According to their deeds,

Accordingly he will repay,

Fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies,

To the islands he will repay recompense.’

After Isa 59:15-16 a we would expect the introduction of a ‘man’ or ‘intercessor’ as raised up by God. In Isa 50:2 His recognition that there was no one resulted in the raising up of the Servant. Now we learn more about the Servant. He comes as empowered by God Himself, clothed in the armour of righteousness and salvation, to deliver His true people, and to take vengeance on all who oppose them.

Had this not been in the same context here this would have been ambiguous. We would have asked, ‘Does it mean that God Himself stepped in because there was no one else, and that it was He Who armoured Himself?’ Or is the ‘Him’ who is ‘brought salvation’ and ‘upheld’ by God’s righteous saving power, God’s raised up Redeemer as spoken of in Isa 59:20, the One Who, as before, is brought in because there is no man? Isaiah surely expects us to see this as a follow up to Isa 50:2 onwards. And yet if so this Redeemer is so closely connected with Yahweh that they are seen as at work together. What a different picture we would then have here of the Servant. He would no longer be seen as simply the humble learner and teacher Who will be humbled for the sins of His people. As the One Who had died, and had been made to live again He would be the One sent from God, the Mighty God (Isa 9:6), the Great Warrior, bringing both deliverance and judgment (Isa 59:16-17; Isa 63:1-6), fulfilling the pleasure of Yahweh and dividing the spoil with the strong (Isa 53:10; Isa 53:12).

In 7-11 we saw that God’s purpose would be fulfilled through the raising up of One Who would be miraculously born from the Davidic house, the Son of David, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father (Isa 9:6). In 41-55 it would be fulfilled in His Servant Who found His culmination in the tragic and glorious figure of Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12, Who would then be exalted and raised up very high (Isa 52:13). Here we find that it will be fulfilled in a Redeemer Who is the very Arm of God.

Note how the future is telescoped and rolled up into one (we can compare Isa 61:2). On the one hand the Deliverer, the Bringer of righteousness, introducing the year of acceptance, the year of God’s favour, and on the other the Judge, the Bringer of vengeance and judgment, ‘the day of vengeance of our God’. For salvation by redemption and the judgment of God are two aspects of the same work of God as He brings all things to their culmination.

Here is brought out God’s great secret, declared in part before but now made clear. The One Who is coming to save, Who will be the miraculously born King and the God-taught Servant, is in a very real sense Yahweh Himself. He will be the mighty God, even though He may appear in human form, and indeed as truly human. God saw that there was no man, for a greater than man was needed. Only God could step into the gap. And so He stepped in through His Redeemer. Thus here we can hardly distinguish One from the Other in the description. It could be being spoken of either. It is what Isaiah has revealed before that clarifies the situation.

But we would be wrong simply to separate the deliverance and vengeance as though one happened at one time and the other at another time. Both continually happened, and happen. For when Jesus came the first time to bring deliverance and salvation, He also inevitably brought wrath and vengeance. While some wept for their sins and found salvation, others wept because of the judgment that came on them. ‘Weep not for me,’ He said, ‘weep for yourselves and for your children’ (Luk 23:28). And they soon had cause to weep when Jerusalem was destroyed, and many of them along with it. Rom 1:18-32 makes clear God’s present wrath, as do Joh 3:18; Joh 3:36; Joh 12:31; 1Th 2:16 and much of Revelation. And Jesus saw it as coming, among other things, in the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. So wrath was revealed in the giving over of the world to its sin, and in the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews and the troubles that would come on the world (Mark 13).

Yet through it all shone out His saving purposes. Even while vengeance stalked the earth, salvation was being spread abroad. Of those tender hearted women some would respond and be saved. Others would sadly await their judgment. And when He comes the second time it will not only be in order to bring vengeance and judgment, it will also be to bring righteousness and deliverance for many. he will ‘gather together His elect from the four winds of heaven’. And He is continually active in the same way in history (Isa 51:8). Daily He brings righteousness and deliverance to someone somewhere in the world. Yet while Jesus did not come to judge but to save (Joh 3:17), and His salvation is now being freely offered, His very coming inevitably judges those who refuse His light (Joh 3:18-19).

So here it is rather that the future is all seen as one whole, and the action of the Great Warrior is seen as occurring as long as it is needed. To this Great Warrior a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day (2Pe 3:8), indeed it is but a watch in the night (Psa 90:4). Thus we must not limit Him to our ideas of time.

‘Therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness it upheld Him.’ God was looking for the deliverance of His own people, His chosen ones, and because there was none to act He Himself will bring about the deliverance that He desires through His Servant, and it will be His righteousness that will uphold Him in the work that has to be done. It is His arm that will strengthen His Servant. It is His own righteousness that will uphold Him. Thus the work of the Servant and of the Anointed One (Isa 61:1) is seen as His own work, and the activity of the Servant and of the coming King as His own activity. And there is a merging of those activities that reveals why Isaiah could call that King, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father (see on Isa 9:6), the One who as the Wonderful Counsellor incorporates the Servant.

We must insert here as part of His activity what we find in the Gospels, and in the Acts of the Apostles, for in it all the Great Warrior came and strode through the world. His breastplate was righteousness. That was why they could not touch Him until God gave permission. His helmet was salvation, for He Himself was the Saviour And we must include in this description Isa 9:1-7; Isa 11:1-10; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12 and much, much more. And we must include the Book of Revelation which outlines God’s activity in history and the One through Whom He acted, the slain Lamb Who was also the lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5-6). In it all He came, bringing His deliverance, and He was upheld by God’s righteousness, by His own righteous purposes, by the righteousness which He revealed in His righteous living and by His mighty acts, and by the righteousness which enabled Him to withstand all the assaults of the enemy (which of you convinces me of sin? – Joh 8:46), and by the righteousness of the Righteous One Who had sent Him, and Whose righteousness He shared and abode in, a righteousness which was His own (Joh 16:15).

‘And He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head.’ These were His armaments and His protection that ensured that He could not fail. All He did was righteous, all He purposed was righteous, all that He was, was righteous, the righteousness of Yahweh was His, and He was surrounded by righteousness and nothing in the evil of the world could mar Him. And it was necessarily so. Had there been one chink in the armour when He became man all the purposes of God would have collapsed. But there was no chink. He was clothed in righteousness, and righteousness prevailed. He knew no sin (2Co 5:21). He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth (1Pe 2:22). These were the testimonies of one who had belonged among His severest critics, critics who had constantly scrutinised Him, and of one who had been closest to Him in His daily life.

And it has been openly revealed, so that all are without excuse. The righteous teaching of Jesus stands out like a beacon in the world. None other compares with it. There have been great teachers, and men of great morality, but none taught like He taught, all are but pale reflections of His words. Only He was right all the way along the line. His teaching along reveals Him for what He is, the truly Righteous One, the One like no other, the only Son of God.

‘And a helmet of salvation on His head.’ He wore too the helmet of deliverance. He was protected by His Father’s eternal purposes and intentions, and by God’s, and His own, great purpose of salvation which had existed from before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4). For that provided Him with all the protection of the Godhead. He was ‘God the Saviour’ (Tit 2:13; 2Pe 1:1). Wearing that helmet He could not but succeed. And through the wearing of that helmet He brought salvation to His own.

