Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 63:6

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 63:6. And make them drunk in my fury - "And I crushed them in mine indignation"] For ואשכרם vaashkerem, and I made them drunken, twenty-seven MSS., (three ancient,) twelve of De Rossi's, and the old edition of 1488, have ואשברם vaashabberem, and I crushed them: and so the Syriac and Chaldee. The Septuagint have omitted this whole line.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

God’s holy anger (63:1-6)

When Babylon made its last attack on Jerusalem (587 BC), Edom joined in, taking wicked delight in helping to destroy the Israelite nation. God’s messengers announced his judgment on Edom for this (Psalms 137:7; Obadiah 1:10-14; cf. Malachi 1:4-5), though in the denunciation in the present chapter, Edom may be a symbol for all God’s enemies. (Compare the picture that follows with Revelation 14:18-20; Revelation 19:13-16.)

On seeing a person clothed in red approaching him from Edom, the prophet asks who it is. The person replies that he is the Lord, who punishes his enemies but saves his people (63:1). The prophet asks why his clothes are red (2), and receives the reply that they are red with the blood of slaughtered enemies. When God acts in his righteous anger, the blood of sinners runs freely over the earth, in much the same way as juice runs out of grapes when workers tread them in a winepress. Since God alone is all-holy and all-powerful, he alone can carry out this judgment (3-6).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no one with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath, it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

The first objection to our interpretation is that Christ did not come from Edom. Very well, he did not. However, Edom in this passage does not stand for any literal place on earth; but Edom and its peoples are a symbol of the whole earth and its sinful enemies of God’s people. “They are a type of the last and bitterest foes of God’s people, as revealed in Isaiah 34:5 f.”Ibid. See my introduction to Isaiah 34, where the propriety of choosing the Edomites as typical of all of God’s enemies is discussed. Rawlinson was doubtless correct when he wrote that, “The Edomites represent the world-power; and the `day of vengeance’ may be one still future.”Pulpit Commentary, Vol. II, p. 441.

Cheyne represented the “victorious warrior” here as “Jehovah”;T. K. Cheyne’s Commentary, Vol. II, p. 100. and, of course, Isaiah 63:2 of the text shuts us up to just two options. The “mighty one,” traveling in the greatness of his strength, must positively be one or the other, either Jehovah himself, or the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Only one of these could have declared, “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Note too that this is, by definition, a judgment scene; and, from the New Testament we learn that, “God hath committed judgment unto the Son of God” (John 5:22; John 9:39). This of course, drives us squarely back to the proposition that the mighty warrior here is none other than Christ.

Another objection is that, in this scene, Christ’s garments are red with blood, but not his own blood. It is the blood of God’s enemies that stains them here. Oh yes, as Kidner said, “The garments red with blood may indeed remind the Christian of Calvary, but the meaning is given in Revelation 19:15.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 623.

“And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness, he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. And he is arrayed with a garment sprinkled in blood: and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceeded a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11-16).

Here, of course, is the key to the proper interpretation. The passage (Isaiah 63:1-6) is a prophecy of the final judgment of mankind, a judgment in which the Mighty Warrior with the garment red with the blood of his enemies, shall be the chief executive. This is one of the noblest and most astounding of all the prophecies in Isaiah. No vocabulary is rich enough adequately to describe the wonders and glory of this passage.

Ewald, as quoted by Cheyne, stated that, “This highly dramatic description unites depth of emotion with artistic perfection. What wonderful force of phraseology and pictorial power! It is impossible to read it without shuddering with reverence. No wonder the Seer on Patmos interwove some of these striking phrases into one of the most sublime, but most awful, passages of the Apocalypse!”T. K. Cheyne’s Commentary, Vol. II, p. 100.

The terrible slaughter of the race of Adam, (that is, the vast majority of them) that awaits our rebellious race, now on a collision course with disaster, is frequently mentioned, but not always in such terminology as we have here. The blood shedding is not often mentioned in that terminology; but it is mentioned often enough. The Great Supper metaphor is used in Revelation 19:17-18, where dead bodies are represented as covering the earth. The treading of the winepress of God’s wrath, mentioned in Revelation 14:17-20, speaks of the blood reaching to the horses’ bridles and extending two hundred miles. The fall of Babylon the Great, identified with the so-called Battle of Har-Magedon (Revelation 16:16) is also understood as an occasion of great destruction of Adam’s race.

