Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today’s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah (63:15-64:9) comes from a potent passage in which the prophet contemplates God’s activity in the world, delivering his people, and bringing judgment on the nations.

The chapter begins with a description of a powerful man from Edom, with garments from Bozrah made red by the crushing of grapes in anger, —one who comes with deliverance for his people and judgement for his enemies.

It is in this context of God’s arrival that Isaiah contemplates his mercy:

“I remembered the Lord’s mercy, the praises of the Lord in all things in which the Lord recompenses us. The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel, and He deals with us according to His mercy, and according to the multitude of His righteousness.” (63:7)

Isaiah asks God to return from heaven and to look at them with mercy and compassion, recalling how God of old delivered his people, asking that they might inherit a bit of the God’s holy mountain, on which Moses beheld God’s glorious presence:

“From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen any God but You, and Your works which You shall do for those who wait for Your mercy.” (64:3)

In the midst of this majestic prophetic utterance, Isaiah describes our human state:

“We are all become as unclean, and all our righteousness is like a filthy rag.” (64:4)

In this helpless state, Isaiah cries out with pathos:

“And now, O Lord, You are our Father, and all we are clay, the work of Your hands. Do not be exceedingly angry with us…” (64:7-8)

Throughout this passage of repentance and supplication, we may read it through Christian eyes, understanding the strong man from Edom as Christ, the God/Man whose garment is stained with his own blood. This Christ is the one who comes in deliverance, like Yahweh in the Exodus, to deliver his people—sinners whose good deeds are like a filthy and unclean garment—from their enemies: sin, death, and the devil.

In connection with today’s reading, I have just discovered a beautiful and antique anthem by Jonathan Battishill (1738-1801) based on Isaiah 63:15:

“O Lord, look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory: where is Thy zeal and Thy strength, Thy mercies towards me, are they restrained?”

Yours in Christ,

—Justin