Righteousness and deliverance have gone hand in hand earlier in Isaiah (Isa 45:8; Isa 46:13; Isa 51:5-6; Isa 51:8; Isa 56:1) and now the idea has reached its climax, fully revealed in the coming of the Great Warrior. Deliverance is here, but it is deliverance in righteousness, as God’s salvation must always be.

‘And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies, to the islands He will repay recompense.’ New emphasis is now laid on the fact that the Deliverer will come as Judge. He will come to exact judgment on those who have rebelled against Him and those who are His enemies. He will be clothed with vengeance and zealous to maintain righteousness, and punish men in accordance with their behaviour, and their sinful deeds. And this will apply to all His enemies including the distant coastlands. All will receive according to what they have done.

‘Vengeance.’ The idea rather is of punishment in accordance with deserts, measured vengeance for the breaking of His Laws and refusal to observe His commands (compare Isa 24:5). There is no thought of exacting personal revenge. His ‘fury’ is the same, it manifests an antipathy to sin that requires proper punishment for that sin.

As Isaiah manifested this powerful portrayal of the action of God we must remember that he did so in the light of what he himself had seen and experienced. He had seen Yahweh revealed in His glory in the Temple and had been made aware of His supreme holiness and had declared the utter sinfulness of himself and his people (Isa 59:6). Thus he knew that any deliverance must be in righteousness. And he had seen Jerusalem surrounded by an implacable foe, with no hope of escape, and had declared beforehand its deliverance, and had then seen the arm of Yahweh revealed as the Assyrian host was smitten, and Zion was miraculously and powerfully delivered. He had seen the arm of Yahweh in action. Now he was being made aware that it would be seen again in final deliverance of God’s true people, the holy seed (Isa 6:13), and in the smiting of all His enemies through the Mighty Warrior.

Isa 59:19

‘So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west,

And his glory from the rising of the sun,

For he will come like a pent in river,

Which the wind (breath, Spirit) of Yahweh drives.’

The whole known world will thus learn to fear His name, and be aware of His glory. They will recognise Him for what He is and acknowledge Him. In terms of earlier teaching, to Him every knee will bow and every tongue declare allegiance (Isa 45:23). For His coming will be with the force of a mighty river, forced along in the narrows between high banks, both by the force of the flow and by a powerful wind, the breath of Yahweh. He will be irresistible.

Thus is declared the powerful work of the Spirit which will go out into the world bringing men of all nations to His feet (compare Isa 55:10-13), manifested through the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness (Isa 53:1-12; Zec 13:1) but seen as culminating in final judgment for the sinful and the deliverance of those who have responded to Him, of those accounted and then made righteous. It is the story of the faithful among God’s people in intertestamental days, of Zerubbabel as by the Spirit he encouraged the returned exiles (Zec 4:6), it is the story of the coming of John the Baptiser, and of the earthly Jesus Himself Who went forward ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ (Luk 4:1), and of the Acts and of the New Testament letters. It is the story of the centuries, and of the missionary outreach to the world. It continues today. The Redeemer continues His mighty work through the power of the Spirit. He strides forth in the world through His own. But it is always in righteousness, and must result in righteousness. For that in the end is what salvation involves. Deliverance in righteousness is His perfect work.

‘So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun.’ These words influenced the words in Psa 102:15 whose ideas at that point appear to be based on these verses in Isaiah. ‘So the nations shall fear the name of Yahweh, He has appeared in His glory’, and there we learn that it was through the prayer of the destitute. It results from the heart cry of His people.

Note on ‘For He will come like a pent in river, which the wind (breath, Spirit) of Yahweh drives.’

Here ruach YHWH (the wind/Spirit of Yahweh,) is either a Hebrew idiom for a strong wind, or a poetical description of the wind in general as the breath of God, or a description of the driving force of the Spirit of God. And the idea is that the coming of the Servant will be with the force of a river being driven between narrow banks by the powerful wind/breath/Spirit of God. An alternative translation is, ‘when the enemy comes in like a flood (rising, fast moving river), the Spirit of Yahweh will lift up His banner against him’. The difference depends simply on the translation of one or two Hebrew words. The word for ‘pent in, narrow, compressed’ (seeNum 22:26) is tsar which can also be translated as ‘enemy’ (one who pents in). The word translated ‘drives’ (nosesah, which is seen as the polel of nus) can alternatively be seen as connected with nes – banner, standard, and therefore as ‘lift up a standard’.

The idea of ‘enemy’ can be seen as connecting back with the enemies in the previous verse. Thus all depends on how we see it as fitting into the context.

The objection against the translation ‘pent-in river’ are as follows:

1) It violates the Masoretic accents, which are against connecting the word for ‘pent-in’ with the word for ‘river’. Thus the Masorete tradition did not favour this translation.

2) It is incongruous to liken Yahweh to a river which He Himself drives. However, if we see He as being the Servant, the Mighty Warrior, this objection would not apply.

3) The unlikelihood that within the context tsar would be used in a different sense than in Isa 59:18 where it is translated ‘adversaries’. This is probably the strongest argument of the five, although clearly not conclusive.

4) The supposed unnaturalness of the picture of a river driven by the wind. But this is only unnatural to someone who has never seen a wind driven river. To someone who has it is a powerful illustration.

5) The polel of nus unusually being used for ‘drive’ when we would normally expect the hiphil (cause to -). Combined with 3) this must be seen as having some force.

The strongest argument against the second translation is the questionable nature of the translation ‘lift up a banner’ for nosesah.

End of note.

Isa 59:20

‘And a Redeemer will come to Zion,

And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob.

Says Yahweh.’

Previously Yahweh has constantly been declared to be ‘your Redeemer’. But the suggestion here would seem to be of another Redeemer, One sent to deliver, sent from Yahweh, Who can only be the Servant. For He is certainly revealed as a Redeemer, One Who saves by the payment of a price. It is He who will be numbered with the transgressors (Isa 53:12), it is He Who makes His soul an offering for sin (Isa 53:10), it is He Who makes the will of Yahweh prosper (Isa 53:10), it is He Who bears the sin of many (Isa 53:12). And He comes on behalf of those who turn from transgression among His people. There can be no deliverance without turning to righteousness. And this is the word of Yahweh.

And the object of this Redeemer is the redemption of Zion, the ‘city’ which had failed Yahweh and become a harlot city (Isa 1:21), a rebel against Yahweh, and thereby represented within itself the whole failing ‘people of God’. They had despoiled His Sanctuary (Isa 43:28) so that it requires replacement (Isa 44:26-28). Thus ‘Zion’ needs to be redeemed by the mighty Saviour, and to be transformed into a glorious city beyond man’s imagining, the very dwellingplace of Yahweh, where His light will permanently be revealed, and all the world who are willing to respond will come to worship. But ‘Jerusalem/Zion’ spoken of in this way regularly indicates more than just the city. It can indicate the place of Yahweh’s absence, or the place of His revealed presence. it can indicate the nominal people of God, or the real people of God, and all in relationship to the earthly or heavenly Sanctuary depending on context. In the end it is ‘Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem’ which contains ‘the spirits of just men made perfect’ (Heb 12:22-24).

Note here for example the close connection between ‘Zion’ and ‘those who turn from transgression in Jacob’. Here the description Zion includes the whole of the true Israel of God, the faithful in Israel, seen as though they were occupants of the city, whereas in reality they would be far too numerous for that. Zion and the people who turn to righteousness are seen as almost synonymous.