In view of all these consideration, Gleason Archer’s interpretation of these verses appears to be trustworthy:

“Divine judgment will be executed upon the world-power. Edom here, as in Isaiah 34:5 f, typifies the rebellious world as implacably hostile to God’s people. Christ’s garments stained with blood are red by the blood of God’s enemies to be slain at Armageddon (Revelation 19:13)… The scene here is the same as in Revelation 14:18-19. A Christ-rejecting, Gospel-spurning world leaves the Lord no other alternative but to send terrible and fearful destruction when the time of his longsuffering is past.Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 652.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And I will tread them down - Or rather, ‘I did tread them down.’ The allusion here is to a warrior who tramples on his foes and treads them in the dust (see the notes at Isaiah 25:10).

And made them drunk - That is, I made them reel and fall under my fury like a drunken man. In describing the destruction of Idumea in Isaiah 34:5, Yahweh says that his sword was made drunk, or that it rushed intoxicated from heaven. See the notes on that verse. But here he says that the people, under the terrors of his wrath, lost their power of self-command, and fell to the earth like an intoxicated man. Kimchi says that the idea is, that Yahweh extended the cup of his wrath for them to drink until they became intoxicated and fell. An image of this kind is several times used in the Scriptures (see the notes at Isaiah 51:17; compare Psalms 75:8). Lowth and Noyes render this, ‘I crushed them.’ The reason of this change is, that according to Kennicott, twenty-seven manuscripts (three of them ancient) instead of the present Hebrew reading ואשׁכרם va'ăshak^erēm, ‘And I will make them drunk,’ read ואשׁברם va'ăshab^erēm, ‘I will break or crush them.’ Such a change, it is true, might easily have been made from the similarity of the Hebrew letters, כ (k) and ב (b). But the authority for the change does not seem to me to be sufficient, nor is it necessary. The image of making them stagger and fall like a drunken man, is more poetic than the other, and is in entire accordance with the usual manner of writing by the sacred penman. The Chaldee renders it, ‘I cast to the lowest earth the slain of their strong ones.’

And I will bring down their strength - I subdued their strong places, and their mighty armies. Such is the sense giver, to the passage by our translators. But Lowth and Noyes render it, more correctly, ‘I spilled their life-blood upon the ground.’ The word which our translators have rendered ‘strength’ (נצח nētsach), is the same word which is used in Isaiah 63:3, and which is rendered there ‘blood’ (see the note at that verse). It is probably used in the same sense here, and means that Yahweh had brought their blood to the earth; that is, he had spilled it upon the ground. So the Septuagint renders it, ‘I shed their blood (κατήγαγον τὸ αίμα katēgagon to haima) upon the earth.’ This finishes the vision of the mighty conqueror returning from Edom. The following verse introduces a new subject. The sentiment in the passage is, that Yahweh by his own power, and by the might of his own arm, would subdue all his foes and redeem his people. Edom in its hostility to his people, the apt emblem of all his foes, would be completely humbled; and in its subjugation there would be the emblem and the pledge that all his enemies would be destroyed, and that his own church would be safe. See the notes at Isaiah 34:0; Isaiah 35:1-10.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

6.And I will tread down the peoples. From the preceding statement he draws the conclusion, that God’s wrath is sufficiently powerful to destroy the wicked, without calling for the assistance of others; and he does so in order that the Jews may not be deterred from cherishing favorable hopes by the strength that is arrayed against them.

And will make them drunk. The expression, “make drunk,” must here be taken in a different sense from what it formerly had in some passages. We have seen that sometimes we are made drunk, when God strikes us with fury or madness, (Isaiah 29:9,) or with a spirit of giddiness, (Isaiah 19:14,) or, in a word, “gives us up to a reprobate mind.” (Romans 1:28.) But here it means nothing else than “to fill,” and to strike even to satiety, or, as we commonly say, (tout leur saoul ,) “to their heart’s content;” a metaphor which the prophets frequently employ.

And will cast down their strength to the earth. That is, though they think that they are invincible, yet I will cast down and destroy them. The meaning may be thus summed up. “The Jews, when they are afflicted, must not call in question their salvation, as if God hated them, and must not be amazed at the chastisements which they endure, as if they happened by chance; for other nations, by whom they are now oppressed, shall be punished, there shall be a revolution of affairs, and they shall not escape who chant a triumph before the time. He produces as an example the Edomites, because they were nearer and better known than others, and were also the most injurious.

