The latter chapters of Isaiah contain a remarkable series of dialogs between God the
Father and his servant the Messiah, or between the prophet and Messiah. In Chapter 42, Messiah
is God’s humble servant who will not only save Israel but aid the Gentiles and bring world-wide
justice:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4
he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope.” – Isaiah 42:1-4
In Isaiah 43-44, Messiah is seen as restoring Israel by forgiving them of all their sins and
delivering Jacob from all his enemies. In Chapter 44, Cyrus the Mede is designated and called by
name (!) many decades before he was born. God chose him to aid in the restoration of the Jews
from their captivity in Babylon. Messiah gives a personal description of his commission from the
Father and contains an intimate discussion between God and his Messiah that reveals much about
the content of the prayers of Jesus with his Father during his time on earth, which would come
700 years later.
In Isaiah 50, Messiah is the true Israel who fulfills all that the nation had failed to attain
because of persistent rebellion and disobedience.
In Isaiah 52:13 through 53, Messiah is the suffering servant of the Lord whose death and
resurrection are vividly foretold.
In Chapter 59, Messiah is Israel’s goel, or kinsman-redeemer (Isaiah 59:15-21)
In Isaiah Chapter 63, the dialog takes the following form. Isaiah as the observer appears
to be standing on the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem in the midst of the final battles there:
ISAIAH:
Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his strength? – Isaiah 63:1
MESSIAH, THE WARRIOR KING AND KINSMAN-REDEEMER:
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”- Isaiah 63:1 (cont.)
ISAIAH:
Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? – Isaiah 63:2
MESSIAH:
“I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.
4
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redemption has come.‖ -Isaiah 63:3-4
The blood spattering his garments is not the blood of his crucifixion, for that work on the
cross was completely finished and ended 2000 years earlier. The blood is that of his enemies,
slain in battle, and especially the blood of apostate Jews who have joined the armies of the Beast
to oppose him.
Micah foretold the same thing.
“I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their king will pass through before them,
the LORD at their head.”
The Final Conversion of Israel
Israel’s national prayer for their Messiah to come and to forgive them is found in Hosea
Chapters 5 and 6. Reputable scholars believe this prayer must be prayed by the nation as a
precondition for their national salvation in the coming of Jesus the Messiah to save them:
―Then I will go back to my place
until they admit their guilt.
And they will seek my face;
in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”
1
“Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.” – Hosea 5:15-6:3
Earlier we traced the escape of a remnant of some thousands–perhaps tens of thousands–
of believing Jews from Jerusalem to Petra. This will take at the time of the desecration of the
Third Temple at the mid-point of The Tribulation Period.
Yet as the age comes to a full close many passages of Scripture speak of the national
conversion of Israel. However many Jewish people will still not believe when the battle of
Armageddon begins. As we just saw from Isaiah 63:3-4, vengeance against the apostate Jews is
symbolized as the Lord trampling out grapes in the vineyard.
The terrible judgments from God depicted in the book of Revelation will devastate the
entire earth. Most of mankind will perish and the great infrastructures of the past thousand of
years of civilization will be destroyed. The earth will be devastated and wasted.
Jeremiah’s words at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians have a
double fulfillment at the time of the end.
The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard
had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from
Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. 2 When the commander of the
guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place.”
– Jeremiah 40:1-2
Yet Paul argues in Romans 11 that in spite of all this, “all Israel will be saved.”
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited:
Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.” – Romans 11:25-27