To Israel Zion was ‘the city of God’, the ‘holy city’. To be there was to be as near to God as it was possible to be. It was their ideal, their dream, and had been even when they were following idolatry. It was to them the place where Yahweh dwelt on earth. Thus the prophets (apart from Ezekiel who went beyond it to a heavenly Temple and sidelined Jerusalem – Isa 45:1-8) took up their ideas and saw in Jerusalem, as glorified and transformed, the symbol of the culmination of all their hopes, for it was where the dwellingplace of God would always be found. Indeed Isaiah regularly uses language about Zion that goes well beyond the idea of any earthly Jerusalem, and raises His dwelling place to a higher plain (Isa 2:2-3). He speaks of what Jerusalem represents for the world in terms of God’s salvation, a Jerusalem beyond Jerusalem, a kind of stairway between heaven and earth, and includes within the idea all of God’s future blessings on the whole true people of God. Their love of Jerusalem was used to point forward to a greater Jerusalem, a New Jerusalem which had attributes of Heaven, and which the New Testament would speak of as actually raised there (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22), together with a new Sanctuary where God could be met with (Heb 8:2; Heb 9:7; Heb 9:11; Heb 9:24; Heb 10:19-22) .

This comes out in Isaiah in that ‘Jerusalem’ will be the city of righteousness, where all are righteous (Isa 1:26-27), it will be the city where all without exception are holy (Isa 4:3), it will be a place where the full glory of God will be revealed in all its splendour and where God reigns (Isa 24:23), it will be a strong city with salvation as its wall and bulwarks (Isa 26:1), it will be a city with a secure foundation, founded in God (Isa 28:16), it will be a place of no more weeping and no more tears (Isa 30:19), it will be a place where Yahweh is exalted and dwells on high, filling it with justice and righteousness (Isa 33:5), it will be unmovable and indestructible, a place where Yahweh is with His own in majesty as Judge, Lawgiver and King (Isa 33:20), it will be a place of everlasting joy where His people obtain joy and gladness and where sorrow and sadness find no place (Isa 35:10; Isa 51:11), it will be lit only by the light of Yahweh and have no need of sun or moon (Isa 60:19-20), it will be a newly created city (Isa 65:18), and it will be in the newly created new heaven and the new earth (Isa 65:17; Isa 66:20-22). Thus Paul could refer us to the Jerusalem which is above (Gal 4:26) and the write to the Hebrews to ‘mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem’ (Heb 12:22), while Revelation depicts it as the eternal state (Revelation 21-22).

So as we look at this section of Isaiah with its references to Zion we must recognise that to him Zion depicts the perfect future where God and His people share together the everlasting future. But in those days there was no conception of a heaven to which people could go. Thus he depicts the future, both the future on earth in the purposes of God, and the eternal future in terms of a glorious and widely expanded everlasting ‘Zion’.

That is why as we go through chapters 60-62 we must not see an ordinary Israelite city, however majestic, but a city beyond all cities, where Yahweh reigns supreme, where He can be truly approached and worshipped in the full light of what He is, where His chosen and anointed King sits on His throne receiving the tribute of the nations, and which is large enough to envelop the world who will come to it to make their submission to Him. Babylon is now no more and Zion reigns triumphant.

As we therefore look at these chapters we must make a careful distinction between the city with all its significance, and the people, who while included in the idea of the city, are only a humble part of it, and our concentration must be on all that Zion signifies of the sovereignty and glory and presence of God. Thus while it includes all God’s people, it even more symbolises the whole divine enterprise of which they are only a part, even though an important one. When we read of the nations coming and offering worship and paying tribute, it is not His people who are important, except in their ministry of priests, the important focus is on Yahweh as present in Zion, on behalf of Whom all is received.

Note on Zion, the City of Yahweh.

In the first part of Isaiah it is made quite clear that the future ‘Zion’ represents something totally beyond an earthly city. It represents a future ideal. It reaches up to heaven with its new Temple, it is the place to which all nations flow to worship Yahweh, it contains  all  His true and holy people, it enjoys the full revelation of His presence, it represents where He is seated in His triumph, it is His place ‘on high’, it is the place where there will be no weeping or crying, it is the place of everlasting, unceasing security, it is the place where sun and moon are no longer required. While some of what is said might fit, this as a whole goes far beyond any possible earthly city, even a supposed Millennial Jerusalem. Here we are dealing with the everlasting kingdom, firstly in its preparatory form, and then more fully in its final form. Let us consider these ideas in more detail:

In Isa 1:26 it will be the city of righteousness, the faithful city, Zion will be redeemed with just judgment and her converts with righteousness. Thus it includes all who are then ‘converted’ to giving her honour. It represents  all  the people of God (including the resurrected ones – Isa 25:8; Isa 26:19) and symbolises the fulfilment of God’s saving purposes.

In Isa 2:2-4 Zion is the place which contains Mount Zion, where Yahweh’s Temple is exalted to heaven, to which all nations will flow. They will say, ‘Let us go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of God, that He may teach us His ways’, and from there He will judge the nations, undoubtedly through His anointed King (the earthly house of David having been rejected). So when the nations flow to Zion this is their intent, to meet with Yahweh there and worship Him and pay Him tribute. Here every knee bows and every tongue confesses Him as Lord. It represents the worship of all men before His presence.

In Isa 4:2-6 the glorious Branch of Yahweh will be there, and all who are in it will be holy, even all ‘the living’, and Yahweh will be manifested in cloud and flaming fire, in a vision of glory, and over all will be a canopy and protection in order that His people may have a safe refuge. Here is the place of the presence of God for all the redeemed where they enjoy everlasting bliss.

In Isa 12:6 the inhabitants of Zion shout and cry aloud, because the Holy One of Israel is in the midst of Zion. It is to there that the North Africans will bring their tribute ‘to the place of the Name of Yahweh of Hosts, to Mount Zion’ (Isa 18:7), that is to that part of Zion which has been exalted to the heavens (Isa 2:2-4). It is the place where Yahweh of Hosts reigns in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (Zion) and gloriously before His ancient people (Isa 24:23), exalted over the heavenly and earthly hosts which He has defeated and subjected to Himself (Isa 24:21-22).

In Isa 28:16 Zion will be the place where He lays the Foundation Stone, the Proved Stone, the precious Cornerstone, through trusting in Which all who believe will be without hurry or concern. In Isa 30:19 all the people will dwell in Zion, all weeping will cease and Yahweh’s graciousness will constantly revealed to them Thus Zion is the universal city.

In Isa 33:5 Yahweh will be exalted in Zion, and will dwell ‘on high’. But Yahweh’s dwelling ‘on high’ is in the heaven of heavens where He sits as the high and lofty One Whose name is Holy (Isa 57:15). And from there He will fill Zion with true judgment and righteousness, providing total stability, abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh will be His treasure. In verse 30 Zion, the place of His people’s worship, will be a place of quietness, of everlasting security, a place of unspoiled streams and rivers on which man’s incessant earthly activity is absent.