Smith's Bible Commentary

By Chuck Smith

Now before the restoration, the day of God's wrath is coming, the Great Tribulation. This must precede it. And chapter 63, the first six verses go into the Great Tribulation period. And there are two questions that are asked and they are answered by the Lord.

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? ( Isaiah 63:1 )

The question: who is this that is coming from Edom with the dyed garment from Bozrah? And the answer:

this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness ( Isaiah 63:1 )

Or, this is still the question:

this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? ( Isaiah 63:1 )

The answer:

I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save ( Isaiah 63:1 ).

Who is this that is coming from Edom who is so glorious in his apparel? Traveling in the greatness of his strength? The answer: I that speak in righteousness, or the Lord, mighty to save.

The question:

Why are you red in your apparel, and why are your garments like him who has been treading in the winevat? ( Isaiah 63:2 )

Why are your garments all stained? It looks like you've been treading in the winevat. Looks like you're covered with grape juice.

The answer:

I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come ( Isaiah 63:3-4 ).

So the answer to the garments that are stained: it's the blood. He's been treading the winepress of the fierceness of the anger of God upon the earth.

If you'll turn to Revelation, chapter 14, you will read here a corresponding passage of scripture beginning with verse Isaiah 63:14 . Actually, let's go back to verse Isaiah 63:10 , "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, in the presence of the Lamb" ( Revelation 14:10 ). Who? Whoever worships the beast and the image and receives his mark in his forehead or in his hand.

This week you're going to learn some very fascinating things about the image of the beast as they'll be dealing with genetic engineering. And some of the things that are now being proposed by those scientists who are involved in genetic engineering, and you'll begin to understand a little bit about the beast making an image and giving power to it to speak and the whole world being governed and worshipping this image of the beast. You'll find some very fascinating things this week in these lectures that are coming up.

But whoever worships the beast or his image or receives his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same is going to drink of the wine of the wrath of God poured out without mixture. Then in verse Isaiah 63:14 , "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, 'Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap. For the time is come for Thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire, and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.' And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horses' bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs" ( Revelation 14:14-20 ).

And then also in the nineteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, beginning with verse Isaiah 63:11 , "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. And He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture that is dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were with Him in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." The church--go back to verse Isaiah 63:7-8. "And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He will tread the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God" ( Revelation 19:15 ).

So tied in with this in Isaiah. The question: who is this that is coming from Edom with these dyed robes and so forth? I who speak in righteousness who are mighty to save. How come your garments are all stained? For I have been treading the winepress alone, trampling them in the fury. Their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments and I will stain all My raiment. It's going to be a fierce day when God's wrath is poured out upon the earth.

"He that despised Moses' law died in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, he to be counted worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace? For we know Him that hath said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' saith the Lord. And again, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" ( Hebrews 10:28-31 ).

We talk about being saved. A person says, "What do you mean saved?" Well, I'll tell you what we mean saved. We mean being saved from that wrath of God that is going to be poured out upon the earth. Salvation has both a negative and a positive effect, actually. It's being saved from and it's being saved for--a glorious eternity with Him. But I am going to be saved from "the wrath of God that is going to be poured out against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness" ( Romans 1:18 ).

Now, because God has been slow in judgment we so often think that God is weak, and men mistake the longsuffering of God for weakness. And that's a tragic mistake to make. For the day of vengeance and His wrath shall surely come. He has promised it. He said, "I'm not going to bring things to birth and then quit there." God speaks about surely I'm going to fulfill My word and My purposes. And the fact that God has fulfilled it up to this point, you're only fooling yourself if you think God's going to stop now. Surely the rest of the prophecy shall be fulfilled and we're right on the border once again of God's intervening in the history of man in judgment.

Now people are willfully ignorant of this fact that God has intervened in past history. Peter said that they're willfully ignorant, the fact that God destroyed the world already once in judgment. People don't like to think about that. They like to think that things are uniform. All things have continued as they were from the beginning. Not so! God has intervened in the past and He's going to intervene again in the future. But this intervention that is going to take place in the future is going to usher in then the glorious Kingdom Age and God's new kingdom and age upon the earth of which we really look forward to.

Now, "The day of the vengeance is in my heart. The year of the redeemed is come."

And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the eaRuth ( Isaiah 63:5-6 ).

