A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 62: For Want of Judgment

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 62: For Want of Judgment 

In the world of ancient Israel, a fast was an act of voluntarily self-deprivation, especially depriving oneself of something of sustenance, like food, as a way of demonstrating humility or of humbling oneself. Often fasts were made in mourning, but sometimes they were made in times of distress. Then, humbling oneself, one was better prepared to entreat God. One example of this is found in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, at a time when the Ammonites and Moabites had attacked Judah:

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

Evidently, because the people had humbled themselves, Jehoshaphat’s prayer was answered, and the enemies fled before the people, even leaving their spoils behind, without the people of Judah even having needed to raise a sword. But Jehoshaphat was king of Judah about two hundred years before Hezekiah, at a time when Judah had not yet gone completely off into sin. While he was not perfect, we read in 1 Kings chapter 22 that:

42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

So even a man who fails in some regards, as Jehoshaphat had failed by not purging the sins of others who had been under his rule, could nevertheless find grace in the eyes of God as he himself had sought to do what was right. But later, in Jeremiah chapter 14, about seventy-five years after the failed Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, at a time when the people had collectively turned to sin in spite of the reforms of Josiah, we read:

11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. 12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

So Yahweh will not acknowledge the fasts and sacrifices of sinners, and neither would he let His prophet pray on their behalf, for their good. So evidently, we should only pray for sinners that they are chastised according to the Will of God, and hopefully one day receive repentance, which is also a gift from God.

However here in Isaiah chapter 58 it is clear that there is yet another reason for fasting, which is personal sacrifice for the sake of one’s brethren, where we read:

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

When one does do those things, as the Word of Yahweh elaborates a little further on in the chapter, then one shines forth his light for all to see, and shall be called “The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” The breach, as we had explained, is the breach between Yahweh God and the sinful children of Israel. When we do good things for our people in His Name, when we judge justly and out of concern for them, we help serve to repair that breach, as they evidently learn from our example. In that, we may also find our treasure in heaven, which is the treasure that Christ Himself advised His disciples to seek. As for Christ, He gave His life on behalf of His people, so He made the ultimate sacrifice to repair that breach. Therefore He is the signal example of a Repairer of the Breach. Yet He told His disciples, in John chapter 13:

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

This was not really a new commandment, but it was evidently a new commandment in the context of first century Judaea and the time of the ministry of Christ, because it had obviously not been taught. Christ Himself had cited Leviticus 19:18 as the second greatest commandment in the law, since that is the only place the law explicitly demands that men love their neighbor, and it is not even in the famous ten commandments, where we read:

18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

A neighbor being one of the children of one’s own people, as that passage instructs, the sentiment is corroborated here in Isaiah chapter 58 where, by taking care and providing for one’s own people, in verse 7 that is described as not hiding oneself from one’s own flesh. Likewise, in Romans chapter 9 (9:3) Paul had accounted his own brethren as “kinsmen according to the flesh”.

Further on in the same discourse, in John chapter 15, Christ had told His disciples:

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

The very next day Christ did lay down His life for His friends. He did without, having deprived Himself so that His fleshly brethren could have what they needed, which in His special case was redemption. However here in Isaiah we see many others ways in which a man may sacrifice himself to help his people, and that is what Christ had expected of His disciples.

In the example of the wealthy man who had asked Christ what he had lacked above and beyond his having kept the law, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 19 Christ had told him to “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” That is an extreme case, since an opportunity was offered to follow Christ Himself, yet the man could not make that great a sacrifice, and he departed in grief. That is not the only example in Scripture, and Christ did not require all men to give away whatever they had to the poor, but it is nevertheless an important example illustrating for us how we may store up treasure in heaven, by loving and caring for our people and providing for the needy and weak among them in ways which are beyond mere words.

