Isaiah 63:1-6: God's Coming Wrath

"For the day of vengeance was in my heart..." Isaiah 63:4a

When is the last time you meditated upon the wrath of God? Perhaps lately you have meditated on his love or his grace. You have pondered his mercy and taken hold of his compassion. Yet all of those things are void of meaning apart from their former counterpart: wrath. Apart from seeing a black wall, you do not know that a white wall is truly white. Likewise, apart from diligently meditating on the wrath of God (which is a holy and noble trait according to scripture), we will never fully be awed and touched by our God's love.

In Isaiah 63, we get a great picture of God's wrath. Though we often picture God as a loving heavenly being who looks upon everyone with a smile and an outstretched hand, this is far from what we see here. In this text, we find God on the day of judgment. Yes, here in Isaiah's prophesy, we find a God who is judging the earth. And rather than being clothed in stylish Middle-eastern robes, he is clothed in "crimsoned garments," stained by the blood of those whom he has overtaken. When asked why his garments were red (v. 2), our God replies, "For the day of vengeance was in my heart. . . .I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I make them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth." This is not the cuddly and comforting picture of Christ that we often consider. Rather, it is the picture of God that brings justice to his enemies, destruction to a rebellious people, and death to nations that deserve it.

Like I mentioned above, we often don't contemplate this aspect of God's character. Why? Well, frankly, because we don't like to. Yet, scripture speaks of God's wrath, and thus we must speak of it as well. We don't like speaking of it because it is often uncomfortable, awkward, and convicting. Yet let us realize that a God without wrath is not a God at all, or at the very least, not a holy God. You see, the God in which we serve is in fact holy and just. And because he is holy and just, He must punish evil. Because of Christ, he is able to extend mercy to his children rather than wrath, yet the Bible makes very clear that his mercy does not touch every individual. Although in one sense the Bible does speak of an open opportunity for all to be saved, it is not universalistic--it does not promise that everyone is saved from God's wrath. Put plain and simple, the fact of the matter is this: there are souls of men that will endure the wrath of God.

This above fact is difficult to grasp, but it is the truth, and we ought to praise the Lord for it. For what kind of God would our God be if he did not justly punish evil? What kind of LORD would our LORD be if he permitted the wicked to live? What kind of Father would our Father be if he cared not about the enemies who oppressed his children and rejected his law? Yet, we do not serve a false God, a false LORD, or a false Father. Rather, we serve the one true God, Yahweh, who, though full of mercy and lovingkindness, refuses to let the unrepentant go free. He will punish the ungodly in his wrath, and he will destroy the unrepentant in his holy justice.

This was exactly Isaiah's point in Isaiah 63. Although many think that they can outrun God's judgment, there will be a day in which they won't be able to do it any longer. Their day of judgment will come, and the only ones who are saved from it will be those who have repented and turned to Christ.

In application today, read these words by Arthur W. Pink:

"The wrath of God is a perfection of the divine character on which we need to meditate frequently. First, that our hearts may be duly impressed by God's detestation of sin. We are ever prone to regard sin lightly. . .but the more we study and ponder God's abhorrence of sin and His frightful vengeance upon it, the more likely we are to realize its heinousness. Second, to beget a true fear in our souls for God. . . .Third, to draw out our soul in fervent praise for having delivered us from 'the wrath to come' (1 Thess. 1:10). Our readiness or our reluctancy to meditate upon the wrath of God becomes a sure test of how our hearts really stand affected towards him." (Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God)