God's judgment that is coming here upon the earth.

Now as we get into verse Isaiah 63:7 and all through chapter 64, we have a very beautiful prayer as Isaiah representing the remnant prays unto the Lord.

I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD ( Isaiah 63:7 ),

Isn't this interesting? Right at the time that the Lord declares the day of His wrath and vengeance and judgment, the prophet then prays, "I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord."

and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses ( Isaiah 63:7 ).

Looking around and seeing what God has done. He has been so kind, lovingly kind to us.

For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. In all their afflictions he was afflicted ( Isaiah 63:8-9 ),

Now that to me is a very beautiful scripture. "In all of their afflictions, He was afflicted." The early disciples recognized their close identity with Jesus Christ. And they recognized that those persecutions that they faced, they were actually facing and receiving for Jesus Christ. "In all of their afflictions, He was afflicted." So when they were beaten and commanded not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus, they went their way praising the Lord that they were accounted worthy to suffer persecution for Jesus' sake. Because the Lord identifies with His child in the persecution or in the suffering. Whenever you go through any persecution for the name of the Lord, in all of your afflictions He is afflicted. He bares our sorrow. He shares with us the afflictions, the tribulations, the persecutions.

and the Angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old ( Isaiah 63:9 ).

And yet, though God was so loving to them and so good to them,

They rebelled, they vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, when Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him? That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. Look down from heaven [their prayer unto God], and behold from thy habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of the mercies towards me? are they restrained? Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting ( Isaiah 63:10-16 ).

And so recognizing God as the Father, the Redeemer.

O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. We are thine: thou never bearest rule over them; they were not called by thy name ( Isaiah 63:17-19 ).

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The solitary Warrior 63:1-6

The Lord explained how Israel could possibly rejoice in the repossession of its homeland, even if such malicious neighbors as the Edomites still surrounded it.

"Having described the exaltation of Zion and her enlargement through the influx of the Gentiles, the prophet turns to describe the destruction of Zion’s enemies." [Note: Young, 3:475.]

"The oracle is most dramatic. The only OT passage that in any way resembles it is the account of Joshua’s encounter with the angelic captain of the Lord’s host (Joshua 5:13 to Joshua 6:5). There too, as here, there are two questions and two answers; and there is a similar anxious inquiry: ’Are you for us or for our enemies?’" [Note: Grogan, p. 339.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Warrior explained that He had trodden down the people whom He had purposed to judge, and had killed them. He explained that the figure of treading grapes represented putting human beings to death.

This is a picture of Messiah on earth, following His second advent, having defeated Israel’s enemies (cf. Isaiah 52:7-12; Zechariah 14:3; Revelation 14:17-20; Revelation 16:16; Revelation 19:13; Revelation 19:15-21). The enemies are unbelievers living in the Great Tribulation who refuse to accept the Warrior’s previous sacrifice of Himself for their sins-hostile enemies of the Israelites (cf. Revelation 12:15-17).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And I will tread down the people in mine anger,....

:-,

and make them drunk in my fury; or with it s the wrath of God is signified by a cup, which he gives wicked men to drink, and which is an inebriating one to them, Psalms 75:8, and here it signifies the cup of the wine of the fierceness of God's wrath, which shall be given to mystical Babylon, to antichrist and his followers,

Revelation 14:10:

and I will bring down their strength to the earth; their strong kingdoms, fortified cities, and mighty men, their wealth and riches, of which they boasted, and in which they trusted; see Isaiah 26:5. The eighteenth chapter of the Revelation is a commentary on these words.

s בחמתי "excandescentia mea", Junius Tremellius "aestu meo", Cocceius; so Gataker.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.   2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat?   3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.   4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.   5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.   6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

