The Chosen and the Rejected - Isaiah 63:1-65:12 & Romans 9

Most Christians spend the majority of their Bible time--whether it’s personal Bible study, or listening to sermons--in the New Testament.  Comparatively little time is spent studying the Old Testament.  I understand why that is so.  It’s because the Old Testament is old.  The New Testament is new.  So why mess around with that old stuff?  It’s all obsolete.  The writer of Hebrews even says so.  Jesus is the fulfillment of all the old messianic prophecies.  So why do we need to spend time way back there?  Let’s move on to the Christian Bible.  We don’t REALLY need the Hebrew Bible.  

And, just in case you think I’m stretching the point, I personally know people who would say as much.  So, at the risk of appearing entirely irrelevant to some, I’d like for us to begin reading a large section of that ancient book written to the Jews, the book of Isaiah.  If you are a typical Christian, Isaiah contains some of the cleanest pages in your Bible.  But I know that is not the case with you.  Let’s read together the word of God, beginning in Isaiah chapter 63.

[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.” 

Last week, we looked at the Lord’s relationship with the people of Edom and it wasn’t a very good one.  We learned that the Edomites were the descendants of Esau, and they carried on a tradition of hatred toward Jacob and his descendants for centuries.  Here in Isaiah, it is the Lord Jesus who has come from doing battle in Edom, and their blood has stained His garments because of His wrath against them.  Once again, Jesus says in verse 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.”

A rather somber note upon which to end last week’s message.  So now let’s continue with verse 7: I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD . . .

Stop right there.  How is it that Isaiah can say verses 6 and 7 in the same breath?  How is it that he can talk about the lifeblood of the Edomites being poured out on the earth by the Messiah, AND recount the steadfast love of the LORD?  Are we talking about the Old Testament God of vengeance in verse 6, vs the New Testament God of love, mercy, and kindness in verse 7?   

[7] I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD,

according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel

that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

  [8] For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.”

And he became their Savior.

  [9] In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them;

in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

All of this is in contrast with how God has treated Edom.  Isaiah is remembering the way in which the people of Israel were so greatly blessed long ago.  God’s love toward Israel was steadfast.  His goodness toward them was great.  He had pity upon them in their suffering, and mercy upon them by delivering them out of their afflictions in Egypt.  The Angel of His presence saved them and He redeemed them from Egypt because of His love and pity and mercy.

[10] But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.

The twelve spies came back to Kadesh Barnea after going through the land of Canaan, and ten of them led the rest of Israel into a revolt against God and Moses.  “Why did you bring us out here into the wilderness to die, both us and our children?  Would that we had stayed in Egypt where life was good!”  So God said that generation would never leave the wilderness.  They rebelled, so He fought against them for 40 years and all their bodies fell in the desert. 

  [11] Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,
  [12] who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,
  [13] who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.
  [14] Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.
So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. 

After 40 years of wandering, God kept His promise to give Jacob’s descendants the land of Canaan.  The God who had led them through the sea and through the desert, led them once again through the Jordan and gave them rest for the sake of His own name in the Promised Land.  

Isaiah has narrated this Cliff Notes version of the ancient history of the nation of Israel, and based upon what God has done for them in the past, he now prays to the Lord once again:

[15] Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.
  [16] For you are our Father, though [father] Abraham does not know us, and [father] Israel does not
acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
  [17] O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
  [18] Your holy people held possession for a little while;
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
  [19] We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.

He says to the Lord, “Where did you go?  Have You forgotten us?  Look at us!  Do you see what has happened?  There is nothing special about Israel any more.  We’re no different than the Gentiles who do not know You at all!  Look at Your people, Your city of Jerusalem, Your Temple where we used to worship You.  Would that you moved among us again as you did in the past, when you performed awesome things in our midst!  You are our Father!  Please don’t harden our hearts against You, like You hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that we do not fear You!” 

What God did to Pharaoh, Isaiah fears He has now done to Judah.  What God did to an individual, He can do to an entire nation.  The hearts of the people of Judah were so hardened that they had no regard for God and His ways.  And they suffered the consequences, yet again, for their rebellion.  So Isaiah continues his prayer:

[64:1] Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
  [2]  as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
  [3] When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
  [4] From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
  [5] You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
  [6] We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
  [7] There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

The children of Israel used to enjoy the favor of God.  He used to work in their midst.  He used to do awesome things among them.  But no longer.  No one calls upon Jehovah, and even the things they consider to be righteous acts are filthy in the sight of a holy God.  The worst possible thing has happened: God has hidden His face from His people and their sins are now consuming them.

[8] But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
  [9] Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
  [10] Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
  [11] Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
  [12] Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

“Lord, please look.  We have been like potters trying to make You in our image.  But You are the potter.  It is you who have made us.  Please re-make us.  Your people and Your land are all in ruins.  Will You keep silent and afflict us so terribly?  Will You do nothing?  Have mercy on us!”

