But he remembered the days of old, Moses [and] his people Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he that put his holy Spirit within him,
Isaiah 63 turns from judgment on the nations to memory: verse 10 says Israel rebelled and grieved God's Holy Spirit, so the prophet reaches back to Moses and the Red Sea. His question "Where is he?" is prayer, not doubt, and it raises a second one: what does it mean that God put His Holy Spirit in the midst of His people?
Verse 10 has just said the people grieved God's Spirit and He became their adversary. One writer takes the remembering as God's own, and finds the prophet's hope in it.
As Isaiah saw it in his day, what was God's answer to this grieving? God remembered His original doings with Moses, and therefore there was hope in the prophet's heart, and still a basis on which he could appeal to the Lord. Again, verse 12 points to the Arm of the Lord as the One who acted at the Red Sea, and the people saw that God had won a glorious victory.
The remembering here belongs to a section that reads as intercession. The prophet pleads past mercy, confesses present ruin, and looks past his own day.
After the vision of judgment pictured as a grape harvest comes the prophet's prayer for the Israel of God. The godly remnant is hated by its own godless countrymen as much as by the nations, and even more. They recall past mercies, plead their relationship to Jehovah, and confess their sins. Israel had destroyed themselves by their ungrateful, persistent, shameless sin. Who had called them to be His own people? He had not changed, even if Abraham and Israel would not acknowledge them. All of this goes far beyond any past dealings. It makes us look to the end of the age, when Jerusalem will no longer be trampled by the nations.
Older translations read that God put His Holy Spirit "within him," where the ESV reads "in the midst of them." That singular "him" can sound like the Spirit living inside one believer. One writer uses Haggai to settle who the "him" is.
We believe the key to the phrase "who put His Holy Spirit within him" is in Haggai. There we read, "According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst" (Haggai 2:5). So this is not about the Holy Spirit living inside individual believers. Other scriptures show that this could not happen until after Jesus was glorified. (See John 7:39; Acts 2:4.) Look closely at the context in Isaiah, and you will see that the prophet speaks of the Jewish people as a whole, not of individuals. Put this together with Haggai, and we learn that after God redeemed His people out of Egypt, He always worked in the midst of Israel by the power of His Spirit — and in the hearts of His saints too, as their longings for His presence and blessing in the Psalms and Prophets show.
The verses just before describe God saving His people, redeeming them and carrying them. One writer notes what the Spirit's presence rested on, and how long it lasted.
I have pointed to this passage just to show that the Holy Spirit was with them on the ground of redemption, and even then His presence was temporary.
Does this verse prove that the Spirit lived in Old Testament saints as He does in Christians? One writer draws the line at the glorifying of Christ.
Nothing could be clearer than the line the Spirit of God draws in John 7:39 between believers before Christ was glorified and believers since. Before that time, everything ever done in or by a saint or prophet was done by the power of the Spirit acting in that person for the time. Now He lives in the body of the believer, as in a temple (1 Cor. 6:19). He seals him, once he has believed (Eph. 1:14), until the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). He may grieve the Spirit of God, but he never can lose Him.
The rebellion of verse 10 does not stay in ancient history. One writer follows the same charge into the New Testament and weighs how far it went.
Here we have in few words what Stephen amplified and brought up to date, as recorded in Acts 7. Here the prophet has to record that they grieved God's Holy Spirit. Many centuries later Stephen says to them, "You always resist the Holy Spirit." To grieve Him is serious indeed, but to resist Him is fatal.
- Rebellion. The people grieved God's Holy Spirit, and He became their adversary. Centuries later Stephen charged Israel with resisting Him: grieving is serious, resisting is fatal.
- Remembrance. God remembered His doings with Moses, and that memory gave the prophet hope and a basis for appeal.
- Redemption. The Spirit was with Israel on the ground of redemption out of Egypt, and even then His presence was temporary.
- Reach. The older wording "within him" points to the nation, not to one person. The Spirit worked among Israel as a people; He did not live inside individual believers until Jesus was glorified.
- Result. Once the Spirit acted in a person for a time. Now He lives in the believer and seals him: the believer can grieve Him, but can never lose Him.
his glorious arm leading them by the right hand of Moses, dividing the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name,
Isaiah 63 turns from judgment to memory: a ruined people look back at the parting of the sea. That memory raises the question the whole prayer rests on — if God once acted like that, what was He acting for, and can He be asked for it again?
The look back in verse 12 is not nostalgia. It is the opening move of a plea.
Nothing is more suitable than this opening, whether one thinks of Jehovah first or of His people next. Mercies acknowledged lead to fresh mercy. He was not changed in His loving-kindness, nor they in their deep need of it, as only He could show it to them.
Not the whole nation prays this way, but a faithful few. One writer traces the chapter's movement: first judgment on the enemies, then God's goodness recalled.
Then come the ways of God in goodness, and of the people (vv. 8-10). The Spirit of grace in the people — the faithful remnant — is what recalls it now. It turns into the most earnest pleading in faith (v. 15). Then it passes into the fullest confession, and puts the people in Jehovah's hands, like clay in the hands of the potter.