In our last discussion of Isaiah, in the final two verses of chapter 58, we saw that this principle of fasting is also the purpose of the Sabbaths, so that Isaiah chapter 58 explains the reasons for the attitude of Christ towards the Sabbath, where His adversaries disputed with Him over healing a man and we read, as it is recorded in Mark chapter 3:

4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

As we had read in Isaiah 58:13, a man should not pursue his own interests or his own pleasure on the Sabbath days, but rather, caring for one’s brethren is the best way that we may show our love for our God. It is for that reason that the apostle John had later explained in chapter 5 of his first epistle that every one who loves God also loves those who had been begotten by God, which is a reference to their own brethren, and by that “we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”

That this is what ancient Israel had lacked significantly is fully evident in the very opening chapter of Isaiah, so it is not a new message here. In Isaiah chapter 1 the Word of Yahweh tells them that He will not hear their prayers, because their hands are full of blood, and then is an exhortation for them to:

16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Then a little further on, it becomes evident that this is also one of the significant reasons for their impending punishment:

21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

So now, as we commence with Isaiah chapter 59, we should note once again that there is no break in the context, and what follows is a continuation of the same narrative which we seen throughout these final twenty-six chapters of Isaiah, so this chapter certainly does relate directly to what we had seen in Isaiah chapter 58. In Isaiah chapter 58 we see that Repairers of the Breach would right these very wrongs and judge their brethren justly, while here we have the consequences which befall us for want of such judgment:

1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 

The opening statement in verse 1 answers the rhetorical question found in Isaiah 50:2 where the Word of Yahweh had asked, in part, “2 … Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?” Then, in verse 2 here in this chapter, where we read that the iniquities of the children of Israel have separated them from God, which is another reference to that same breach for which repairers are needed, which is mentioned earlier, in chapter 58.

So with these two verses, we see how the Scriptures are all set into one connected context. You cannot simply go to a random verse and steal it from its context, inserting it into any other context that suits your own agenda and imagining for that to be a righteous use of the Word of God. Therefore, it is not fitting to read the opening verse here, and use it to make the assertion that God is going to save anyone and everyone, something which many Christians today venture to assume that it is saying.

One quite wicked denominational article and podcast discussing the opening verse of this chapter is titled “Pray for the Unreached” and this so-called “pastor” says in part:

Isaiah 59:1 Reminds Us to Pray for the Unreached

Who comes to your mind when you think about somebody who seems so far from salvation, so hard to the gospel? Who comes to your mind? And as they come to your mind, just hear the word of God. “The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save.”

And we pray all the time on this podcast for people groups around the world who have little to no knowledge of the gospel. Today, to think about the Mali people group of India. 12.4 million of them hardly any known followers of Jesus, worshiping millions upon millions of Hindu gods, and the Lord’s hand is not too short to save the Mali people or Somali people or North Korean people or Yemeni Arabs, or Baloch in Pakistan, or the people groups of Afghanistan that we prayed for all throughout May on this podcast. [1]

This is a completely irrational, even demented abuse of the Word of God. There is nothing for Africans or Asians in the entirety of these twenty-six chapters of Isaiah, which deal explicitly and exclusively with the punishment of the children of Israel for their sins, and the path upon which Yahweh their God shall lead them back to redemption and reconciliation to Him. In Isaiah chapter 43, Yahweh had attested that He gave up certain Adamic tribes in Africa so that He could preserve the children of Israel. Then in Isaiah chapter 44 Yahweh had promised that “O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me”, and in chapter 45 “Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation”. It was the children of Israel who had been far distant from Him, and His arm had promised to save them alone.

Then in Isaiah chapter 49 Yahweh had referred to Himself as “the Redeemer of Israel”, and addressing Israel He promised that “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.” The children of Israel continue to be the subject of statements and promises throughout the balance of these chapters of Isaiah, and no other people are ever explicitly mentioned as being beneficiaries of any of them.

So how do we get get Africans or Asians here, witch doctors or pujaris? How is verse 1 here even separated from verse 2, where the law is required for sin to be imputed, as Paul had written in Romans chapter 5, and only Israel had ever been given the law and expected to keep it, as we read in the 147th Psalm. Witch doctors and pujaris are oblivious to the law, and they always have been. This is the trash which passes for Christianity in denominational churches, and it is entirely contrary to the Word of God. Their teachings are pure and unadulterated evil. They are purposely misappropriating the Word of God and abusing it so that they can teach people according to their own agenda, an agenda which is actually opposed to the Will of God. So they are defrauding God Himself, and they are doing it without shame.

When Yahweh had asked, in Isaiah chapter 50, “Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?” He was speaking of the putting away of the children of Israel in divorce, on account of the sins of the nation, where immediately before that He had asked them “Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?” Then He Himself answered and told them “Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.”

Now here, He informs them that His arm is not too short to save them, even if they were separated from Him on account of those same sins. So now He chastises them further on account of their sins, and we shall read the entire condemnation before commenting:

3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. 