In Isa 35:10 it is the place where all the ransomed people of Yahweh come with singing, and everlasting joy on their foreheads. Where they obtain joy and gladness, and all sorrow and sighing flee away. In Isa 46:13 it is the place where salvation is set for Israel His glory. In Isa 51:3 it is like the Garden of Yahweh, and full of joy, and gladness, and thanksgiving, and melody. In Isa 51:11 it is again the place of everlasting joy, the place of gladness and joy, with sorrow and sighing fleeing away. In Isa 51:16 He will plant the heavens and lay the foundation of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are My people’. Here then it connects with the New Heaven and the New Earth (Isa 65:17). In Isa 52:1 it is to be clothed in beautiful priestly garments so that nothing may enter that is unclean or uncircumcised. (If it is an earthly city, how then can the uncircumcised nations enter it, or build its walls as described later?) Here is the depiction of eternal purity and the circumcision made without hands (Col 2:11), the circumcision of the heart (Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6; Jer 4:4).

It is in the light of these descriptions and depictions of Zion that 60-62 is to be considered.

End of Note.

So in what follows we must recognise from what has been said about Zion above that the submission of the Gentiles is to Zion rather than to His people (Isa 2:2-4; Isa 18:7; Isa 24:21-23). That the approach to Zion has in mind the exaltation of Mount Zion. And that while we must not totally exclude the idea of their submission to the people of God, we must certainly recognise that it is submission to them as the priests of Yahweh, and in recognition that they are bearers of Yahweh’s authority (Isa 61:6). It is depicted as a submission to Yahweh through them. It is a holy submission, as of a congregation to its elders, not a subservient one (the latter being a mistake which many Jews were fond of making).

Isa 59:21

‘And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh,

“My Spirit that is upon you, and my words which I have put into your mouth,

Will not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed,

Nor out of the mouth of your seed’s seed,

Says Yahweh, from henceforth and for ever.”

Here we have confirmation that this has been describing the work of the Servant. His true people will also become the Servant, speaking out His words to the end of time. In this passage we have had ‘Me’, ‘Him’, and the ‘them’ with whom the covenant is made. The latter are clearly His true people. The covenant is described in Isa 42:6; Isa 49:8; Isa 54:10; Isa 55:3; Isa 56:4; Isa 56:6; Isa 61:8, and the Mediator and heart of it is the Servant, Who is given as a covenant to them. So the Him clearly has in mind the Servant. And certainly He is the One on Whom above all the Spirit comes (Isa 11:1-4; Isa 42:1). And once men responded to Him through the working of the Spirit they too would become part of the Servant (Act 13:47), and this promise was to them.

And now is described what His ‘being made a covenant’ to them involves. Their guarantee of the fulfilment of the covenant lies in the fact that the Servant will have the Spirit upon Him (Isa 42:1), and will have in His mouth the words of Yahweh (Isa 50:4), and will come to them. He is the direct Mediator of God’s Spirit and God’s word to His people.

And thus from now on these words of Yahweh, which have come from the mouth of His Servant (Isa 50:3-8), will continue to come from the mouths of His servants, from the mouths of the Servant’s seed (Isa 53:10) and from the mouths of their seed, and from the mouths of their seed’s seed from this time forth for ever. We see here that the Servant is indeed ‘the new Abraham’, the culmination of all that was promised in Abraham, and concentration is now on  His  seed. And just as Abraham was one and became many in his seed (Isa 51:2), so will the new Servant be One and will become many in His seed (Isa 53:10).

‘And as for Me.’ This differentiates Yahweh from the Redeemer of the previous verse and stresses His participation in all that the Redeemer is doing. While that Redeemer is active in His coming, Yahweh Himself will be active through Him by His Spirit and by His words.

So it is clear that preparatory to the fulfilling of the everlasting covenant in the everlasting kingdom, when the dead will have been raised (Isa 26:19), will be the period when the Servant will be made a covenant to His true people, and bringing that covenant to them will expand them through the proclamation of His word, through His seed and His seed’s seed. The fulfilment of this in our Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles, and the church who resulted, is clear and specific, as His seed expanded and grew both widely, and this has continued on through the generations, until the final resurrection day will introduce the final everlasting kingdom. If we are His, we too are His seed.

But why is He then here called the Redeemer and not the Servant? The answer lies in the dual idea behind the Servant. The idea of the Servant includes His true seed, while here in the Redeemer strict differentiation is made between them. His people will continue on as the Servant (Act 13:47). He alone is the Redeemer.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

THE COMING OF THE DELIVERER AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ZION ( Isa 59:15 to Isa 62:12 ).

Isaiah wanted them to know that God sees their desperate condition and determines to act. He looks for a man, someone to stand in the gap, but there is none. So He Himself acts. He will step in on behalf of His people. He will bring them a Deliverer, a Redeemer, One Who is clothed in righteousness and salvation, and also One Who is clothed in vengeance and zealousness for God. He is concerned with redemption in righteousness, and judgment on unrighteousness. On the one hand He will deal with their enemies and on the other He will come as a Redeemer to Zion, to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, and put His Spirit on them and put His words in their mouths, in such a way that they will never again depart.

But note how in parallel with God rising to act, there will be those who are turning from transgression in Jacob (in sinful Israel). His action and His people’s repentance go together. There can be no deliverance that does not result in repentance. He will not deliver an unrepentant people.

In these chapters Isaiah rises to a new height in his conception of Zion. And we have to stop and consider what he means by Zion.

In Isaiah Zion is looked at from different aspects. On the one hand there is the mundane city of Jerusalem which is fallen and rejected, and symbolic of Israel as a whole, although enjoying a certain measure of protection ‘for David’s sake’. This will eventually be restored (Isa 1:1; Isa 1:8; Isa 2:1; Isa 3:1; Isa 3:8; Isa 3:16; Isa 7:1; Isa 10:12; Isa 10:24; Isa 10:32; Isa 14:32; Isa 16:1; Isa 22:10; Isa 31:4-5; Isa 31:9; Isa 33:14; Isa 36:2; Isa 36:7; Isa 36:20; Isa 37:10; Isa 37:22; Isa 37:32; Isa 40:9; Isa 41:27; Isa 49:14; Isa 52:7-9; Isa 64:10; Isa 66:8), as indeed it was. Then there is the Jerusalem/Zion which is almost synonymous with the people (‘we’ Isa 1:9; Isa 4:4; Isa 5:3; Isa 8:14; Isa 10:10-12; Isa 22:21; Isa 28:14; Isa 30:19; Isa 52:2; Isa 65:18-19). Here it is not the city which is important but the people. (Compare how in Zec 2:6-7 ‘Zion’ represents the exiles). And finally there is the Jerusalem/Zion from which will go God’s message to the world (Isa 2:4; Isa 62:6-7), the Jerusalem/Zion which is the city of God, the ‘earthly’ dwellingplace of Yahweh in which dwells His glory, with its central mount rising up to heaven (Isa 2:2), in contrast with the world city (often seen as Babylon) which is the seat of all evil, which will be toppled from its high place (Isa 26:5-6; compare Isa 24:21-22; Isa 25:2). Here Zion is the future glorious Jerusalem, which has eternal connections and will be part of the everlasting kingdom (Isa 1:27; Isa 4:3-5; Isa 12:6; Isa 18:7; Isa 24:23; Isa 26:1-4; Isa 28:16; Isa 30:19; Isa 33:5; Isa 33:20; Isa 35:10; Isa 46:13; Isa 51:3; Isa 51:11; Isa 51:16; Isa 52:1; Isa 59:20; Isa 60:14; Isa 61:3; Isa 62:1; Isa 62:11; Isa 65:18-19; Isa 66:10; Isa 66:13; Isa 66:20). It is more than a city. It represents the whole future of the people of God, including their hopes of living in His presence, and takes in all God’s people. It is this last view of Zion which is prominent in Isa 59:15 toIsa 62:12.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Isa 59:15. And the Lord saw it, &c. The eighth section is comprised in the remainder of this chapter; wherein we have, first, the most afflicted state of the church, destitute of all human help, Isa 59:15.middle of 16 secondly, the deliverance to be procured for it by the Son of God, its protector and avenger; where, first, the deliverer of the church is described as a hero, completely armed to take vengeance; middle of Isa 59:16-17 secondly, the vengeance itself to be executed by him, and the manner of it, Isa 59:18 thirdly, the joyful consequences of this deliverance. First, the conversion of the Gentiles, from east to west, Isa 59:19 secondly, the destruction of other enemies, who should oppose the church; middle of Isa 59:19 thirdly, the conversion of the Jews to their Redeemer in repentance and faith, Isa 59:20 fourthly, we have the foundation and seal of this benefit; Isa 59:21. See ch. Isa 63:5. St. Paul, in his epistle to the Ephesians, Eph 6:14 seems to have borrowed his ideas from the 17th verse of this chapter.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 996
THE RIGHTEOUS A PREY TO THE WICKED

