Isaiah 63:11-19
Isa 63:11
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his
people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit
within him?
Then the LORD remembered the days of Moses when the
people were obedient in contrast to the people who were disobedient at the time
of Isaiah. God asks the questions
as if he is also doing the inquiring.
The episode in view is the crossing of the Red Sea where the LORD brought
them through using Moses as the shepherd who led them forth under the hand of
God. Then he asks the question
where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him?
This would refer to God empowering Moses who led the people forth with
the power of the Holy Spirit. God
is the only one who has the authority to implant the Holy Spirit within his
people. 16
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever; 17
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you. (John 14:16-17)
These questions are designed to get the people to think and realize that
God is in Heaven and he is in total control of their situation.
He is in the same place then as he was in the time of Moses.
The false gods are only in the imagination of the mind.
Isa 63:12
That led them by the right hand of Moses with his
glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting
name?
Then God tells the people that it was he who led Moses by
his right arm which means he was the one who empowered Moses to perform those
tasks. Then the LORD’s arm is
called glorious as he divided the waters before them which is something that no
false god could ever do. As a
result of the great division of the Red Sea, the LORD’s name will be everlasting
upon the present earth and into eternity in the New Earth.
God totally protected his people as he brought them through but he
destroyed the army of the most powerful nation on earth at that time.
The everlasting name would bring to mind God’s power and providence over
his creation.
Isa 63:13
That led them through the deep, as an horse in the
wilderness, that they should not stumble?
The people were led through the deep on dry ground just
as a horse runs in the wilderness without any hindrance, the people of God went
through the Red Sea on dry ground which was made sturdy enough for them to pass
on without any concerns for sinking in the mud which would cause a stumbling.
This may also refer to the true believer in Christ that no matter what
they face, they would never stumble as Christ is their Lord.
Isa 63:14
As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the
LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a
glorious name.
Just as a beast must take time out to rest from his daily
routine, the LORD had planned resting places for the people of Israel along the
way and allowed them to camp in certain places to give them rest.
The only time they moved was when the pillar of fire was moved by the
LORD and then the children of Israel knew that it was time to gather their
possessions and move to the next place and finally to Canaan.
The LORD led the people through this forty year trek and in the time
because of what he did for them along the way, his name became glorious
throughout the entire nation of Israel.
They could not mention the name of the LORD without praising him.
Isa 63:15
Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of
thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the
sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
Then this verse also looks to the time when the
Babylonian captivity will take place.
The people will look to the LORD in their time of trouble while in
captivity and they will ask the LORD to look down upon them from Heaven where he
dwells described as the habitation of his holiness and his glory.
They will ask where is his zeal that he showed in the time of Moses?
Where is the strength you showed in opening the Red Sea and allowing the
people to go through on dry land?
They would have asked the questions which is found in Psalm 77.
Will the Lord cast off for ever?
and will he be favourable no more? (Psalm 77:7)
While they were in captivity, they had thought that the LORD had forsaken
them and would not use his power to free them or even to lift the burdens and
give them a respite.
Isa 63:16
Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be
ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our
father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
They acknowledge that God is their father and that it
would be useless to call upon Abraham since he has been dead for about thirteen
centuries and would know nothing about them.
Then to call upon Jacob who is named Israel would also be futile because
he has been dead for about eleven centuries and knew nothing about the future
wanderings and captivity of Israel.
They acknowledge that the LORD is their father as the one who created them and
the one who has also redeemed them many times from
their enemies as we read in the book of Judges as one example.
They also know him as the everlasting Father and redeemer.
In fact one of the names for God is “El Olam” which means “the
Everlasting God” and that is the word used in this verse.
Isa 63:17
O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways,
and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the
tribes of thine inheritance.
The people are not blaming God for their departure from
his ways but when people are walking opposite the word of God they become much
harder because their sin is now exposed and shows how heinous they are to a holy
God.
9 And he said, Go, and tell
this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive
not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy,
and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. (Isaiah 6:9-10)
When Isaiah received his commission, he was told that they would be so
steeped in sin that they would be unable to see it and that they would oppose
Isaiah every step of the way. Then
the people had acknowledged their sins and wanted the LORD to return to them and
guide them back into obedience and called themselves the tribes of his
inheritance.
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it
repent thee concerning thy servants. (Psalm 90:13)
The inheritance may be pointing to the inheritance of the land of Canaan
where Israel was appointed specific places to live according to their tribe.
Isa 63:18
The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a
little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
The people had possessed the land of Canaan but only for
a little while because of their sins which caused them to be attacked by enemies
as the peace they so longed for was now absent.
They now saw the Babylonians as they destroyed the sanctuary of God which
was the central place of worship and it represented the fact that God had
dwelled among them but when they departed from him, he departed from them and
allowed the temple to be destroyed denoting his departure from them because of
their disobedience.
Isa 63:19
We are thine: thou never barest rule over them;
they were not called by thy name.