You recall how chapter 63 started: The Lord returns from Edom with His blood-stained garments.  Isaiah describes very vividly how the sons of Esau were the recipients of God’s wrath.  But now, the people of Judah are no better than Edom.  He is fearful that the same thing could happen to them!  So Isaiah “brings to remembrance” all the blessings Israel enjoyed in the past because of God’s mercy toward them.  Mercy in bringing them out of Egypt, mercy in not destroying them all in the wilderness when they rebelled, mercy in granting them the Promised Land, and mercy in delivering them from their enemies like Edom.

But now, Babylon has come against the wickedness of Judah.  All is lost.  “Lord, have you forgotten your people?  Will you not rise up once again and do for us the kinds of things, perform the kinds of deliverances you performed for us in the past?  Have we become just like any other nation that is not called by your name?  Are we no longer your holy people?”  This is a cry for mercy.  O LORD, will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Here is God’s response: 

[65:1] I was ready to be sought by those who did not [even] ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not [even] seek me.
I said, “Here am I, here am I,” to a nation not called by my name.

The Lord is saying, “I was ready to give you up and turn to the Gentiles.  I was ready to reveal myself to a nation that was NOT called by My name.”  He did that on one occasion that we know of--to Assyria through the prophet Jonah.  Then He explains why He was ready to leave Israel behind:

  [2] I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
  [3] a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
  [4] who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig's flesh,
and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
  [5] who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.

Why was God ready to turn away from the Jews to the Gentiles?  Because His own people were no different than the Gentiles!  They made up their own pagan religious practices.  They ignored God’s decrees regarding acceptable worship.  They consulted with the dead, they imbibed in forbidden foods.  Their invented religions from their own imaginations made them self-righteous.  “Holier than thou?  Yes.  Don’t touch me.”  And all of this moved God to burn with anger against His own people.  They had taken His mercies for granted.

In 64:12, Isaiah asks, “Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD?  Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?  Won’t you have mercy towards us in our misery?”  And God’s answer is no.

[6] Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their bosom
  [7] both your iniquities and your fathers' iniquities together, says the LORD;
because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their bosom payment for their former deeds.”

No, God isn’t going to be silent toward the people of Judah.  The time of mercy is over.  Now He is going to execute justice.  His vengeance isn’t only towards those who hate Israel like Edom did.  His vengeance is toward His own people when they forsake Him, tread upon His mercy, sin perpetually and provoke Him to His face.  God is angry with the wicked every day, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, whether they are the sons of Esau or the sons of Jacob or whoever they are.

However, even in His wrath and vengeance, God will show Himself to be merciful: 

[8] Thus says the LORD:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all.

There is the mercy.  In His wrath, God is not going to destroy all of Judah.  What He will do is like what the Jews said about grapes.  Matthew Henry explains it this way: 

“When a vine is so blasted and withered that there seems to be no sap nor life in it, and therefore the dresser of the vineyard is inclined to pluck it up or cut it down, yet, if ever so little of the juice of the grape, fit to make new wine, be found, though but in one cluster, a stander-by interposes, and says, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it; there is life in the root, and hope that yet it may become good for something.” 1

More wine might be gotten from the most pitiful and miserable and worthless grape vine that produces only a single cluster of grapes.  The temptation is to cut it down and get rid of it entirely.  It only takes up space.  But because of the blessing that may be gotten from a single cluster of grapes, it is not totally destroyed.  Similarly, God is not going to totally destroy Judah, even though she has become worthless.  God mercifully promises to raise up more children from the tiny remnant of Judah that He will spare: 

  [9] I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there.
  [10] Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people who have sought me.

The children of this little remnant of Judah, this last pitiful little cluster of grapes, will inherit the blessings of Abraham.  A remnant will return from Babylon to Jerusalem.  God has chosen the next generation of Jews to inhabit Jerusalem, just like He raised up a second generation of Jews from the rebels in the wilderness to go into the Promised Land. 

  [11] But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
  [12] I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.”  (Isaiah 63:1-65:12 ESV)

The present evil generation wines and dines the pagan gods of Destiny and Fortune to insure their future blessings.  But the God who brought them out of Egypt, delivered them from all their enemies, gave them the land of Canaan and promised to bless them if they would walk in His ways, now says, “This is your destiny: the sword.  I determine your final destiny and it is death at the hands of the soldiers of Babylon.”

So we began with God’s wrath being poured out upon the people of Edom.  But Israel has rebelled and sinned against God for so long that they have become like a nation that never knew the blessings of God.  They have become like Edom, like the Gentiles.  God says things were so bad in Judah that He was ready to reveal Himself to the nations and turn away from Judah.  All day long, He invited the Jews to come to Him, but they preferred their religious perversions over the God who was their Redeemer.  So He determined to destroy them all except a small remnant through whom He would raise up yet another generation of Jews who would receive His blessings.

