Isaiah 59:15-21

3. THE CURE

TEXT: Isaiah 59:15-21

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 seed's 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

Isaiah 59:15-18 MEDIATION: These last verses form a fitting climax and summation to the two sections entitled, Salvation Through God's Servant (ch. 40-53) and Communion Through God's Covenant (ch. 54-59). In this text (Isaiah 59:15-21) 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 Isaiah's generation agitated His heart. The Hebrew phrase is ra-'be-'ayin 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. Jehovah's 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 maphegi-'a is translated intercessor. It means literally, to strike upon or against, or to assail anyone with petitions. In Ruth 1:16 it is translated urge or beg. It is the word used in Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 27:18; Job 21:15; Genesis 23:8; Isaiah 53:12 (of the Servant) and in Jeremiah 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 Isaiah 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 Isaiah 45:23; Isaiah 53:12; Isaiah 54:9). God's own arm brought salvation (comments on arm see Isaiah 40:10; Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 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. Romans 3:21-26).

See our comments on Isaiah 53:1-12; Isaiah 55:1-5; (and Daniel 9:24-27 in Daniel, by Butler, College Press) for extended discussion of God's 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 Isaiah 9:6-7. It was zeal for God's house that consumed Christ (John 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 world's judgment in Acts 17:30-31; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Colossians 2:14-15, etc. These words of Isaiah, then, point ultimately to the Messiah and His kingdom.

Isaiah 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 Jehovah's name and His glory. Jehovah's name and glory will flood the world (as a rushing stream). The Hebrew word ruakh is translated breath (Isaiah 59:19), but is more generally translated spirit. Ruakh is the same word that is translated Spirit in Isaiah 59:21. It would make more sense to us to translate the word spirit in Isaiah 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. Numbers 5:8; 1 Kings 16:11; Ruth 2:20; Ruth 3:2; Ruth 3:9; Ruth 3:12, etc.). Jesus is our goel (kinsman) (see Hebrews 2:10-18). That this message is messianic is well established by its quotation in Romans 11:26-27. All Israel in Romans 11:26 is the New Israel (Galatians 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. Ephesians 2:11 ff) and that is the intent of Isaiah 59:15-21 and Romans 11:26-27! Goel is a favorite theme of Isaiah (Isaiah 35:9; Isaiah 41:14; Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 43:14; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 44:22-24; Isaiah 47:4; Isaiah 48:17; Isaiah 49:7; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 51:10; Isaiah 52:3; Isaiah 62:12; Isaiah 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 Isaiah 59:21; -eni zo-'th 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 (2 Corinthians 1:20-21). His life (atoning death and justifying resurrection) became the New covenant (Matthew 26:26-29). To partake of Christ's life is to partake of His Spirit (John 6:52-63). To partake of Christ's word is to partake of His life and His Spirit (John 14:21-23; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:32; 2 Peter 1:3-5; see comments in The Gospel of John, by Butler, College Press, Chapter s 14-17). The Spirit of Christ dwells in man through faith (Ephesians 3:17); faith comes by hearing and obeying the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). The exclusiveness of the instrumentality of the Word in the dwelling and working of the Spirit is emphasized even here (Isaiah 59:21). The Spirit of God was in the prophets (1 Peter 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 (1 John 4:1-6). God has always authenticated His messengers by signs and wonders (Hebrews 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 God's 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 Isaiah 59:20, according to Romans 11:26?

6.

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