The prophet had firm ground to pray on: God had not forgotten what He did through Moses. The arm named here is the arm that worked at the Red Sea.
God remembered His original dealings with Moses. So there was hope in the prophet's heart, and still a basis on which he could appeal to the Lord. Again, in verse 12, we see the Arm of the Lord as the One who acted at the Red Sea, and the people recognized that God had won a glorious triumph. So, this last time Isaiah mentions the "Arm," he attaches the word "glorious" to His name.
That arm is described across Isaiah in several ways, and its work is always outward-facing.
Scripture calls it His "mighty Arm," His "holy Arm," His "glorious Arm." We see it stretched out for service, and in victorious strength, serving for the glory of God and the blessing of men. It reaches down from above… The nations see it made bare, bringing salvation, and people trust it. As it leads the redeemed, it makes an everlasting name for God in the earth, a glorious name. But to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed now?
God's arm went "at the right hand of Moses." Moses held a rod, but the power in it was not his own. And the aim of the miracle reached past Israel.
Moses lifted up his rod — the emblem of divine power entrusted to him — and the waters of the sea parted. God sent a strong wind, which drove back the sea, heaping it up, while a path spread out before the feet of Israel. In this miracle God purposed that Israel should honour and remember His name forever. He also purposed that the nations of Canaan should know His arm was stretched out to save His people.
God's stated aim was "to make for himself an everlasting name." He earned that name by rescuing.
It was a glory to Jehovah that He made Himself a name as the Deliverer of Israel out of Egypt. He divided the sea to make Himself a glorious Name (Isa. 63:12-14).
Yet the rescue did not settle everything that came after it.
His glorious Arm acted, and so He made for Himself "a glorious name," as well as "an everlasting name." Yet Israel was still under the law, and so the hand of God lay heavily on them in judgment.
"An everlasting name" is the first link in a chain. God's Name runs through this prayer seven times.
Looking right back to the time of Moses, the soul sees Jehovah's glorious Arm working on their behalf… to make Himself "AN EVERLASTING NAME" (v. 12). This is the first of the seven times His Name is mentioned here. Second, it is a "glorious Name" (v. 14). Third, the remnant say, "Your Name is from everlasting" (v. 16). Fourth, the adversaries "were not called by Your Name" (v. 19). Fifth, "make Your Name known to Your adversaries" (Isa. 64:2). Sixth, "there is none that calls upon Your Name" (v. 7). Seventh, Jehovah replies at last: I am sought and found by the Gentiles who were "not called by My Name" (Isa. 65:1).
- Memory — "Mercies acknowledged lead to fresh mercy." The old rescue becomes the ground for asking again.
- Arm — the power that split the sea is God's own "glorious Arm," and this is the last time Isaiah names it.
- Hand — Moses held the rod, but it was only "the emblem of divine power entrusted to him." The leader was the instrument, not the source.
- Name — God's stated aim was His own Name: "He divided the sea to make Himself a glorious Name." He earned it by rescuing.
- Reach — that Name runs through the prayer until Gentiles "not called by My Name" seek Him and find Him.
-- who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, [and] they stumbled not?
This verse sits inside a prayer that looks back to the exodus and asks where that power has gone. Commentators ask what the memory is for, who did the leading, and why a people who had failed are told to recall it.
The closing chapters of Isaiah fall into two parts, and this verse sits in the first:
We now enter on the closing part of this great and varied prophecy. There are two divisions in it. The first runs from Isaiah 63:7 to the end of chapter 64, and it gives us our present theme. It recalls the LORD's grace toward Israel, and then the Spirit, speaking through the prophet, pleads with Him for them in urgent prayer. The second is His answer, which carries us to the end of the book.
The word behind "the depths" is used elsewhere of the deep sea:
In Romans 10:7 "the deep" probably means the deep sea. That quotation comes from Deuteronomy 30:13, which reads, "Who will go over the sea for us?" Other verses also call the sea "the deep", such as Isaiah 51:10 and Isaiah 63:13.
The crossing was as easy as walking on dry ground:
He led them through the depths of the sea, as if it were the dry ground of the wilderness. He redeemed them with His right hand from the enemy; and their enemies were swept away before the returning waters: not one of them was left. Then they believed His word, and sang His praise.
One writer takes verses 12-14 together and names God's aim in them:
So verses 12-14 sum up God's kind dealings with His people. He brought them out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and at last brought them into the land. "His glorious Arm" was at work, and so He made for Himself "a glorious name," as well as "an everlasting name." Yet Israel was still under the law, and so the hand of God lay heavy on them in judgment.
That aim reaches past the exodus, into what God still intends for Israel:
It was a glory to the LORD that He made Himself a name as the Deliverer of Israel out of Egypt. He divided the sea to make Himself a glorious Name (Isaiah 63:12-14)… He will again have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, as His own special praise among the nations.
One writer traces the leading back to the Spirit, and ties it to what Balaam saw:
The Spirit of the LORD was with Israel. Through Him God led them with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them to make Himself an everlasting name. Through Him He led them like a horse in the wilderness, and the Spirit of the Lord gave him rest. (Isaiah 63:11, 14.) So Balaam saw them, the cloud of the LORD's presence resting on the many thousands of Israel.