First, many cross-references refer Romans 3:15, where Paul wrote “Their feet are swift to shed blood” to this passage in Isaiah 59:7 where we read “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood”. While that is fine, because both verses are related to the sins of the children of Israel, it is not what Paul had cited. King James Version apologists claim that Paul was citing from a scattered assortment of Scriptures in Romans 3:10-17, where Paul was actually quoting the Septuagint version of Psalm 14, which is numbered as Psalm 13 in the Septuagint, where there is a long passage that is missing from that Psalm as it is found in the Masoretic Text in Psalm 14. So in Romans 3:10-11, Paul had paraphrased from the Greek of Psalm 13:1-2, and in Romans 3:12-18, Paul cited the Greek of Psalm 13:3 without deviation from the Greek of our Septuagint copies today.

For that, I shall cite Romans 3:10-18, from the Christogenea New Testament:

10 just as it is written, “that there is none righteous, not even one: 11 there is none understanding, there is not one seeking after Yahweh.” 12 "They have all turned away, together they have become unprofitable; there is none practicing kindness, there is not so much as one; 13 their throat is an open tomb, with their tongues they have dealt treacherously; the poison of asps is under their lips, 14 of which the mouth is full of curses and bitterness; 15 swift are their feet to shed blood; 16 ruin and suffering are in their ways; 17 and a way of peace they have not known; 18 there is no fear of Yahweh before their eyes.”

That was evidently a problem in Israel in David’s time, which seems to be even much more serious here in the time of Isaiah. For that, we shall present these passages again and discuss some things we feel are necessary:

3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 

In the New American Standard Bible the last clause of verse 4 reads “They conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.”

Here bloodshed is again related to unjust judgment, just as in Isaiah chapter 1 it had been related more specifically to unjust judgment for the weak members of society. This evokes the description of the Body of Christ which Paul had made in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the body being a metaphor for Christians:

18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

So here in Isaiah, as well as elsewhere in the prophets, we see that Christian ideal which Paul had explained to the Corinthians was the ideal of Yahweh God from the beginning, which the ancient children of Israel had failed to maintain, and for which they had been punished.

The dating of the prophet Habakkuk can only be determined from circumstances expressed in the prophecy itself. Assuredly it is by design rather than ignorance, that Habakkuk seemed to have been oblivious to any of the Assyrian captivities, or to the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC, so it seems that those things may have been in his past. But in chapter 1 of his prophecy, the Word of Yahweh says:

6 Wherefore, behold, I stir up the Chaldeans, the bitter and hasty nation, that walks upon the breadth of the earth, to inherit tabernacles not his own.

So the most likely time for this prophecy seems to have been between the death of the good king Josiah, and the rise of Nebuchadnezzar to the throne of Babylon, and the beginning of the conquests of his empire in 605 BC. That is nearly a hundred years after Isaiah wrote these chapters of his own prophecy. It is possible that it could have been earlier, but it certainly could not have been later.

The verses which precede that threat regarding the Chaldeans explain why the people of Jerusalem would suffer, and also helps to clarify what is meant here, where the prophet is portrayed as having exclaimed:

2 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and thou wilt not hearken? how long shall I cry out to thee being injured, and thou wilt not save?

This is much the same as what we had seen here in chapter 58, where the children of Israel fasted and prayed, but they were not acknowledged, because they fasted for contention and their own self-righteousness, rather than in humility and seeking repentance by which to please their God. So while Habakkuk does not mention the captives and the poor and disadvantaged, those who needed help and justice, the answer to his pleas do indicate that as a problem, where the just are oppressed by the ungodly, and we read:

3 Wherefore hast thou shown me troubles and griefs to look upon, misery and ungodliness? judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward. 4 Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment proceeds not effectually, for the ungodly man prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed. 5 Behold, ye despisers, and look, and wonder marvelously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which ye will in no wise believe, though a man declare it to you.

The reward received by the judge is a bribe, but of course, the law expressly prohibits bribery in judgment. However the antiquity of the problem is evident in the words of Solomon in Proverbs chapter 17:

23 A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom To pervert the ways of justice. 24 Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. 25 A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who bore him. 26 It is also not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

The eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth, as he is greedy and desires possessions so he is much more susceptible to taking bribes in judgment.