Now turn to Romans 9.  I want you to read this with me so you can see how the words of Isaiah and the words of Paul fit together perfectly.  This is why we need both the Old and the New Testament:

[9:1] I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— [2] that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. [3] For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. [4] They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. [5] To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. 

Paul is heartbroken for the salvation of all the Jews.  They are his kinsmen according to the flesh.  He has a common ancestry with them, a common religious experience, a common heritage with them.  And he knows they will not all be saved.  The vast majority of them have rejected Christ.

[6] But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, [7] and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” [8] This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 

Not all the physical descendants of Abraham, namely Ishmael who was born to Hagar, Sarah’s servant girl, are considered by God to be His children.  Only the children that are the result of the specific promise of God to Abraham are God’s children.

[9] For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 

About twelve months in advance of his birth, God promised Abraham that Isaac would be born to his wife, 90 year old Sarah.  Not nine months in advance, but twelve.  And it will be a boy.  And it will be yours and Sarah’s child.  This is why God said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

[10] And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, [11] though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— [12] she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” [13] As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 

The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children whom God raises up are His children.  God chose Isaac over Ishmael because Isaac was the miraculous offspring which God gave to Abraham and Sarah.  Then He chose Jacob over Esau in order to make it clear that His purposes in raising up children to Himself are accomplished by His own hand and not by the will of man.  God has chosen these people as His children, and He has chosen to accomplish His purposes by His own power.  God chose Israel over Edom.  God chose Israel over ALL the other nations of the world.

[14] What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! [15] For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” [16] So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 

Is God unjust to choose Jacob over Esau?  Is He unjust to bless the nation of Israel to the neglect of the Gentile nations?  It would seem so, but Paul says, “No way!”  God’s choice depends upon His willingness to show mercy, and forego destruction.  It is not unjust when God chooses to save some.  It is mercy in that He doesn’t destroy all!  It was because of mercy that God did not destroy ALL of rebellious Judah, but preserved and saved a remnant.

[17] For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” [18] So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 

God raised up Pharaoh and hardened his heart in order to bring about the righteous destruction of that wicked nation by a display of His mighty power for all the world to see.  So this choosing of some and not others to be His children is totally dependent upon the mercy of God in not destroying all.  The sparing of some is entirely dependent upon the will of God and His mercy, not the will of men.

[19] You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”  

“That’s not fair!  If everything is dependent upon God’s will and we have no say in the matter, why does He still find fault with us when we sin against Him?” 

[20] But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” [21] Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? [22] What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power . . . 

Like He did with Egypt, and at the Flood, and in Canaan, and at Jericho, and with Sodom and Gomorrah, and with the northern kingdom of Israel . . . 

has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 

Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction through their own on-going, unrepentant sinfulness . . . 

[23] in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, 

To be a sign and a warning to others whom He does not destroy because of His mercy . . .

which he has prepared beforehand for glory— [24] even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 

We are not among those vessels of wrath only because God has shown us mercy.  He chose to prepare us for glory and He called us out of that destruction, to make known His great glory to us, both Jews and Gentiles.

[25] As indeed he [God] says in Hosea,       
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
  [26] “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

God has mercy on whom He will, even Gentiles.  Those who formerly were not His people, He calls them in order that they might become the sons of God according to the good pleasure of His will!

  [27] And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, [28] for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” [29] And as Isaiah predicted,       
 
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, [if the Lord had not raised up another generation]
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”  [i.e. extinct] (Romans 9:1-29 ESV)

• • Why didn’t God kill Adam and Eve?  Why didn’t He stop everything then and there when they broke the very first commandment and just reboot the whole thing?  

• • Why did God kill everyone in the world except for eight people in the ark?  

• • Why did God bother to rescue Lot from Sodom, and kill everyone else?  

• • Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau?

• • Why did God rescue the children of Israel and kill all the firstborn of Egypt?

• • Why did God kill an entire generation of the Jews in the wilderness, but not everyone?

• • Why was Rahab the only survivor of all the people in the city of Jericho? 

• • Why did God send Jonah to Nineveh in Assyria?

• • Why did God use the Assyrians to totally destroy the northern kingdom of Israel, but not Judah?  

• • Why did God save a small remnant of people from Judah during the Babylonian invasion?  

• • Why didn’t God destroy us all when we crucified the Lord Jesus?

• • Why did God save you? 

If the Lord of hosts were not merciful, we all, Jews and Gentiles alike, would have been like Sodom and  Gomorrah.  We all would have been destroyed a long time ago.  What is truly astounding, and what truly brings glory to God is that He has mercy on any of us at all.  But that He would extend His saving mercy to us and not kill us like we deserve because of our sins, and that mercy is extended to us at the expense of His own Son?  That is how He displays His magnificent glory!

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1. Henry, Matthew. "Complete Commentary on Isaiah 65". "Matthew Henry Complete Commentary

on the Whole Bible". <http://www.studylight.org/com/mhc-com/view.cgi?book=isa&chapter=065>. 1706.