Inspired by Isaiah 63, two friends in a coffee shop talk about a chapter that opens with Jesus coming out of Edom in blood-red clothes, judging the nations and peoples, and then flips into a raw prayer. They talk through the hard side of a Savior who also judges, the line about God hurting when His people hurt, and the ache of calling Him Father while feeling like He’s gone.
Tom: Man, that first part of 63. The red clothes.
Ray: Yeah. That threw me. I wasn’t ready for that one.
Tom: It’s Jesus though, right? Coming out of Edom.
Ray: That’s what I got. But it’s the other side of Him. The judgment side.
Tom: Not the beauty for ashes guy.
Ray: Nope. Different day entirely.
Tom: The winepress thing is what got me. That the red’s actually blood.
Ray: Yeah. It’s not wine at all. It’s the blood of nations and peoples.
Tom: Heavy.
Ray: Real heavy.
Tom: And He does it alone. That line’s in there twice.
Ray: Nobody with Him. His own arm. Yeah.
Tom: I don’t know what to do with that. Jesus doing something violent.
Ray: Same, man. I kind of skip past those parts usually.
Tom: Me too. We want the soft one. But we all make choices about Him, and those choices have consequences, as we can see here. These passages are all about His second coming.
Ray: We do. But it’s the same guy. Both are Him: the One who is Love and the One who judges.
Tom: That’s the hard part, isn’t it? We can’t just cherry-pick one.
Ray: No.
Tom: Then the Word switches gears. Second half is a total prayer.
Ray: Yes, out of nowhere it changes. Suddenly he’s remembering the Red Sea and stuff.
Tom: The line that got me was, in all their affliction He was afflicted.
Ray: Say that again?
Tom: When they hurt, He hurt. God actually felt it.
Ray: Huh. Yeah, that’s a lot to think about.
Tom: But then two verses later He turns into their enemy.
Ray: Cause they rebelled. Grieved the Spirit, it says.
Tom: So He feels it, and He still turns. Both.
Ray: Man. It’s like that other chapter. Same hand.
Tom: Yeah. Keeps coming back to that.
Ray: The end’s what stuck with me though. He’s just begging.
Tom: Where’s Your zeal, where’d You go. Yeah.
Ray: Calling Him Father while he’s basically saying You feel gone.
Tom: That one I get. That’s most weeks for me.
Ray: Yeah?
Tom: Yeah. Believing He’s there and feeling like He’s not at the same time.
Ray: I don’t think that’s a lack of faith. I used to think it was, though.
Tom: What is it then?
Ray: I don’t know. Maybe just honest. We all want God to get on track with us, but that’s not the way it works. The guy praying here doesn’t clean it up, right?
Tom: No. The chapter just ends with him hurting. No fix or painless remedy offered.
Ray: Kind of glad it does, actually.
Tom: Why do you say that?
Ray: Cause my hurt doesn’t wrap up neat either oftentimes. It would be weird if his did.
Tom: Yeah, I guess that’s fair.
Ray: You good on time?
Tom: Yeah, a few more minutes. Finish your coffee.
Ray: Ha, it’s cold. I’ll drink it anyway.
Created by Steve
God’s Word…
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 63
The Lord’s Day of Vengeance
63 Who is this coming from Edom
in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah—
this One who is splendid in His apparel,
rising up proudly[a] in His great might?
It is I, proclaiming vindication,[b]
powerful to save.
2 Why are Your clothes red,
and Your garments like one who treads a winepress?
3 I trampled the winepress alone,
and no one from the nations was with Me.
I trampled them in My anger
and ground them underfoot in My fury;
their blood spattered My garments,
and all My clothes were stained.
4 For I planned the day of vengeance,[c]
and the year of My redemption[d] came.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
and I was amazed that no one assisted;
so My arm accomplished victory for Me,
and My wrath assisted Me.
6 I crushed nations in My anger;
I made them drunk with My wrath
and poured out their blood on the ground.
Remembrance of Grace
7 I will make known the Lord’s faithful love
and the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,
because of all the Lord has done for us—
even the many good things
He has done for the house of Israel
and has done for them based on His compassion
and the abundance of His faithful love.
8 He said, “They are indeed My people,
children who will not be disloyal,”
and He became their Savior.
9 In all their suffering, He suffered,[e]
and the Angel of His Presence saved them.
He redeemed them
because of His love and compassion;
He lifted them up and carried them
all the days of the past.
10 But they rebelled
and grieved His Holy Spirit.
So He became their enemy
and fought against them.
11 Then He[f] remembered the days of the past,
the days of Moses and his people.
Where is He who brought them out of the sea
with the shepherds[g] of His flock?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit among the flock?
12 He sent His glorious arm
to be at Moses’ right hand,
divided the waters before them
to obtain eternal fame for Himself,
13 and led them through the depths
like a horse in the wilderness,
so that they did not stumble.
14 Like cattle that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord gave them[h] rest.
You led Your people this way
to make a glorious name for Yourself.
Israel’s Prayer
15 Look down from heaven and see
from Your lofty home—holy and beautiful.
Where is Your zeal and Your might?
Your yearning[i] and Your compassion
are withheld from me.
16 Yet You are our Father,
even though Abraham does not know us
and Israel doesn’t recognize us.
You, Yahweh, are our Father;
from ancient times,
Your name is our Redeemer.
17 Why, Yahweh, do You make us stray from Your ways?
You harden our hearts so we do not fear[j] You.
Return, because of Your servants,
the tribes of Your heritage.
18 Your holy people had a possession[k]
for a little while,
but our enemies have trampled down
Your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those You never ruled over,
like those not called by Your name.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 63:1 Syr, Vg read apparel, striding forward
- Isaiah 63:1 Or righteousness
- Isaiah 63:4 Lit For day of vengeance in My heart
- Isaiah 63:4 Or blood revenge
- Isaiah 63:9 Alt Hb tradition reads did not suffer
- Isaiah 63:11 Or he, or they
- Isaiah 63:11 LXX, Tg, Syr read shepherd
- Isaiah 63:14 Lit him
- Isaiah 63:15 Lit The agitation of Your inward parts
- Isaiah 63:17 Lit our heart from fearing
- Isaiah 63:18 Or Your people possessed Your holy place