Isaiah 63:1 - Meaning and Application

A glorious victory is first inquired into here, and then explained. Some think it refers to God’s victory over Israel’s enemies through Cyrus, especially over the Babylonians, but that does not fit well. Babylon is always spoken of as the land of the north, while Edom lay south of Jerusalem, so the conqueror would not return through Edom. The victory here is over the Edomites, who had rejoiced in Jerusalem’s fall by the Chaldeans and had cut off fugitives who tried to escape to them (Psalm 137:7; Obadiah 1:12-13). In that way, Edom stands as a sample of all the nations that had opposed Israel.

Edom is named also because of the old hatred of Esau against Jacob (Genesis 27:41). There may also be an allusion to David’s great victories over the Edomites, by which he gained a special name and honor (Psalm 60, title; 2 Samuel 8:13-14). Yet this is more than a victory over one nation. It also points to the grace of God in Christ, who wins victory over our spiritual enemies. In Revelation, we see the One whose garments are dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13). Through him we are more than conquerors over the powers he defeated on the cross.

The church, or the prophet speaking for the church, first asks an admiring question of this conqueror in verses 1-2. He sees a mighty warrior returning in triumph from battle, coming from Edom with clothing that is red, not from decoration, but from blood and dirt. He is not worn out or afraid. He comes in the greatness of his strength, still whole and unconquered. The question, “Who is this?” may mean, “Whose side are you on?” like Joshua’s question to the armed figure with a drawn sword (Joshua 5:13). It may also echo Israel’s worshipful wonder, “Who is like you, O Lord?” (Exodus 15:11). The second question asks why his clothes are red, as if he had been laboring at a winepress. That seems strange for one so majestic, yet the outward sign of his work looks like service and suffering.

The conqueror then gives a wonderful answer. He says, “I speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” He is the Savior. God was Israel’s Savior from their oppressors, and the Lord Jesus is our Savior from sin. Jesus means “Savior,” because he saves his people from their sins. His words show the truth of his promise, because he keeps every word he has spoken. They also show the strength of his power, because he is able to bring about the salvation he promised, no matter what stands in the way.

He also says, “I have trodden the winepress alone” (Isaiah 63:3). The picture is of one treading grapes in a winepress, but here it points to the great winepress of God’s wrath (Revelation 14:19). Christ entered that judgment place in our stead. He cast our enemies into it and destroyed the one who had the power of death, so that he might deliver us. The bloody judgments sometimes sent against Israel’s enemies were a shadow of this greater work.

He won the victory by his own strength alone (Isaiah 63:3). When God saved his people and destroyed their enemies, he did not need help from others. But among the people for whom salvation was to be worked, no helper appeared. They were weak, helpless, discouraged, and unwilling to act for their own rescue. There was no one to lead, and no one to support the work, even as a second hand would support a fighter. So his own arm brought salvation, not by human strength, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts, that is, by his own powerful action. This is especially true of Christ’s victory over spiritual enemies. He trod the winepress of his Father’s wrath alone and triumphed over the powers of darkness in himself (Colossians 2:15). No one stood with him, for when he entered that struggle, his disciples all left him and fled.

There was no one to help, no one who could help, and no one who dared help. He might well wonder that among the children of men, the very people this concerned, there was not only no one to support him, but many who tried to oppose and stop him if they could.

He takes up the battle out of his own zeal alone. It is in his anger, in his fury, that he tramples his enemies (Isaiah 63:3), and that same fury carries him through this work, (Isaiah 63:5). God saved the oppressed Jews because he was deeply angry with the Babylonian oppressors, angry at their idol worship and sorcery, their pride and cruelty, and the wrongs they did to his people. As they kept adding to their sins and growing more bold and violent, his anger rose to fury.

Our Lord Jesus worked out our redemption with a holy zeal for his Father’s honor and for human happiness, and with a holy hatred of Satan’s bold attacks on both. That zeal and righteous anger sustained him through the whole work. Two parts of that zeal moved him.

First, he was zealous against his enemies and his people’s enemies. “The day of vengeance is in my heart” (Isaiah 63:4), meaning the day set in God’s eternal plan for judging them. It was written on his heart, so he could not forget it or let it slip away. His heart was full of it, and that burden drove him forward in this holy war. There is a day fixed for divine vengeance, and though it may be delayed, it will surely come. We can wait for it, because the Redeemer himself waits for it too, even while his heart is set on it.

Second, he was zealous for his people and for all he meant to include in the coming salvation. “The year of my redeemed has come,” meaning the appointed time for their rescue has arrived. There was a set time for Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and God kept that time to the day (Exodus 12:41). There was also a set time for their release from Babylon (Daniel 9:2). So there was a set time for Christ to come and destroy the devil’s works, and there is a set time for every deliverance of the church. The deliverer watches for that time.

Notice how gladly he speaks of his people. They are “my redeemed,” his own, dear to him. Their redemption is not yet finished, but he speaks of them as already redeemed, because it will happen as certainly as if it had already been done. Notice also how gladly he speaks of their rescue. He is glad the time has come, even though he is about to face fierce resistance. “Now that the year of my redeemed has come, I come at once. Delay is over. Now I will act, says the Lord. Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh.”

The promised salvation must be waited for patiently until the appointed time comes, yet we should also pray over the promises. If Christ says, “I am coming soon,” let our hearts answer, “Yes, come soon.” Let the year of the redeemed come.

He will also win a full victory over all his enemies. Much is already done, for he appears with red clothing. So much blood has been shed that the conqueror’s garments are stained with it. This was foretold long before by Jacob concerning Shiloh, that is, Christ, when he said he would wash his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes, which may point to this (Genesis 49:11). In the downfall of the powers opposed to Christ, we meet much bloodshed (Revelation 14:20; Revelation 19:13), though in prophetic language this may also be understood in a spiritual sense, and likely is here too.

More will still be done (Isaiah 63:6). “I will trample down the peoples who still resist me, in my anger.” The victorious Redeemer, when the year of the redeemed arrives, will go on conquering until his work is complete (Revelation 6:2). When he begins, he will also finish. He will complete his victories over the enemies of his church in two ways.

First, he will blind their judgment. He will make them drunk, so they lose clear sense and steady counsel. They will drink from the cup of his fury, and it will make them reel. Or he will make them drunk with their own blood (Revelation 17:6). Let those who make themselves drunk with the cup of sin and wild living, and so grow heated in their own fury, repent and turn from it, or God may make them drink the cup of trembling, the cup of his fury.

Second, he will weaken them. He will bring down their strength and lay them low to the ground, for what strength can stand against Almighty power?