And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor; and his arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Isaiah 59 has just described a society where honesty has collapsed and no one can get justice. Then God Himself looks at the scene. What He fails to find there is why He steps in Himself.
The two negatives in the verse are not the same complaint twice. One writer sees two lacks: no merit to plead with, and no one to plead. He hears the same "no man" in Revelation 5, where a sealed book waits for someone worthy to open it.
There is "no man" who can act and be an intercessor, just as earlier we saw that "none calls for justice." No man has any merit. No man is able to act to put things right. We meet this second fact again in very striking form in Revelation 5. There "no man" was worthy to take the book of judgment and break its seals — no one except the Lamb who had been slain.
Read across the surrounding chapters, this verse is where the whole prophecy turns. Everything before it is God pleading with His people. Everything after it is the result of His arrival.
So chapters 58 and 59 are the time before the Lord's appearing — that is, His pleadings with the people then. Chapter 60 is the effect of that appearing, chapter 59:16 being the turning point.
If no arm but His own is available, the rescue can carry no human credit at all.
In verse 12 the Spirit of prophecy becomes a Spirit of confession. It weighs the extent of it in sorrow. So it rises (v. 15) to the need for the Lord to step in, for there was no man. "Then His own arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him"... So His glory in action had to be grace, though in the execution of judgment against the wicked.
Commentators place the fulfilment of this verse in Israel's future rescue. One writer draws a sharp line between that rescue and the hope of those who belong to heaven.
Such utter moral chaos, hopeless for man, was the call for the Lord to step in... This is the picture of God's mighty intervention for His people in the last days. It is not at all like what He will do for the saints who belong to heaven. He will take them out of the scene of their pilgrimage to heaven. His earthly people He will deliver from their enemies by judgement in that day... It is not by the gospel, but by the execution of judgement on the Gentiles.
The verse describes an absence. One writer points out that God has since filled it, and that this changes what a believer can count on when everything looks hopeless.
It is always the way — "man's extremity is God's opportunity." No one can say now, "there is no man." There is a Man at the right hand of God. He is the Head of the church, and He maintains the interests of God. So no power can prevail against the church. No one can say now, "there is no intercessor." Christ died for us, and God raised Him up again. He is "at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us" (Romans 8:34)... He is able to save His own completely, and "He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
The emptiness God found in Isaiah's day can become a prayer. Having nothing to offer turns into the argument itself.
Our feebleness laid hold of the unique power of Christ — power that was only in Him — to bring Him in for us. He had the power, and there was no one else, and He knew it... What an argument to infinite Love — to tell Him, if we can say it truthfully: "Lord, You are my one necessity. You are the light of these poor eyes, the light in which alone we see light. You are the Life without whom there is only death!"... We put both arms round Him when we say so. It is a prayer we can all pray, a child's prayer — an infant's. The tender pity of God will never refuse it.
- Emptiness. God looked for merit and for a mediator. He found neither — the same "no man" who cannot open the sealed book in Revelation 5.
- Turning point. Verse 16 is the hinge of the prophecy: the pleading of chapters 58–59 ends here, and the glory of chapter 60 follows from it.
- His own arm. No help existed, so the rescue owes nothing to man. God's glory in action becomes grace, even while judgment falls on the wicked.
- Reach. Commentators place the fulfilment in Israel's future rescue. It comes by judgment on the nations, not by preaching, and it is not the hope of heaven.
- Result. The gap is filled. There is a Man at God's right hand who always lives to intercede. So having nothing of your own becomes the plea He never refuses.
And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance [for] clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
Isaiah 59 has just described a nation in ruins: sin, violence, and no justice anywhere. Now God Himself steps in as a warrior, and the armour He puts on tells us what He has come to do.
God arms Himself because the search for a human deliverer came up empty. One writer sets that emptiness beside a scene in Revelation.
Verses 17 and 18 of our chapter speak of the judgment that must be carried out by the Arm of the Lord. There is "no man" who can act and step in as an intercessor, just as earlier we saw that "none calls for justice." No man has any merit. No man is able to act to put things right. We meet this second fact again in very striking form in Revelation 5. There "no man" was found worthy to take the book of judgment and break its seals — except the Lamb who had been slain.
Man's hopeless state does not drive God away. It is the very thing that calls Him in.
But such utter moral chaos, hopeless for man, was the call for Jehovah's intervention... This is the picture of God's mighty intervention for His people in the last days. It is nothing like what He will do for the heavenly saints. Those He will take from the scene of their pilgrimage up to heaven. His earthly people He will deliver from their enemies by judgment in that day.
The armour is not only protection. One writer looks at what each piece says about the One wearing it.
There is no question about His justice and His uprightness. In righteousness He judges and makes war. Along with His holy fury, His "righteousness sustains Him." His bright breastplate sparkles with it. His very words "speak in righteousness." His glorious garments shine with truth and justice. His armour is the armour of light! But see the shining helmet on His head, telling us what is in His thoughts! It is the "helmet of salvation"; yes, His "glorious Arm" is lifted up to "bring salvation." He is the Mighty to Save.
The last garment is zeal. One writer reads it through the story of Ruth, where Boaz acted as the kinsman who could rescue her.
When the Lord sees that there is no man, when He wonders that there is no intercessor, then His own arm will bring salvation... the nearest kinsman will fail in that day... "Then the Lord will be jealous for His land, and pity His people: then He will put on zeal as a cloak," and He will appear to bring repayment in Zion's cause. As the true Boaz, He will not rest till He "has finished the thing." He will not rest till He clothes her with garments of salvation, and rejoices over her as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride.
The same coming lands two ways, depending which side of it you stand on.
In the day when He brings light and liberty to Israel, He will come in power and majesty... But though this brings blessing to Israel, it will mean "fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies" (Isa. 59:17-18). This will free Israel from oppression, and cause the fame of the Lord to spread abroad.
The apostle Paul quotes the closing lines of this chapter. That quotation fixes when all of this happens.
Here I follow the apostle's own reading of this passage in Romans 11. The way he applies it is of immense importance. He says it applies to the restoration of Israel, after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. That is, to the glory of the nation after the end of the era of the church.
The believer wears the same two pieces of armour. But they do not mean the same thing.
With Christ it is the righteousness He carries out in judgment, and the salvation He brings as the deliverer of His people. With us it is the righteousness and salvation we have in Him. If righteousness is the breastplate that guards the heart from doubt, the helmet is the crowning piece of the armour. It lets the believer hold his head up in the fight — the settled knowledge of a full and certain salvation.
- No man. No one had merit and no one had power to put things right. That empty search is what calls out God's own arm.
- He put on. Righteousness is His breastplate, salvation His helmet. The helmet shows His thinking, and His thinking is to save.
- Zeal. He wraps Himself in zeal like a cloak and, as the true kinsman-redeemer, will not rest until the work is finished.
- Two sides. One coming, two outcomes: freedom for His oppressed people, repayment for His enemies — and His fame spreading everywhere.
- Our turn. The believer wears the same two pieces today. Ours are the righteousness and salvation we have in Him, not ones we carry out ourselves.