Isa 59:15. He that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.

IT may sometimes appear unreasonable to take portions of Scripture which describe the state and character of the Jews in former days, and to apply them to ourselves at this day. But it must be remembered, that human nature is the same in all ages; and under the same circumstances will betray the same infirmities.
This will account for St. Pauls mode of proving the total depravity of our nature, and the consequent impossibility of our being ever justified by the works of the law. He cites from different parts of Scripture a great variety of passages, which describe the state of the wicked Jews at different periods of their history: and those passages he adduces, to shew how fallen our nature is. Some of the most humiliating parts of his description are taken from this very chapter, which confessedly portrays the character of the most abandoned Jews at a period of extreme degeneracy [Note: Compare ver. 7, 8. with Rom 3:15-18.]. An objector might say, This is not equitable: and I do not admit that the worst of the Jews in their most degenerate days are any just criterion for judging of human nature generally. But the Apostle might reply, that, if any persons so highly favoured as the Jews could attain to such heights of impiety as they assuredly did, the fault must be, not in the circumstances in which they were placed, but in human nature itself; which would betray the same dispositions in others, if they were subjected to the same trials. Hence, without hesitation, I take the words of our text as containing a general truth, and as asserting a fact which will be found to exist in all ages and countries of the world: He that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.

It is my intention,

I.

To establish this fact

This will be found true in all former ages
[Go back to the days of Cain and Abel; and there you will find, that the very first man who was born of our fallen parents murdered his own brother, for no other reason than this, because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous [Note: 1Jn 3:12.]. Proceed downward through all successive periods of the world, and behold Noah derided for his belief in Gods word; Lot menaced for refusing to concur in the most horrible abominations that human nature could commit; Elijah deemed the troubler of Israel, because he withstood idolatry; and all the prophets in succession reviled and persecuted by the people amongst whom they dwelt: as our Lord says, Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? Every one of them might adopt the language of David, and say, They that render evil for good are against me, because I follow the thing that good is [Note: Psa 38:20.].

If under any circumstances a holy person could escape persecution, we might well suppose that our blessed Lord would have escaped it; both because his whole life was employed in doing good to the bodies, as well as the souls, of men; and because his wisdom infinitely exceeded that of any other of mankind, seeing that he spake on all occasions as never man spake. But so far was he from being an exception to the general rule, that he was an object of more inveterate hatred in proportion to the transcendent excellence of his character. There never existed upon earth one so spotless as he, nor one who was an object of such universal hatred and abhorrence [Note: Isa 49:7.]. His Apostles after him were all treated with the same kind of indignities, wherever they went; their converts also in every country experiencing the same lot; even as many of our own countrymen did at the time of the Reformation. There has in all places existed the same enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman [Note: Gen 3:15.], and the same opposition betwixt light and darkness, Christ and Belial [Note: 2Co 6:14-15.].]

Nor is it less true at the present hour
[The person who departeth from evil maketh himself a prey to all around him, and becomes, as it were, a legitimate object for every one to pursue with whatever degree of malignity he may see fit. There is no other member of society, of a decent character, that is so universally hated and contemned. Every other person, if he do amiss, has some one to extenuate his fault: and, if he be treated, either in word or deed, with an undue measure of severity, he will have some to resent the injury, and to vindicate his cause. But let a godly man be reviled, let his very motives have sentence passed upon them, let him be stigmatized with the most opprobrious names, and who will take his part? Who will vindicate his character? who will shew resentment on his account? If even a word of palliation be spoken in his behalf, it will be almost a miracle: but a real friend, who feels for him, who enters into his cause, who espouses his interests, he will not find in the whole world, unless it be one who is under the same condemnation with himself. As it is said of our blessed Lord, His manner of life who would declare [Note: Isa 53:8.]? so may it be said of all his followers: their accusers are bold enough: but their defenders are not to be found, even in the seasons of their greatest need.

Nor is it to one description of persons only that the godly are obnoxious: the rich and the poor, the moral and the immoral, are penetrated with the same feelings towards them, and manifest their hatred in the same unblushing manner. Were Paul and Barnabas to be expelled from Antioch? no more willing instruments could be found than some devout and honourable women [Note: Act 17:3-4.]. Have Paul and Silas provoked the envy of the Jews at Thessalonica? there are plenty of lewd fellows of the baser sort ready to execute whatever their superiors may wish, and to drive these holy men from the place; uproar and tumult being deemed the best answers to arguments which could not be controverted by rational discourse [Note: Act 13:50.], Only let Pilate and the chief priests pass sentence against Christ, and there will be no want of common, people to spit in his face, and crucify him. David, though so great and good a man, complains that all orders of men were actuated by the same malignant dispositions towards him: the fat bulls of Bashan beset him, whilst dogs also compassed him round about [Note: Psa 22:12; Psa 22:16.]; yea, the very abjects gathered themselves together against him, and hypocritical mockers gnashed upon him with their teeth [Note: Psa 35:15-16.]. That there are times and seasons of comparative peace to the Church we readily acknowledge: there were such seasons even in the primitive Church [Note: Act 9:31.]. And we also thankfully acknowledge, that even where the same disapprobation of vital godliness exists, it does not manifest itself with the same degree of bitterness in all persons; the natural enmity of the heart being moderated by sentiments of liberality and candour. But we will still say, that it does exist in the heart of every unconverted man, and that they who are born after the flesh, will, though not in all cases with the same rancour, persecute those who are born after the Spirit; as it was formerly, so it is now [Note: Gal 4:29.]; and so it ever will be, as long as an unconverted man shall exist upon the face of the earth.]

Having established this fact, I now come,

II.

To account for it

Certainly one should rather have expected, that every one departing from evil, would be an object, not of hatred and censure, but of approbation and applause. We are constrained however to acknowledge, that this is not the case; but that, on the contrary, the person who takes this step will infallibly make himself a prey. And whence arises this? It is chiefly owing to these two things, namely, that, in departing from evil,

1.

