Mighty to Save, Mighty to Avenge - Isaiah 63:1-6

There is a song that has made the rounds through the Evangelical Christian community for a few years now entitled Mighty to Save.  I suspect some of you have heard it, and maybe you’ve even sung it.  Let me read you the first verse and the chorus:

Everyone needs compassion           Chorus: Savior 

Love that never fails                                 He can move the mountains

Let mercy fall on me                                My God is mighty to save

Everyone needs forgiveness                      He is mighty to save

The kindness of a Savior                          Forever

The hope of nations                                Author of salvation

                                                           He rose and conquered the grave

                                                           Jesus conquered the grave 1

I kinda like this song.  The tune is rather catchy, and I don’t find anything particularly unbiblical with the words.  Everyone does need compassion and love and mercy and kindness and forgiveness and a Savior.  And yes, the Lord Jesus is the embodiment of all those attributes.  There is no one who possesses these things in greater measure than He.  And, praise be to God, Jesus certainly is mighty to save.  Isaiah says exactly that.  Chapter 63 says that.  So let’s turn there and read this passage in which the Lord Jesus is declared “mighty to save”.

[63:1] Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”

[2] Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

[3] “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.

  [4] For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.

  [5] I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;

so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.

  [6] I trampled down the peoples in my anger;

I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”  (Isaiah 63:1-6 ESV)

Who is this who comes from Edom who is “mighty to save”?  And what is the significance of His coming from Edom?  There is a play on words here and a degree of symbolism which we need to be aware of.

It is no coincidence the the Lord Jesus comes from Edom, and from the capital of that nation, Bozrah [lit. fortress].  The people of the nation of Edom are the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob.  Look with me at Genesis 25 for a moment.

[19] These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham fathered Isaac, [20] and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. [21] And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. [22] The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. [23] And the LORD said to her, 

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

[24] When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. [25] The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. [26] Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. [27] When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. [28] Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.  (Genesis 25:19-28 ESV)

Esau is given that name at birth because he is covered with red hair.  (His last name was O’Connor or O’Brian, or MacDonald, or something like that.)  “Esau” means “hairy”.  But even before he and his brother Jacob (i.e. “Supplanter”, one who takes the place of another, often by trickery or force 2) are born, the two of them are declared by God to be representative of two nations which will struggle against each other.  Esau will become the nation of Edom, and Jacob will become the nation of Israel.

[29] Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. [30] And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) [31] Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” [32] Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” [33] Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. [34] Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.  (Genesis 25:28-34 ESV)

This event was so significant in the life of Esau that his name was changed in order to mark this day.  He was no longer known as “Hairy” but “Red” to emphasize his selling of his birthright for a bowl of red soup.  And thus Esau despised his birthright, that being his right to the promises which God had given to Abraham and all of his descendants forever.  He was the firstborn, and his father fully intended to pass along the blessings to him which God had given to his father, Abraham.  But it appears that Esau took that blessing for granted, considered it to be worth very little, and forfeits the very blessings of heaven for a cup-o-soup.  

Later, when his father Isaac is deceived by Jacob, and Jacob is given the blessing of the firstborn instead of Esau, Esau then goes to his father and begs him to rescind his actions, but Isaac apparently understands God has a greater purpose in this turn of events, and he refuses to take the blessing back from Jacob and give it to Esau.  It may be he suddenly understands that God has fulfilled the prophecy given to Rebekah before they were born.  In this way, God held Esau accountable for despising His grace. 

Turn with me for a moment to the book of Hebrews, chapter 12.  This passage explains a lot for us in regard to Esau and the nation of Edom.

[15] See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; [16] that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. [17] For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing [i.e. the grace of God], he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.  (Hebrews 12:15-17 ESV)

The writer of Hebrews describes Esau as bitter, immoral and unholy.  Esau was the root of bitterness which grew and spread to the point where an entire nation of his descendants was defiled by his bitterness.  The anger of one man was the seed which grew into a bitter animosity between the nations of Israel and Edom.  It was the Edomites who refused to allow their own kinsmen, the children of Israel, to pass through their land on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.  Canaan became Jacob’s inheritance, which Esau thought should have been his.  But he forfeited it for a single meal and became indignant and bitter, and his hatred of Jacob became the sin that divided Edom and Israel.  

In the prophecies of Isaiah, he taught that a day was coming when Babylon would come and destroy the nation of Judah.  That day eventually came in the year 586 BC when Jerusalem fell.  When that happened, the people of Edom rejoiced.  I don’t know what kinds of images go through your head when I say that, but it reminds me of the dancing in the streets of Palestine when the World Trade Centers fell to the ground and over 3,000 were killed.  

