Isaiah 63:1

This chapter is particularly distinguished by a brief, cameo-like description of the final judgement in the first six verses. As we should have expected, the critical writers, who have never yet found a description of the judgment day that they thought was not out of place, have declared this one to be, "Isolated from the context,"[1] and as, "Having no immediate connection with what goes before or what follows."[2] Some have even supposed the passage to be, "A mere fragment that, by mistake, found its way into this portion of the book,"[3] a view which, however, the same author rejected, admitting that, "There is great propriety in the paragraph's appearance where it is."[4] Barnes also wrote that the chapter belongs where it is, and that, "It should not have been separated from Isaiah 64."[5]

The interpretation of the first six verses has taken a number of directions. As Lowth pointed out, "Many interpreters suppose that Judas Maccabeus is prophesied here"; but he concluded. "This prophecy has not the slightest relation to Judas Maccabeus."[6]

Many others have understood these verses as a reference to Jesus Christ, a position maintained by the late, illustrious G. C. Brewer. Douglas, Archer, Lowth and others have subscribed to the same view; and Jamieson, quoting Gesenius, gives the answer as to "Who" this mighty one is, as "The Messiah."[7] We accept this as the only valid interpretation.

We deeply respect this interpretation and are able to accept it, because we construe the paragraph as a prophetic picture of the final judgment, depicted in terms of God's summary destruction of the Edomites. The apostle John's unmistakable references to this passage in Revelation lend convincing proof of the accuracy of this view.

See the notes below for difficulties attending this interpretation.

Isaiah 63:1-6

"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 34:5f."[8] 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."[9]

Cheyne represented the "victorious warrior" here as "Jehovah";[10] 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; 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."[11]

"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!"[12]

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 34:5f, 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.[13]