And they shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and from the rising of the sun, his glory. When the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him.
Earlier in this chapter God found no man to step in, so His own arm brought salvation. Verse 19 tells what follows when He acts. Older translations read the second half as an enemy flooding in and the Spirit raising a banner against him, and the writers below work from that reading.
One commentator sets the verse against the sealed book of Revelation, and follows the outcome from west to east:
Verses 17 and 18 of this chapter speak of the judgment that the Arm of the Lord must carry out. There is "no man" who can act as an intercessor, just as earlier we saw that "none calls for justice." No man has any merit, and no man can 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 that had been slain. Revelation shows plainly what these verses indicate. The Arm of the Lord will be clothed in righteousness and salvation. The salvation will reach His people. His righteousness will bring fury and recompense to His adversaries. So from west to east people will fear the name of the Lord and know His glory.
The same writer sees the flood rising on two fronts at once:
Scripture is clear that just before the Redeemer comes to Zion, the enemy will have "come in like a flood." This happens in two ways at once. According to Psalm 2, the kings of the earth and the rulers will have set themselves against the Lord and His Anointed, and hostile nations will target Jerusalem. Alongside that, Satan will have been cast down to earth, as Revelation 12 relates, and spiritual wickedness will reach its climax. But just then, the enemy coming in like a flood, the Spirit of God will act, to raise up a "standard," or "banner," against him.
The ESV wording printed above differs from the readings these writers work with:
The literal translation of Isaiah 59:19 is: "When comes like a flood the foe, the Spirit of Jehovah shall make flee against him …" The J.N.D. Translation gives: "When the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him." These verses show that those who "hope in Your word" do not hope in vain!
A banner is a rallying point, and Isaiah uses the image more than once. Tracing the mentions shows what a raised banner does to the attacker:
The first mention of it is in Isaiah 5:26: "He will lift up a Banner to the nations." The last mention is in Isaiah 62:10: "Lift up a Banner for the peoples"; this is in view of the salvation and blessing of the city. So in Isaiah 49:22. God sets up His Banner to the peoples, and they bring the sons and daughters of Israel to Jerusalem. The next-to-last mention, our own verse, shows an aggressive enemy on the scene. Another place in Isaiah shows the effect of this: the enemy "shall pass over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the Banner, says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem" (Isa. 31:9).
One writer marks the timing here as something to notice:
The enemy comes in like a flood — the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him; note this, for here is a work of the Spirit before the Redeemer comes to Zion. Then the Redeemer comes.
Another writer draws from this a rule for the believer under pressure:
His purpose is to assure the soul. Christ has triumphed over every power of evil. Just as surely, every display of evil only guarantees to us that a far greater power is at hand for us. And the greater the evil opposition, the clearer the power that will overcome and silence it.
One writer asks whether that same work of the Spirit can be seen today:
Are there not signs of a movement of the Spirit among the people of God? They are separating themselves from the vessels to dishonour. They assert that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." They contend "for the faith which was once delivered to the saints." They announce the Gospel in season and out of season, and they look for the coming of the Lord.
- Flood — The enemy arrives at full strength: nations set against the Lord and His Anointed, and spiritual wickedness at its height.
- Banner — Against that flood God raises a rallying standard, and the enemy retreats to his stronghold in fear.
- Before — The Spirit's work comes first; then the Redeemer comes to Zion.
- Alone — No man had merit and no man could act, so the arm of the Lord brings salvation to His people and recompense to His adversaries.
- Everywhere — The result reaches from west to east: His name feared, His glory known.
And the Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah.
Isaiah 59 has described a nation tangled in its own sin, with no one to step in to help. So God's own arm brings salvation, and verse 20 names the result: a Redeemer comes to Zion — but when, and to whom?
One writer ties the "Arm" of verse 16 to the Redeemer here, and finds two comings in view: one past, one still ahead.
In the closing verses of our chapter, the "Arm" of verse 16 is the same as the "Redeemer" of verse 20. Romans 11:26 refers to this verse, and the differences in wording between the two passages teach us something. The Redeemer is now referred to as the Deliverer, for the Arm of the Lord will prove to be both. When He came as the humbled Servant of the Lord He accomplished redemption's mighty work. When He comes to Zion in His glory, He will bring the deliverance that His redemption made possible in righteousness.
The promise rests on something Isaiah announced earlier, in the chapters about the suffering Servant.
These striking chapters are full of promises of a coming redemption by the avenging might of God. Yet in the middle of them we get a most wonderful prediction about something far deeper: redemption by the death of Christ. We read, "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money" (Isa. 52:3). Then comes the heart-moving chapter that pictures the blessed Servant of Jehovah as the suffering, dying One, whose soul Jehovah Himself makes an offering for sin. The Redeemer is going to come "to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression" (Isa. 59:20). This is only possible because He has first redeemed them without money, as the result of the anguish of His soul.
Isaiah says the Redeemer comes to Zion; Paul, quoting it in Romans 11:26, says the Deliverer comes out of Zion. Commentators treat this not as a contradiction but as two halves of one movement.
The apostle cites this verse (Rom. 11:26) as His coming out of Zion. Doubtless both are true and each appropriate in its place. The Redeemer must come to that royal mountain in the Holy Land before He can come out from there.
One writer draws out what this means for the kingdom.
The king must really be in Zion for deliverance to come. The kingdom of Christ must be openly set up in power on the earth.
Some take this promise as already fulfilled, in the church or in a later movement. Kelly answers both from Paul's use of the verse.