Two days ago, an earthquake and a tidal wave decimated a number of cities in northern Japan.  There was a time not too long ago when many people in America might have rejoiced to see their enemies suffer in this way.  But such is not the case now.  I watched the videos and I looked at the pictures and I saw the absolute destruction of an entire town in minutes.  I saw people in cars and trucks trying desperately to escape that giant wall of trash and debris that descended upon them.  There was no escape.  I saw people swept away to a terrible death, homes pulverized my the power of that flood, . . . men, women, and children destroyed without discrimination and without mercy.  And it moved me to tears.
 
When the king of Babylon came against Judah, it was a slow death for the Jews.  It took place over a number of years, and at first, they only demanded tribute.  If the Jews gave them what they wanted (silver and gold and anything else they demanded), then Babylon would literally let them live.  But finally, King Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon.  So King Nebuchadnezzar responded to the insurrection  laying siege against the city for three years until the people of Jerusalem began to starve even to the point of killing and eating their own children.  Then the soldiers of Babylon trampled the people of Jerusalem with their horses and crushed men, women, and children under the wheels of their chariots, and they burned Jerusalem and the Temple and the king’s house to the ground. 3
 
Nobody in Edom shed a tear.  God had something to say to them about that.  Turn with me to the little book of Obadiah.  Obadiah’s entire prophecy, all 21 verses of it, describes God’s assessment of Edom’s attitude toward Judah’s destruction.  I want to point out a few of those verses to you:

[1:1] The vision of Obadiah.     

Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:

We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”

[2] Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised.

  [3] The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock,

in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart,

“Who will bring me down to the ground?”

[10] Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,

shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.

  [11] On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.

  [12] But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune;

do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin;

do not boast in the day of distress.

  [13] Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity;

do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity;

do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.

  [14] Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives;

do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress.

[15] For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations.

As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.

  [16] For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually;

they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been.

  [17] But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy,

and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.

  [18] The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame,

and the house of Esau stubble;

they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of 

Esau, for the LORD has spoken.  (Obadiah 1:1-3, 10-18 ESV)

Edom’s absolute hatred for the Jews caused them to stand by and gloat over their destruction by Babylon.  Consequently, God repaid them for their evil.  Notice what God says about Edom in the prophecy of Malachi:

[1:1] The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 

[2] “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob [3] but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” [4] If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” [5] Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”  (Malachi 1:2-5 ESV)

Esau hated Jacob and revelled in every calamity God brought upon her.  Edom perpetually opposed Israel and fought against them incessantly.  And when Babylon rose up against Judah and Jerusalem and took them captive and drove them into exile, the descendants of Esau rejoiced and gloated.

Consequently, God says “I have hated Esau.  They may build, but I will tear down.  They are the people with whom I am angry forever.”  And that brings us full circle back to Isaiah 63 where the watchmen on the towers of Jerusalem say:

[63:1] Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”

[2] Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

[3] “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.

  [4] For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.

  [5] I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;

so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.

  [6] I trampled down the peoples in my anger;

I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” 4

Amos was probably a contemporary of Isaiah.  Here is his brief prophecy concerning Edom:

11 Thus says the Lord:"For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he (1) pursued his brother with the sword and (2) cast off all pity, and (3) his anger tore perpetually, and (4) he kept his wrath forever. 12 So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah."  (Amos 1:11-12 ESV)

Easton’s Bible Dictionary says, “The present desolate condition of that land is a standing testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies.  After an existence as a people for above seventeen hundred years, they have utterly disappeared, and their language even is forgotten for ever.” 5  Edom is no more.
 
So the next time you hear the song, Mighty to Save, remember this: That phrase is found in the context of a Jesus who is also mighty to destroy.  He is mighty to save His people by means of the utter destruction of their enemies.  While the Lord Jesus is indeed full of compassion, eager to show mercy, kind to sinners beyond all measure, and He loved His own even while we were His enemies, . . .  It is that same Jesus who wears the splendid garments that are splattered with the blood of the enemies of His people because He is mighty to avenge.  
 
Jesus IS mighty to save.  He is mighty to save His people from all their enemies.  He also commands all men everywhere to repent of their sins.  He should be greatly feared by those who hate Him and His people because it is Christ Himself who says on the final day, “All you who showed no mercy to my people, to you no mercy will be shown.  Away with you into eternal punishment.”  We must be very careful that in our sharing of the Gospel, we do not present a Jesus who loves to save, without presenting a Jesus who will crush His enemies.  He is a terrible enemy to those who oppose Him.  

1.  http://www.lyricsreg.com/lyrics/hillsong/Mighty+to+save/

2.  "supplant." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 12 Mar. 2011. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/supplant

3. Cf. 2Kings 24:10-25:21; 2Chron. 36

4. Cf. Isaiah 34:1-8; Jeremiah 49:7, 10, 13, 17; Ezekiel 25:12-14, 35:1-15; esp. Amos 1:11-12 and Romans 9:13.

5. http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd/T0001100.html#T0001129