      It is a glorious victory that is here enquired into first and then accounted for. 1. It is a victory obtained by the providence of God over the enemies of Israel; over the Babylonians (say some), whom Cyrus conquered and God by him, and they will have the prophet to make the first discovery of him in his triumphant return when he is in the country of Edom: but this can by no means be admitted, because the country of Babylon is always spoken of as the land of the north, whereas Edom lay south from Jerusalem, so that the conqueror would not return through that country; the victory therefore is obtained over the Edomites themselves, who had triumphed in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Psalms 137:7) and cut off those who, making their way as far as they could from the enemy, escaped to the Edomites (Obadiah 1:12; Obadiah 1:13), and were therefore reckoned with when Babylon was; for no doubt that prophecy was accomplished, though we do not meet in history with the accomplishment of it (Jeremiah 49:13), Bozrah shall become a desolation. Yet this victory over Edom is put as an instance or specimen of the like victories obtained over other nations that had been enemies to Israel. This over the Edomites is named for the sake of the old enmity of Esau against Jacob (Genesis 27:41) and perhaps with an allusion to David's glorious triumphs over the Edomites, by which it should seem, more than by any other of his victories, he got himself a name,Psalms 60:1; 2 Samuel 8:13; 2 Samuel 8:14. But this is not all: 2. It is a victory obtained by the grace of God in Christ over our spiritual enemies. We find the garments dipped in blood adorning him whose name is called The Word of God,Revelation 19:13. And who that is we know very well; for it is through him that we are more than conquerors over those principalities and powers which on the cross he spoiled and triumphed over.

      In this representation of the victory we have,

      I. An admiring question put to the conqueror, Isaiah 63:1; Isaiah 63:2. It is put by the church, or by the prophet in the name of the church. He sees a mighty hero returning in triumph from a bloody engagement, and makes bold to ask him two questions:-- 1. Who he is. He observes him to come from the country of Edom, to come in such apparel as was glorious to a soldier, not embroidered or laced, but besmeared with blood and dirt. He observes that he does not come as one either frightened or fatigued, but that he travels in the greatness of his strength, altogether unbroken.

      The question, Who is this? perhaps means the same with that which Joshua put to the same person when he appeared to him with his sword drawn (Joshua 5:13): Art thou for us or for our adversaries? Or, rather, the same with that which Israel put in a way of adoration (Exodus 15:11): Who is a God like unto thee? 2. The other question it, "Wherefore art thou red in thy apparel? What hard service hast thou been engaged in, that thou carriest with thee these marks of toil and danger?" Is it possible that one who has such majesty and terror in his countenance should be employed in the mean and servile work of treading the wine-press? Surely it is not. That which is really the glory of the Redeemer seems, primâ facie--at first, a disparagement to him, as it would be to a mighty prince to do the work of the wine-dressers and husbandmen; for he took upon him the form of a servant, and carried with him the marks of servitude.

      II. An admirable answer returned by him.

      1. He tells who he is: I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. He is the Saviour. God was Israel's Saviour out of the hand of their oppressors; the Lord Jesus is ours; his name, Jesus, signifies a Saviour, for he saves his people from their sins. In the salvation wrought he will have us to take notice, (1.) Of the truth of his promise, which is therein performed: He speaks in righteousness, and will therefore make good every word that he has spoken with which he will have us to compare what he does, that, setting the word and the work the one over against the other, what he does may ratify what he has said and what he has said may justify what he does. (2.) Of the efficacy of his power, which is therein exerted: He is mighty to save, able to bring about the promised redemption, whatever difficulties and oppositions may lie in the way of it.

      2. He tells how he came to appear in this hue (Isaiah 63:3; Isaiah 63:3): I have trodden the wine-press alone. Being compared to one that treads in the wine-fat, such is his condescension, in the midst of his triumphs, that he does not scorn the comparison, but admits it and carries it on. He does indeed tread the wine-press, but it is the great wine-press of the wrath of God (Revelation 14:19), in which we sinners deserved to be cast; but Christ was pleased to cast our enemies into it, and to destroy him that had the power of death, that he might deliver us. And of this the bloody work which God sometimes made among the enemies of the Jews, and which is here foretold, was a type and figure. Observe the account the conqueror gives of his victory.

      (1.) He gains the victory purely by his own strength: I have trodden the wine-press alone,Isaiah 63:3; Isaiah 63:3. When God delivered his people and destroyed their enemies, if he made use of instruments, he did not need them. But among his people, for whom the salvation was to be wrought, no assistance offered itself; they were weak and helpless, and had no ability to do any thing for their own relief; they were desponding and listless, and had no heart to do any thing; they were not disposed to give the least stroke or struggle for liberty, neither the captives themselves nor any of their friends for them (Isaiah 63:5; Isaiah 63:5): "I looked, and there was none to help, as one would have expected, nothing of a bold active spirit appeared among them; nay, there was not only none to lead, but, which was more strange, there was none to uphold, none that would come in as a second, that had the courage to join with Cyrus against their oppressors; therefore my arm brought about the salvation; not by created might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts, my own arm." Note, God can help when all other helpers fail; nay, that is his time to help, and therefore for that very reason he will put forth his own power so much the more gloriously. But this is most fully applicable to Christ's victories over our spiritual enemies, which he obtained by a single combat. He trod the wine-press of his Father's wrath alone, and triumphed over principalities and powers in himself,Colossians 2:15. Of the people there was none with him; for, when he entered the lists with the powers of darkness, all his disciples forsook him and fled. There was non to help, none that could, none that durst; and he might well wonder that among the children of men, whose concern it was, there was not only none to uphold, but that there were so many to oppose and hinder it if they could.