He irritates and incenses Satan

[Satan is the strong man armed, who delighteth to keep his goods in peace [Note: Luk 11:21.]. As being the god of this world [Note: 2Co 4:4.], he would have all his votaries obedient. But when one of his subjects revolts from him, and casts off his yoke, he instantly exerts himself to bring him back to his former state of vassalage and sin. For this end he puts in motion all his forces, both of men and devils, unnumbered myriads of whom he has at his command. Every species of device he uses, to accomplish his malignant ends. If he judges persuasion to be the most likely means of attaining his object, he will find some friend or relative to whisper in our ear, Friend, spare thyself. This, though in an Apostle, was the devils work [Note: Mat 16:22-23.]; for, as he can transform himself into an angel of light, so can he make his ministers assume the garb of piety, and appear like ministers of righteousness [Note: 2Co 11:13-15.]. On the other hand, does he judge that open violence will be more conducive to his end? he will soon find a Judas to betray us, a Pilate to condemn us, a populace to crucify us. That, in the instance of our blessed Lord, was all accomplished by him; for it was his hour, and the power of darkness [Note: Joh 13:27. Luk 22:53.]. And, as then, so still, he worketh in all the children of disobedience, and employs them in every possible way to maintain and extend his empire in the world [Note: Eph 2:2.].

This then, in part, accounts for the fact which we have before stated. It there be a deserter from a camp, no effort is left unattempted to bring him back to the standard which he has left: and much more may we expect that one so jealous of his power as Satan is, will exert himself to the uttermost, both by fraud and violence, to reduce to bondage those who have escaped from his dominion.]

2.

He reproves and condemns the world

[It is said of Noah, that, in building an ark for the saving of his house, he condemned the world [Note: Heb 11:7.]: and in like manner all who depart from evil condemn those who continue in the way which they forsake. The very act of forsaking them is a practical condemnation of them. But this the world will not endure: for they feel themselves reduced to the alternative, of either condemning us, or acknowledging the folly of their own ways. This latter they do not choose to do: and therefore, in self-defence, as it were, they adopt the former, and load us with obloquy on account of our needless, or hypocritical preciseness. They will pretend indeed to cast the blame on our principles: but it is with the practice that they in reality are offended. If we would but conform to their habits, we might hold whatever principles we pleased, and no man would and fault with us: but if we venture to turn out of the broad road, and to walk in the narrow path which the Scriptures have marked out, we shall be sure enough to be comprehended under some sweeping term of reproach, which, whilst it purports to attack our principles, involves in indiscriminate censure all, however opposite their principles, provided only they agree in their practice. That this is the true ground of their enmity, appears from what our blessed Lord has said respecting the treatment shewn to him: The world, says he to his disciples, whose light was obscured by their proximity to him, the world cannot hate you: but me it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil [Note: Joh 7:7.]. So in whatever place we bear our testimony, the people who hate the light will wish to get rid of us, and will, in heart, if not in express terms, say to us as Amaziah did to Amos, O thou seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there; but prophesy not again any more at Bethel, to molest and trouble us [Note: Amo 7:12-13.].]

That this subject may be brought more home to our own bosoms, permit me to address,
1.

Those who through the fear of man are induced to continue in evil

[It is certain that many, where the Gospel is preached with fidelity, are led into clearer views of their duty, than they can prevail upon themselves to carry into effect: they are kept back by the fear of man, which bringeth a snare. But let me ask, What is there that man can do, in comparison of what God will do, if we violate our conscience, and prove rebellious against the light which he has given us [Note: Job 24:13.]? Hear the kind and tender admonition of our Lord: I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do: but fear Him, who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear Him [Note: Luk 12:4-5.]. Think with yourselves, not only what a folly it is to fear man rather than God, but what base ingratitude it is to the Saviour, who came down from heaven for you, and died upon the cross for you, and bore all the curses of Gods broken law for you. Did he then, for the joy that was set before him of saving your souls, endure the cross and despise the shame; and will you bear no cross, and encounter no shame for him? Should you not rather rejoice if you are counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake? Blush then for your ingratitude, and take up your cross, and glory in it, and follow him without the camp, bearing his reproach [Note: Heb 13:13.].]

2.

Those who are called to suffer for righteousness sake

[Shall I lament for you? No indeed; but rather congratulate you on the honour conferred upon you. How remarkable is that declaration of the Apostle to the Philippian Church! To you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake [Note: Php 1:29.]. Here he represents your sufferings as a gift from God; a gift of a most valuable kind bestowed upon you purely for Christs sake; a gift greater far than faith itself: for if by faith you are saved, by sufferings you have your weight of glory augmented to an indefinite extent. Search the Scriptures throughout, and you will find but one testimony on this head: you are invariably taught to regard your sufferings, whatever they may be, as a ground of joy [Note: Jam 1:2; Jam 5:11.]: you are told to rejoice and leap for joy, seeing that your reward in heaven will be proportionably great [Note: Mat 5:12 and 1Pe 4:12-14.]. See then that ye faint not, either at the continuance or increase of your trials: but be faithful unto death; and God will give you a crown of life. Let your great concern be, to depart more and more from what is evil, and to abound more and more in that which is good: so shall you enjoy the testimony of a good conscience here, and receive the plaudit of your Judge in the realms of bliss.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Isa 59:15 Yea, truth faileth; and he [that] departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw [it], and it displeased him that [there was] no judgment.

Ver. 15. Yea, truth faileth. ] See Isa 59:13 .

And he that departethfrom evil maketh himself a prey. ] Praedae pater; is like to suffer for his singularity and preciseness. The luxurious Ephesians once made this decree, O , Let there be never a sober man allowed to live among us. The Athenians were wont to cast good men out of their commonwealth by an ostracism. Thraseaes was commanded by Nero to die, because he was a better man than was fit to live in so loose an age. Josephus saith, that before the last destruction of Jerusalem, religion was not only a matter of form, but of scorn. Bede reporteth of the ancient Britons, immediately before their destruction by the Saxons, that they were come to that height of wickedness as to cast odium in religionis professores tanquam in adversarios, hatred upon professors of religion, looking upon them as their adversaries.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

truth faileth = the truth is found missing,

maketh himself a prey: i.e. is liable to be despoiled, or outlawed. Rashi says, “is considered mad”, as Authorized Version margin

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Isa 59:15-21

Isa 59:15-21

“And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it upheld him. And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Jehovah driveth. And a Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah. And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: my Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and forever.”

Despite the fact of this description of Jewish wickedness having a legitimate application to ages other than that of the Messiah:

“It quite appropriately describes the moral condition of the world that laid the foundation for the necessity of Divine intervention by the Messiah. Indeed, this final paragraph of the chapter undoubtedly refers to Him. No one can attentively read this passage and doubt it. This is a most beautiful description of the Redeemer, and of the effects of his coming.”

Jehovah’s concern at the terrible, near hopeless, condition of mankind; and the statement in Isa 59:16 that he “wondered that there was no intercessor” falls short of expressing the fullness of God’s concern. The word should be rendered, “He was appalled.” The utter hopelessness of mankind had reached such a state that it even appalled God.

“He put on righteousness as a breastplate …” (Isa 59:17). God does not need, nor does He resort to physical armor. He would need such things like He needs a hole in His head! People who talk about the “Battle of Armageddon” should read their Bibles. There will be no “battle,” that word being in the commentaries, but not in the Biblical description of Armageddon!

The apostle Paul evidently made this verse the foundation of his describing the panoply of the Christian’s armor in Eph 6:13-19.