Much later, in Zechariah chapter 7, which was mostly likely written shortly after the building of the second temple had been complete by Zerubbabel, there is an exhortation to the remnant of Judah, which presents a history of this shortcoming in Israel, and also relates it to unacceptable fasts:

4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, 5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 7 Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, 9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Then even later, in Malachi chapter 3, in relation to the judgment of God and a messianic prophecy of John the baptist and the coming of Christ, we see the same issue is raised once again where we read:

5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

Continuing with the condemnation here in Isaiah chapter 59:

5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 

The New American Standard Bible has the last clause of that verse to read “… And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.” The metaphors are interesting, and perhaps we may conjecture that they may indicate that the source of such behavior, and the methods of plotting traps from which to profit from one’s own people, had come from the enemies of God. Nevertheless, those who do such things shall not profit from them:

6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. 

This is the end of the materialistic society full of self-centered consumers, and men who compete with one another to accumulate wealth, rather than loving their brethren and seeking ways to uplift the entire community. All of these prophecies in Isaiah, Habakkuk, Zechariah, Malachi and even others indicate that these were among the most elementary of sins which had destroyed ancient Israel and Judah, and therefore its reversal was one of the most elementary aspects of the Gospel of Christ and the primary expectations which He has for His disciples.

Now, at the beginning of Isaiah chapter 58 there was a brief dialogue evident from verse 3, but the children of Israel were only portrayed as having asked a few questions. The answer of Yahweh God had started in the last sentence of that verse, and ends here at this point in chapter 59. Now the dialogue continues, and the children of Israel are speaking once again, but this time, they are portrayed as having confessed what had become of them on account of these sins:

9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. 10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. 11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: … 

The dialogue is not presented in quite the same manner in the Septuagint, where, for example in the first part of verse 9 it has them twice rather than us. Then in verse 10, third person verbs appear, “they feel” and “they grope”, rather than the first person verbs “we feel” and “we grope”. However in various places, the translations of Aquila and Symmachus support the Masoretic Text [2], as does that of The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. Since the disagreement goes through the first clause of verse 11, that is where we have paused for these comments.

Of course, this is the blindness which should be healed, and the judgment which should be taught, in the Gospel of Christ, and I only say should because evidently, many or even most denominational Christians have no understanding of the true nature of the Gospel, so they make claims that Yahweh God is reaching out to jungle beasts rather than to His own people in captivity who were being punished for these sins.

As we proceed with verse 11, the Septuagint does agree with the pronouns and the verbs:

… we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; 

This confession is an idealized portrayal which serves as a prophecy of the sentiments of the children of Israel at some time in the future from when Isaiah had written these things. But we must bear in mind, that the context has not broken so these words rest within the context of the prophecies of the promises of deliverance, the Gospel of Christ and His coming as the Suffering Servant in chapters 51 through 53. So we would assert that, wittingly or unwittingly, these prophecies were fulfilled in the Christian era, when the children of Jacob in their new lands, the appointed place where they had been spread abroad in Europe, had accepted the Gospel of Christ and founded their societies based on the rule of law, law which included His commandments which He had demanded His disciples to keep.

That in turn had also fulfilled another Messianic prophecy of Isaiah, found in chapter 42, where we read:

2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

The portion of Israel in the dialogue continues:

13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. 

This is apparently where the words of the children of Israel as they are portrayed in this dialogue come to an end, until later chapters of Isaiah where it picks up once again. The Septuagint ends the dialogue sooner, in the middle of verse 14 where it has “14 And we have turned judgment back, and righteousness has departed afar off:” and then the last clause reads: “for truth is consumed in their ways, and they could not pass by a straight path.”

Here The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible also differs, ending the part spoken by the children of Israel with verse 13, and following the scroll designated 1QIsaiah^a it has Yahweh God answering in verse 14, where it has: “I will drive back justice, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth has fallen in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.” Because in that version, there is a sudden change for only one verse, and then Yahweh is spoken of in the third person in verse 15, where the text agrees with the King James Version, we would also reject that reading and prefer the Masoretic Text.

So now at this point, the words seem to belong to the prophet, and Yahweh God is depicted as speaking again later, in the closing verses of the chapter. So it is apparently Isaiah who is about to describe the necessity of Yahweh God Himself to be the Savior of His people:

15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 

The prophecy which we have just cited from Isaiah chapter 42 was also cited in Matthew chapter 12, as having been fulfilled by Christ:

14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. 15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 16 And charged them that they should not make him known: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the [Nations]. 19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the [Nations] trust.