The apostle uses this prophecy (Isa. 59:20) in Romans 11:26, and it appears clearly to refute both. It gives us God's key: the future salvation of that Israel which is now the most blinded, the Israel that stumbled at the Stumbling-stone. The timing is made certain too: it is not present, and not past, but future. As the Spirit interprets the prophecy there, we are not to look for it to be fulfilled in the salvation of all Israel until after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. That is only happening now, so it is not yet complete.
Jacob is another name for the people of Israel. Isaiah and Paul word the promise differently, and one writer explains why.
According to Isaiah, He will come "to those in Jacob who turn from transgression." In Romans we read that He "will banish ungodliness from Jacob." Romans tells us what He will do in His delivering might, while Isaiah shows us how He will do it. He will come to the God-fearing in Jacob, when judgment falls on the evildoers.
Kelly describes what happens inside the people themselves.
This is not a mere outward event; the power of the Spirit will go with it. There will be conversion of heart before Jehovah appears in the height of their distress and destroys their foes. But that appearing will deepen all their feelings toward Himself, and bring them into peace and blessing fully and for ever.
The chapters right after this one describe a city flooded with light.
No words could be more beautiful than the description of what follows, set out in Isaiah 60–62. There it can be said, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you." All this follows Isaiah 59:20, when the Redeemer comes to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob.
- Cost — He came first as the humbled Servant and paid the price. Only that redemption makes the coming deliverance possible.
- Coming — He comes to Zion first, and then out of Zion. The King must be in Zion before deliverance goes out from it.
- Clock — The verse is future, not past or present; Romans 11 places it after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
- Company — He comes to those in Jacob already turning from transgression, while judgment falls on the rest.
- Consequence — With the Redeemer in Zion, the chapters that follow open with light risen on the city.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah 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 Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.
The Redeemer has just come to Zion. Now God speaks for Himself and names His covenant: His Spirit and His words, kept in the mouth of His people for three named generations and beyond.
The verse opens with "And as for me," tying it to the Redeemer's coming in the line before. One writer says this rescue is more than outward. Hearts turn before the Lord appears.
On the one hand, this is not only an outward stepping in: the power of the Spirit will go with it. On the other hand, this is not the Spirit acting while the Lord is absent, as He does now in Christianity. "And the Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, says Jehovah" (v. 20). The apostle (Rom. 11:26) quotes it as His coming out of Zion. Both are surely true, and each fits its own place... Their hearts will turn before Jehovah appears, at the worst of their distress, to destroy their enemies.
One writer reads this covenant as the new covenant with Israel, and points to what clears the ground for it.
The apostle quotes verse 20 of this passage in Romans 11, looking to the future restoration of the people... And then He establishes the new covenant with Israel. His Spirit is with His people, and His words are in their mouth, and they would stay with them for ever. Verse 18 and following shows that judgment brings it in.
God speaks of "them," then turns to a singular "you." One writer takes the prophet as the one addressed, with Christ standing in the same place as the people.
From then on the Spirit was in the prophet, and in Christ, for it was the Spirit of Christ in them. Jehovah had also put His words in His mouth, for the One whom Jehovah sent speaks the words of Jehovah. Neither the Spirit nor the words would depart out of the mouth of Israel, the remnant with whom Christ is here identified. The prophet is addressed in this way, and then "nor from his seed" — for that is how they are counted: children God had given him, a seed who should serve Him, keeping the words of Jehovah, by Christ, for ever.
The covenant hands over two things at once.
The last verse of the chapter states how lasting this delivering work is. In it the Lord addresses the prophet as the representative of the nation. In that day they will have two things: "My Spirit" and "My words." When the Spirit of the Lord governs the sons of poor, failing Jacob, so that they walk in obedience to the words of the Lord, their full blessing will have come.
"From this time forth and forevermore" reaches both ways. The Spirit works before the Redeemer comes, and He does not stop after.
This outpouring of the Spirit does not happen only at the start of the thousand-year reign. He works on the souls of the remnant even before Christ comes in judgment. And His presence with the nation after that time is never to cease.
One writer takes "your children's offspring" to cover the children born during Christ's reign. He also draws a sharp line between Israel and the nations.
During the reign all Israel is saved (Jer. 31:31-34; Rom. 11:26), and their seed and seed's seed for ever (Isa. 59:20-21). But it is not so with the nations... As far as we know, Scripture does not say that those born during the thousand years are converted, except those among Israel (Isa. 59:21).
Words kept in the mouth are words spoken out. The next line of the book turns this inward gift outward.
Israel kept every testimony of God, and every revelation of Himself, of His purposes and His ways, by the Spirit in His word... When Israel has received this One, God's purpose of giving out light on earth will be fulfilled in them... The prophetic summons follows at once: "Arise, shine, for your light has come." (Isa. 59:21; Isa. 60:1.)
Jesus rebuked Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher, for not understanding new birth. One writer names this verse among the passages that should have taught him.
The Lord reproaches him, the teacher of Israel, for not knowing these things. As a teacher with Israel for his pupil, he ought to have known them... Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 59:21, Ezekiel 36:25-27 ought to have made the Lord's meaning plain to an intelligent Jew.
- Redeemer first — the covenant follows His coming to Zion. Hearts turn before He appears in judgment.
- Two gifts — the Spirit and the words. Full blessing comes when the Spirit governs and the people obey the words.
- Christ's own — the Spirit and words are Christ's, and the remnant is counted His seed, serving by Him.
- Three generations — the promise runs to the children and their children. It marks Israel out from the nations during Christ's reign.
- Then, shine — words kept in the mouth become light for the earth: "Arise, shine, for your light has come."