A later generation saw nothing like that power. One writer faces the difficulty this raises:
In the days of old God gave a mighty display of His power. He "rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up; and He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness." In their own day there was nothing to match that miracle. God had indeed brought them back from Babylon. But no cloud by day and no pillar of fire by night marked their way. No rock was struck to quench their thirst. No manna came to meet their hunger. All the outward signs of power were gone. Yet in the mercy of God the Spirit remained, with the same power. He now showed it not in outward display, but in spiritual power that lifted faith above every enemy.
This is why the prayer looks back at all:
Mercies acknowledged lead to fresh mercy. He was not changed in His loving-kindness, nor they in their deep need of it, as only He could show it to them. Hitherto His love had received no return, nothing but bitter disappointment. Yet what could exceed His tender care?
- Depths. "The deep" means the deep sea. God took His people across the bottom of it as though it were dry desert ground.
- Sure-footed. Like a horse on open ground, they crossed without one stumble. God's right hand redeemed them, and the returning water swept every pursuer away.
- Name. God led them with a stated aim: to make Himself a glorious name and an everlasting name.
- Spirit. The Spirit of the LORD did the leading. The same Spirit who divided the water later gave the people rest.
- Remaining. The cloud, the manna and the divided sea are gone. The Spirit stays, with the same power, working now in faith and not in outward show. So remembered mercy becomes the plea for fresh mercy.
As cattle go down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah gave them rest; so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
Isaiah 63 turns from the coming day of judgment to a long look back. God's people recall how He brought them out of Egypt, carried them through the desert, and settled them in their land. Verse 14 closes that memory with two claims: the rest they found came from the Spirit, and the rescue served God's own name.
This verse sits inside a long thank-you for past mercies. One writer shows why remembering is the right place to start.
Nothing is more suitable than this opening, whether one thinks of Jehovah first or of His people next. Mercies acknowledged lead to fresh mercy. He was not changed in His loving-kindness, nor they in their deep need of it, as only He could show it to them. So far His love had received no return, nothing but bitter disappointment. Yet what could exceed His tender care?
The livestock going down into the valley end a story that began in Egypt. One writer reads verses 12-14 as a summary of that whole story.
Verses 12-14 therefore sum up the kind dealings of God with His people. He brought them out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and at last brought them into the land. "His glorious Arm" was at work, and so He made for Himself "a glorious name," as well as "an everlasting name." Yet Israel was still under the law, and God's hand lay heavy on them in judgment.
The verse credits the rest to the Spirit of the LORD. One writer points out that the Spirit was with Israel from the beginning of the journey as well.
Isaiah records this history in Isaiah 63. In their journeys, "the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them." The presence of the Spirit was likewise among them from the beginning.
Commentators differ on how to describe the Spirit's presence with Israel. One reads the verse as proof that God never took back what He gave at the Exodus, even after the captivity.
The prophet encourages the Jews by telling them that the Spirit was with them when they came out of Egypt, since God granted the Spirit to them at that time. And the Spirit remained, abiding still, despite the captivity… These quotations fit well. They show that the words of Haggai mean this: what God had given when they came out of Egypt was not lost, but still remained with them.
Another writer, reading the same chapter, points to what that presence rested on and how long it lasted.
I have drawn attention to this passage just to show one thing. The Holy Spirit was with them on the ground of redemption, and even then His presence was passing.
Israel fought hard battles before they settled. Yet the verse credits their rest to God, and one writer reads the whole story that way.
And so it was a tale of grace from first to last: grace that delivered them from the sword, grace that sustained them in the wilderness, and grace that brought them safely into the promised rest at the end. They had plenty of hard fighting to do before they could settle in the land of their inheritance. Yet it was, after all, not their own efforts but the grace of their God that brought them into rest: "When I went to cause him to rest," and "the LORD gave them rest on every side" (Joshua 21:44).
The last clause gives the purpose of the whole rescue. One writer traces that same purpose into God's present work.
It was a glory to Jehovah that He made Himself a name as the Deliverer of Israel out of Egypt. He divided the sea to make Himself a glorious Name (Isa. 63:12-14)… He will again have mercy upon Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, as His own special praise among the nations… But, in the meantime, He has marked out for Himself the lines of a new and fairer heritage. He is bringing many sons to glory, by the faith of His rejected Son. In them He takes a richer and deeper interest than in those for whom He once searched out the pleasant land of Canaan.
- Remembered. Looking back on mercy is the right way to ask for more: "Mercies acknowledged lead to fresh mercy."
- Led. The picture spans the whole journey: out of Egypt, through the desert, into the land. All of it was the work of God's glorious arm.
- Accompanied. The Spirit was with them from the start, though commentators differ over whether that presence lasted or was passing.
- Rested. The rest at the end of the road was grace, not achievement: "not their own efforts, but the grace of their God."
- Named. The aim of the whole rescue was God's own glorious name — and that aim runs on now in the many sons He is bringing to glory.