The Gospel of Christ surely has shown judgment to the nations of Christendom, however Christ Himself also commanded His disciples to keep the commandments of the law. Later, in chapter 7 of his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul of Tarsus would describe Christ as this intercessor, whom he had also described elsewhere as being Yahweh God incarnate, where he described Christ as having come into the Melchizedek priesthood, citing the 110th Psalm, and writing in part:

22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 23 And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24 But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

So it is evident that Yahweh God is both Savior and Intercessor bringing the message of salvation to the children of Israel in captivity in the person and ministry of Christ, as we also read, for example, in Isaiah chapter 43:

11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

Continuing with the description of Yahweh as this intercessor:

17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. 18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. 

In a context quite similar to that of Isaiah chapters 58 and 59, we read in Isaiah chapter 11, in another Messianic prophecy, the prophecy of the root and branch of Jesse:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Much later, in a prophecy of the second advent of Christ, in Revelation chapter 19, we read in part:

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Here in Isaiah chapter 59, where in verse 17 the prophet describes the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness, there is often a cross-reference to Ephesians chapter 6 where Paul had written, in part, urging his readers to:

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

But there we do not really see a direct correlation to this passage in Isaiah. Paul is urging his readers to see the various attributes of God as their defense in the witness of the Faith. But here Yahweh God is employing His attributes as the method of His vengeance against His enemies.

Although there are closer parallels to Paul’s words in the Wisdom of Solomon, the purpose of Solomon in chapter 5 of Wisdom is also to describe the vengeance of God, and therefore that is an appropriate cross-reference for this passage of Isaiah, where we read in part:

14 For the hope of the ungodly is like dust that is blown away with the wind; like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm; like as the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, and passeth away as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day. 15 But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High.16 Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. 17 He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. 18 He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. 19 He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. 20 His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise.

For that same reason, we now read in Isaiah, where these are still evidently the words of the prophet:

19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 

As Brenton has it, the first clause of verse 20 from the Septuagint reads: “And the deliverer shall come for Sion's sake…” Rather than the verb translated as deliverer, both Aquila and Symmachus have a different verb, a Participle form of ἀγχιστεύω [3], which is to do a kinsman’s office, as Liddell & Scott define the term, and which in this context would refer to an act of kinsman redemption, which is redemption according to the law and which is the only valid form of redemption for Israel, regardless of the verb. 

Of course, the Redeemer most likely had stood on the physical mount Zion in the first advent of Christ, during the course of His earthly ministry, and He is prophesied to do so once again in Revelation chapter 14. But Zion is also an allegory for the people of Israel, none of whom are in Palestine today, since, as we had discussed at length in our commentary for Isaiah chapter 49, as early as the time of David it was prophesied that the children of Israel would be moved to A Place of Their Own. The fact that Zion is a metaphor for the children of Israel is fully evident in Isaiah chapter 51 where we read:

15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foFundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

This passage of Isaiah was cited by Paul of Tarsus in Romans chapter 11, where Paul had also made an allusion to the promises of Isaiah chapter 45 and wrote:

25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Nations has come in; 26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob." 27 "And this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."

Of course, Paul had spoken those words not of Edomite Jews, but of the true Israelites in Judaea, whom he had described as his “kinsmen according to the flesh”, the “vessels of mercy” descended from Jacob as opposed to the “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” descended from Esau, which he had contrasted in Romans chapter 9.

Now it seems that Yahweh speaks in this dialogue, confirming the words of the prophet:

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. 

As early as the time of Moses, after the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience were presented in the law, in Deuteronomy chapter 30 we see that Yahweh had foreseen the captivity of Israel, as well as their ultimate reconciliation, over seven hundred years before Isaiah had written the words of this book, and we read:

1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

So here we see an indication to await the day when Christ returns, and then collectively, the children of Israel shall finally be given a heart by which they may keep His law. That this prophecy certainly is foreseeing that time, we shall see further as we progress through the next few chapters of Isaiah.

This concludes our commentary through Isaiah chapter 59.

Footnotes

1 Pray for the Unreached, David Platt, radical.net, https://radical.net/podcasts/pray-the-word/pray-for-the-unreached-isaiah-591/, accessed March 19th, 2026. [Screenshot]

2 Origenis Hexaplorum, Fridericus Field, AA. M., Volume II, Clarendon Press, 1875, pp. 548-549.

3 ibid., p. 550.