As Rawlinson noted, “The Isaianic anthropomorphism is far less gross than that of Homer, in whose writings the pagan gods actually put on armor, and took up sword and shield.” As Jamieson noted, the Christian’s armor is like that of God’s, except that, “We do not possess any `garments of vengeance, or cloak of zeal.’ Vengeance belongs to God (Rom 12:19).”

As frequently observed in all the prophets, the first advent and the second advent of Christ are often telescoped together in the vision of the sacred writers, mentioning characteristics of both in the single reference. Here, the vengeance upon God’s enemies is an ear-mark of the last advent, not the first; but, in the sense that God’s word is the judge of all men; and since Christ brought God’s Word in the first advent, it does have an application.

“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob …” (Isa 59:20). No passage in the Bible could more clearly distinguish the impenitent and disobedient transgressors of the hardened, deluded, and blinded Israel, and mark their exclusion from the blessings of the New Covenant, than does this verse. True, the Lord would come to Zion, but not to all the Jewish nation, only “unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob.”

As Archer pointed out:

“Redeemer here is [~go’el], `kinsman-redeemer,’ which involves a blood relationship (into which it would have been impossible for God to enter, except through the Incarnation of Christ).”

Note the passages here which apply to Jesus Christ: (1) he is the one who is the covenant (Isaiah 35 prophesies the Christ who is the New Covenant, but the word `covenant’ is not used); (2) the Spirit of God is upon him (Mat 3:16 f); (3) God put his words in Jesus’ mouth (Joh 12:49-50); (4) Heaven and earth shall pass away but Jesus’ words shall not pass away (1Pe 1:24-25). These very things have already been stated many times in Isaiah, as in Isa 55:3; Isa 42:6; Isa 49:8; Isa 54:10; Isa 42:1; Isa 61:1. The tremendous meaning here is that:

“There will always be a seed (a remnant) holding faithfully to God’s Word, passing it on from one generation to the next. This promise has been fulfilled in the Christ who received his words from the Father, in the gospel, and in the true church of Christ.”

Cheyne correctly identified Isa 59:21 as, “A special word of promise to the True Israel,” thus making that necessary distinction so vital in studying this prophecy, namely, that of always determining which Israel is meant.

Before leaving this chapter, it should be noted that Isaiah is here going forward with exactly what he promised in Isa 28:10; Isa 28:13, that is, “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little, here a little and there a little.” All of these themes, all of them, had previously been mentioned at least half a dozen times. This is true of practically everything in these final seventeen chapters; and this identifies them, absolutely, as the writings of Isaiah. This chapter affords a good example of what we mean. See the next paragraph.

The hardening of Israel was foretold in Isa 6:6-12; God’s righteousness (his breastplate) appears in Isa 11:5; Isa 42:6, etc.; sins hide God’s face from the wicked as in Isa 8:17; the Redeemer here is mentioned in Isa 7:14; Isa 9:7, etc.; the new covenant is gloriously prophesied in Isaiah 35. The deficiency of the spider web as a covering and the inability of the people to cover them with their works (Isa 59:6) is an echo of Isa 28:20 where the bed was too short and the blanket too narrow!

The application of this chapter to the period of Jesus’ personal ministry is required by the references to the Repairer and the Restorer (Isa 58:12) and that of “The Redeemer” (Isa 59:20), bracketing, as it were, the whole chapter and identifying it with the times of Christ.

Isa 59:15-18 MEDIATION: These last verses form a fitting climax and summation to the two sections entitled, Salvation Through Gods Servant (ch. 40-53) and Communion Through Gods Covenant (ch. 54-59). In this text (Isa 59:15 b-21) the prediction that God Himself will become the atoning Intercessor and that God in The Spirit will Himself become the Covenant is summarized.

What the Lord God saw in the wickedness of Isaiahs generation agitated His heart. The Hebrew phrase is ra-beayin which is translated in the KJV . . . it was evil in His eyes . . . but means more precisely, it excited His displeasure . . . The point is that what Jehovah saw not only excited His displeasure but it also moved Him to compassion as is evidenced by the subsequent plans to intercede Himself for salvation to those who will accept His covenant. Jehovahs agitation of spirit here is similar to that of Jesus at the graveyard in Bethany when He groaned and wept over the death of Lazarus (caused by sin) and the trying of the faith of Mary and Martha (cf. John 11).

The Hebrew word maphegia is translated intercessor. It means literally, to strike upon or against, or to assail anyone with petitions. In Rth 1:16 it is translated urge or beg. It is the word used in Jer 7:16; Jer 27:18; Job 21:15; Gen 23:8; Isa 53:12 (of the Servant) and in Jer 36:25. When the Lord saw the wickedness and lostness of Judah, He also saw that there was no man interested or capable of petitioning Him on their behalf. They were all sinners, even Isaiah (undone Isa 6:5). Who will intercede, who will stand between their wickedness and lostness and the just vengeance of Jehovah? He will! God interposes Himself in the Incarnate Servant (cf, our comments on Isa 45:23; Isa 53:12; Isa 54:9). Gods own arm brought salvation (comments on arm see Isa 40:10; Isa 51:5; Isa 52:10; Isa 53:1). God upheld His own absolute faithfulness by imputing or supplying His righteousness to unrighteous man through the incarnated intercession of Himself! He accomplished both a vindication of His justness and the justification of those who believe through the vicarious, substitutionary atonement of Christ (cf. Rom 3:21-26).

See our comments on Isa 53:1-12; Isa 55:1-5; (and Dan 9:24-27 in Daniel, by Butler, College Press) for extended discussion of Gods imputed righteousness.

It was the zeal of the Lord who sent Him into this world as the incarnate Son clothed in righteousness, salvation and judgment (justice). See comments Isa 9:6-7. It was zeal for Gods house that consumed Christ (Joh 2:17).

These words of Isaiah may have been intended initially to predict the salvation of Judah from the Babylonian captivity by the intercession and mighty arm of Jehovah. As we have already seen, however, the release from captivity had a much more glorious goal (the messianic redemption) as its ultimate fulfillment. And these words of Isaiah are no less messianic-oriented! Indeed, Jehovah delivered Judah from exile and recompensed her Gentile captors (the islands). But He also judged all earthly kingdoms when He established His own eternal kingdom through the work of the Messiah as we have already pointed out. By the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God demonstrated with all the finality and absoluteness He could that the kingdoms of this world were judged. The great apostle Paul makes that the authentication of the worlds judgment in Act 17:30-31; 1Co 15:20-28; Col 2:14-15, etc. These words of Isaiah, then, point ultimately to the Messiah and His kingdom.

Isa 59:19-21 MEMBERSHIP: The mediation (intercession) provided by God also provides membership or communion with God through covenant relationship. And that is precisely what this whole section of Isaiah (ch. 54-59) is all about. The isles of the Gentiles, from the west and east will fear Jehovahs name and His glory. Jehovahs name and glory will flood the world (as a rushing stream). The Hebrew word ruakh is translated breath (Isa 59:19), but is more generally translated spirit. Ruakh is the same word that is translated Spirit in Isa 59:21. It would make more sense to us to translate the word spirit in Isa 59:19. Thus the name and the glory of Jehovah that floods the world will be by the power of His Holy Spirit as He converts Gentiles and Jews through the preaching of the gospel of Christ.

