Isaiah continued in the next chapter to describe the amazing transformation that would take place, using the theme of a beautiful bride—the same bride that Jesus talked about in the Gospels, and the apostle John described in Revelation at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Israel would receive a new name, signifying a new nature, and a new relationship with God.
“You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
Isaiah 62:4 (NRSVUE)
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her
and your land Married,
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.”
The Glorious Bride
God’s judgment on God’s people had been so complete that Israel’s reputation among the nations was as one forsaken by their God, a nation left desolate and deserted, which it literally was, lying in ruins for seventy years. But now God would restore God’s people as the Lord’s delight, joined with the Lord forever.
As glorious a day as that would be, it would be even more special for God.
“For as a young man marries a young woman,
Isaiah 62:5 (NRSVUE)
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.”
In the meantime, the Lord would appoint prophets and prayer warriors.
“Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
Isaiah 62:6-7 (NRSVUE)
I have posted sentinels;
all day and all night
they shall never be silent.
You who remind the Lord,
take no rest,
and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it renowned throughout the earth.”
God calls us today to keep watch as well. What has God given you and me to pray about, and then keep praying, until we see the fulfillment of that prayer? God exhorted the watchmen to never be silent, for without them, the people would not know what they needed to become established. So, what is God exhorting you and me to persevere in teaching, and in talking about?
A Time of Plenty
Israel could count on God doing all this for them, as the Lord swore an oath that one day they would be established in their land, without ever having to fear losing it again.
“those who harvest it shall eat it
Isaiah 62:9 (NRSVUE)
and praise the Lord,
and those who gather it shall drink it
in my holy courts.”
God’s announcement of salvation would spread worldwide, as it has to this day
“The Lord has proclaimed
Isaiah 62:11-12 (NRSVUE)
to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion,
‘Look, your savior comes;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.’
They shall be called, ‘The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord,’
and you shall be called, ‘Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.’”
Instead of being avoided, those who love the Lord will seek them out.
The Wrath of God
Just as Isaiah was in the middle of this gorgeous vision, it is as though movement in the distance caught his eye. He saw someone striding towards him and asked,
“Who is this coming from Edom,
Isaiah 63:1 (NRSVUE)
from Bozrah in garments stained crimson?”
Bozrah was the capitol of Edom, the country Esau had founded centuries before, located south of Israel. Edom was a long-standing enemy of God’s people, hating Israel so much that they had become the symbol of those who despise God and God’s own.
Jesus was the answer to Isaiah’s question. He was the one
“Who is this so splendidly robed,
Isaiah 63:1 (NRSVUE)
marching in his great might?
Isaiah was thinking about the Anointed of God, the resplendent groom, the one who would bind up broken hearts, delight in His bride, rejoice over His people.
Jesus was the answer to the next question as well.
The Grapes of Wrath
“Why are your robes red
Isaiah 63:3 (NRSVUE)
and your garments like theirs who tread the winepress?”
Wayne Jacobsen, “He Loves Me!”
God’s wrath is a reflection of God’s holiness and of God’s love. It is the Lord’s righteous anger against all that harms God’s beloved. God sees the evil that mars God’s creation and that destroys the people God so loves, and intends to rid the universe of it all. God’s wrath consumes evil and wickedness, not as the opposite of God’s love, but as an expression of God’s love. God so desires to protect and set free the objects of God’s affection, you and me, and all people enslaved to sin.
As Wayne Jacobsen explains in his book, He Loves Me! Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection, God’s wrath will ultimately consume some people. When God’s wrath deals with sin, God also deals with people who are so ensnared by sin they are no longer interested in reaching out to God’s mercy. The purpose of God’s wrath is to consume sin and cleanse the universe. That is, as Jacobsen states, what God’s wrath does—first inside of people, if they humble themselves to God, but, if not, it will do away with unrepentant people too.
Most of us, when we think of wrath, think of rage in all its horrifying, ugly, frightening and twisted human form, destructive, violent and anti everything that you and I might associate with loveliness and purity.
In fact, our associations with wrath, vindictive fury, and retribution are usually of evil people. It goes against the grain to put God in the same category, whom we know to be loving and compassionate. No human being you or I might know personally is both loving, forgiving, and compassionate AND wrathful.
God’s wrath feels unfair and unkind.
But this is not the nature of God’s wrath. Isaiah often speaks about the idea of wrath, but instead of describing God as harsh and condemning, Isaiah talks about God’s love, grace, and generosity. God’s love will never make peace with evil. The wrath of God springs from an infinite grief over broken people and God’s broken relationship with people, a beautiful and pure grief from a Being who is breathtakingly holy and lovely, who loves and longs for intimacy with people.
So, what is The Wrath, then, if it isn’t this twisted, vindictive rage that you and I see sometimes in people?
Refiner’s Fire
The Wrath of God is God’s just judgment, God’s active, resolute opposition against all that is corrupt and evil. It is the consuming fire of the presence of God’s holiness which burns up in a fiery instant all that is unholy. Nothing that is unholy can survive contact with the purity of God’s holiness.
Malachi describes the furnace of The Wrath of God as inescapable and unbearable. The Wrath is even now being revealed in the darkening of people’s minds, and in the downward progression from darkness to depravity, but instead of ending with a sinner’s death, The Wrath continues on into eternity forever cleansing evil from the universe.
Isaiah presented Messiah as the Servant as the sacrificial Lamb of God. Now Isaiah presents Messiah not as a Servant but as a King, the avenger of God’s own. Messiah is both the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah.
God’s wrath is a reflection of God’s holiness and of God’s love
God destroyed the guilt of sinners at the cross. God will destroy all remaining sin in the hearts of those who come to the Lord in repentance. God will destroy all injustice and suffering in the world when God’s kingdom is established at Jesus’ second coming.
The Wrath of God is described as slowly building, like water behind a dam, which will one day burst open on the Day of Judgement, when everyone will stand before God and give account.
The day of God’s vengeance is really God restoring balance to the universe, bringing about healing by wiping out the disease, cutting out the cancer. As Jesus said, the day of vengeance will also be the time of redemption.