      (2.) He undertakes the war purely out of his own zeal. It is in his anger, it is in his fury, that he treads down his enemies (Isaiah 63:3; Isaiah 63:3), and that fury upholds him and carries him on in this enterprise, Isaiah 63:5; Isaiah 63:5. God wrought salvation for the oppressed Jews purely because he was very angry with the oppressing Babylonians, angry at their idolatries and sorceries, their pride and cruelty, and the injuries they did to his people, and, as they increased their abominations and grew more insolent and outrageous, his anger increased to fury. Our Lord Jesus wrought out our redemption in a holy zeal for the honour of his Father and the happiness of mankind, and a holy indignation at the daring attempts Satan had made upon both; this zeal and indignation upheld him throughout his whole undertaking. Two branches there were of this zeal that animated him:-- [1.] He had a zeal against his and his people's enemies: The day of vengeance is in my heart (Isaiah 63:4; Isaiah 63:4), the day fixed in the eternal counsels for taking vengeance on them; this was written in his heart, so that he could not forget it, could not let it slip; his heart was full of it, and it lay as a charge, as a weight, upon him, which made him push on this holy war with so much vigour. Note, There is a day fixed for divine vengeance, which may be long deferred, but will come at last; and we may be content to wait for it, for the Redeemer himself does so, though his heart is upon it. [2.] He had a zeal for his people, and for all that he designed to make sharers in the intended salvation: "The year of my redeemed has come, the year appointed for their redemption." There was a year fixed for the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, and God kept time to a day (Exodus 12:41); so there was for their release out of Babylon (Daniel 9:2); so there was for Christ's coming to destroy the works of the devil; so there is for all the deliverances of the church, and the deliverer has an eye to it. Observe, First, With what pleasure he speaks of his people; they are his redeemed; they are his own, dear to him. Though their redemption is not yet wrought out, yet he calls them his redeemed, because it shall as surely be done as if it were done already. Secondly, With what pleasure he speaks of his people's redemption; how glad he is that the time has come, though he is likely to meet with a sharp encounter. "Now that the year of my redeemed has come, Lo, I come; delay shall be no longer. Now will I arise, saith the Lord. Now thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh." Note, The promised salvation must be patiently waited for till the time appointed comes; yet we must attend the promises with our prayers. Does Christ say, Surely I come quickly; let our hearts reply, Even so come; let the year of the redeemed come.

      (3.) He will obtain a complete victory over them all. [1.] Much is already done; for he now appears red in his apparel; such abundance of blood is shed that the conqueror's garments are all stained with it. This was predicted, long before, by dying Jacob, concerning Shiloh (that is, Christ), that he should wash his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes, which perhaps this alludes to, Genesis 49:11.

      In the destruction of the antichristian powers we meet with abundance of blood shed (Revelation 14:20; Revelation 19:13), which yet, according to the dialect of prophecy, may be understood spiritually, and doubtless so may this here. [2.] More shall yet be done (Isaiah 63:6; Isaiah 63:6): I will tread down the people that yet stand it out against me, in my anger; for the victorious Redeemer, when the year of the redeemed shall have come, will go on conquering and to conquer,Revelation 6:2. When he begins he will also make an end. Observe how he will complete his victories over the enemies of his church. First, He will infatuate them; he will make them drunk, so that there shall be neither sense nor steadiness in their counsels; they shall drink of the cup of his fury, and that shall intoxicate them: or he will make them drunk with their own blood,Revelation 17:6. Let those that make themselves drunk with the cup of riot (and then they are in their fury) repent and reform, lest God make them drunk with the cup of trembling, the cup of his fury. Secondly, He will enfeeble them; he will bring down their strength, and so bring them down to the earth; for what strength can hold out against Omnipotence?