Isaiah 59:15

"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."[8]

Jehovah's concern at the terrible, near hopeless, condition of mankind; and the statement in Isaiah 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."[9] The utter hopelessness of mankind had reached such a state that it even appalled God.

"He put on righteousness as a breastplate ..." (Isaiah 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 Ephesians 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."[10] 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 (Romans 12:19)."[11]

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 ..." (Isaiah 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)."[12]

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 (Matthew 3:16f); (3) God put his words in Jesus' mouth (John 12:49,50); (4) Heaven and earth shall pass away but Jesus' words shall not pass away (1 Peter 1:24,25). These very things have already been stated many times in Isaiah, as in Isaiah 55:3; 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 42:1; 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."[13]

Cheyne correctly identified Isaiah 59:21 as, "A special word of promise to the True Israel,"[14] 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 Isaiah 28:10,13, 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 Isaiah 6:6-12; God's righteousness (his breastplate) appears in Isaiah 11:5; 42:6, etc.; sins hide God's face from the wicked as in Isaiah 8:17; the Redeemer here is mentioned in Isaiah 7:14; 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 (Isaiah 59:6) is an echo of Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 58:12) and that of "The Redeemer" (Isaiah 59:20), bracketing, as it were, the whole chapter and identifying it with the times of Christ.