The Hebrew word goel is translated redeemer. The original meaning of the word was to demand back, or to extricate. In Leviticus 25-27 the word signifies the liberation of property from a mortgage against it or a vow against it by payment or exchange. In cases of poverty, where no payment was possible, the nearest of kin was made responsible for performing the work of redemption. Thus a kinsman came to be called by the name goel, (cf. Num 5:8; 1Ki 16:11; Rth 2:20; Rth 3:2; Rth 3:9; Rth 3:12, etc.). Jesus is our goel (kinsman) (see Heb 2:10-18). That this message is messianic is well established by its quotation in Rom 11:26-27. All Israel in Rom 11:26 is the New Israel (Gal 6:14-16) the church of Christ. The salvation of all Israel is accomplished when the Redeemer redeems both Gentiles and Jew in one body (cf. Eph 2:11 ff) and that is the intent of Isa 59:15 b-21 and Rom 11:26-27! Goel is a favorite theme of Isaiah (Isa 35:9; Isa 41:14; Isa 43:1; Isa 43:14; Isa 44:6; Isa 44:22-24; Isa 47:4; Isa 48:17; Isa 49:7; Isa 49:26; Isa 51:10; Isa 52:3; Isa 62:12; Isa 63:4). The Redeemer comes to redeem those who wish to be redeemed and express that wish in a voluntary turn from transgression.

Two Hebrew pronouns are side by side at the beginning of Isa 59:21; eni zoth would read literally, I, this very One, am covenant for them. God interposed Himself with an oath. He, Himself became covenant. All the promises of God find their Amen in Him (2Co 1:20-21). His life (atoning death and justifying resurrection) became the New covenant (Mat 26:26-29). To partake of Christs life is to partake of His Spirit (Joh 6:52-63). To partake of Christs word is to partake of His life and His Spirit (Joh 14:21-23; Act 2:38; Act 5:32; 2Pe 1:3-5; see comments in The Gospel of John, by Butler, College Press, chapters 14-17). The Spirit of Christ dwells in man through faith (Eph 3:17); faith comes by hearing and obeying the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17). The exclusiveness of the instrumentality of the Word in the dwelling and working of the Spirit is emphasized even here (Isa 59:21). The Spirit of God was in the prophets (1Pe 1:10-12) but He functioned through their preaching. The Spirit of God was in the apostles, but He functioned through their preaching. The Spirit of God is in Christians, but He functions through their printing or preaching the Word which the apostles preached and printed and left for the salvation of the world. The apostolic message is the only message of the Spirit; He has no further word for the world! He will not function in the life of any one in the world except through the instrumentality of the apostolic Word. Covenant relationship to God has always been made available exclusively through the instrumentality of a revealed Word. God has always limited the delivery of His Word to a few selected individuals in order to preclude the possibility of deception (1Jn 4:1-6). God has always authenticated His messengers by signs and wonders (Heb 2:1-4). Once the messengers have been authenticated and the message has been delivered in human language and committed to the printed page, anyone claiming to have a revelation of the Spirit beyond that message is a false messenger! All that is needed for the rest of the world to come into covenant relationship is that the completed, perfected message of the Spirit be passed on by printing or preaching from one generation to another.

The covenant accomplished by the Redeemer and inscripturated by the Spirit will last forever. It will never need updating, changing or superseding. It will need simply to be passed on from generation to generation. It is for the whole world so long as the world shall last!

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

the Divine Arm Brings Redemption

Isa 59:15-21

Israels Savior. The Almighty Lover of souls is described as looking round to see if help were forthcoming from any other quarter; and there being none, He girds Himself for the conflict with the enemies of His people. He dons breastplate and helmet, clothing and cloak, and hastens to deliver, Isa 59:17. This is surely a portrait of our Lord Jesus, who stands up to plead the cause and to achieve the redemption of the penitent and believing soul. When, the enemy threatens to pour in like a pent-up stream, look to Jesus to raise the standard against him. Let Him fight your battles! Let the blows that are meant for you be caught on His shield!

All parents and grandparents should ponder the precious promises of Isa 59:20-21. As God gives us children, let us place our fingers on this sure word of promise and claim that it shall be literally fulfilled in children and childrens children. In thousands of godly families there has been an unbroken succession of piety.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

truth: Isa 48:1, Psa 5:9, Psa 12:1, Psa 12:2, Jer 5:1, Jer 5:2, Jer 7:28, Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2, Mic 7:2

he that: Hab 1:13, Hab 1:14, Act 9:1, Act 9:23, Rom 8:36, Heb 11:36-38, 1Jo 3:11, 1Jo 3:12

maketh himself a prey: or, is accounted mad, 2Ki 9:11, Jer 29:26, Hos 9:7, Mar 3:21, Joh 8:52, Joh 10:20, Act 26:24, 2Co 5:13

displeased him: Heb. was evil in his eyes, Gen 38:10, 2Sa 11:27, 2Ch 21:7, *marg.

Reciprocal: Exo 18:21 – men Psa 60:4 – because Isa 40:10 – the Lord God Isa 59:8 – no Jer 17:5 – whose Lam 3:36 – the Lord

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Isa 59:15 b Isa 59:21. Yahweh Himself Becomes the Champion of the Right.Yahweh is indignant that Right is absent. He sees there is none to interpose (mg.) for her, so His own power brings the deliverance He desires, His victorious might sustaining Him in His strife. He arrays Himself as a warrior, Victory His cuirass, Deliverance His helmet, Vengeance His garments, and the Wrath of Indignation His cloak. Thus equipped, He proceeds to render to every deed its recompence, fury to His foes, shame (LXX) to His enemies. His administration of justice among His people shall bring Him world-wide glory, for His vengeance shall be swift and sudden like the movement of a stream pent in a gorge (cf. mg.) and driven fiercely before the breath of Yahweh. To Zion He shall come as a redeemer to remove rebellion from Jacob (LXX, and Rom 11:26).

Isa 59:16. unto him: rather, for him, in accord with his wish.righteousness: here and in Isa 59:17 the power to make things right = might.

Isa 59:18. According to . . . repay: read probably, according to deserts so is their recompence.to the islands . . . recompence: an incorrect gloss on enemies, absent from LXX.

Isa 59:19. fear: read, see, with many MSS.he: rather, it, the recompence.

Isa 59:21. A late gloss, asserting the permanence of the covenant with the reformed community.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

59:15 Yea, truth faileth; and he [that] departeth from evil maketh himself {n} a prey: and the LORD saw [it], and it displeased him that [there was] no judgment.

(n) The wicked will destroy him.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

What God would do 59:15b-21

This is the third and last pericope, parallel to Isa 57:14-21, which announces that God would deliver His people from the sin that plagued them as redeemed people (cf. Isa 6:5). The section also closes the part of Isaiah that deals with the recognition of human inability (chs. 56-59).

"This is the ultimate development of the Divine Warrior motif in the Bible: God comes to destroy the final enemy of what he has created: not the monster Chaos, but the monster Sin." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 527.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Where truth is lacking, as it was in Isaiah’s society, the person who turns aside from evil to do good makes himself a prey to others who take advantage of him. This is the final irony of many ironies in this pericope. It corresponds to the earlier expressions of bad conditions resulting from iniquity (cf. Isa 59:4; Isa 59:7-8). Isaiah was not advocating this type of behavior. He was saying that unless God intervenes for His people, this type of behavior is all that they can expect.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Though Israel was blind (Isa 59:10), the Lord saw. He saw the true state of His people, as He sees everything. He saw that there was no justice in Israel or for Israel (Isa 59:9-15 a).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)