Isaiah 63:4 is a very thought-provoking sentence that mentions the words “the day of vengeance” and “the year of my redeemed”.
To begin with, the subject of this sentence is Jesus Christ, the Son of man.
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
Isaiah 63:1
Ruth of Moab is the great-grandmother of David (ref. Ruth 4:17), and so she is an ancestor of the Son of man, Jesus Christ (ref. Luke 1:31-32, 3:23-32; Matthew 1:5-16). Moab is essentially Edom, or at least it is nearby. It follows then that the Son of man does in a way come from Edom (ref. Isaiah 63:1).
Besides that, it is Jesus Christ that speaks in righteousness and is mighty to save (ref. Isaiah 63:1).
Furthermore, at his Second Coming, Jesus Christ will be clothed in red (ref. Isaiah 63:2), a vesture dipped in blood (ref. Revelation 19:13). The colour red represents the winepress of God (ref. Revelation 14:19-20).
Wherefore are thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
Isaiah 63:2-3
Now, the Son of man will tread the winepress of the wrath of God, for the day of vengeance is in his heart, and that day is the time of his redemption.
For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
Isaiah 63:4
This begs the question, why would God who is already holy have to be redeemed?
Indeed, the point is so important that it is repeated in the very next verse.
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
Isaiah 63:5
Since the expression “the arm of the LORD” refers to Jesus Christ (ref. Isaiah 53:1), Isaiah 63:5 is saying, Jesus Christ is to bring salvation unto the LORD.
Again, why would God ever need a saviour to bring salvation unto him?
The answer is as follows.
To understand, it is necessary to keep in mind the concept of the Trinity and also the metaphor of “the body of Christ”, an expression that refers to Christians collectively as the apostle Paul explained (ref. Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:12-13).
The body of Christ is a body of which Christ is the head (ref. Ephesians 5:23), and a body which lives because of the crucified blood of the Son of man (ref. Revelation 1:5, Isaiah 53).
Since Jesus Christ is God, being one with the Father and the Holy Spirit (ref. 1 John 5:7), the body of Christ is in essence the Father or the LORD, or at least it will be so one day.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1 John 5:7
Remember, on the day of the LORD, Christians will be reaped and made holy. At that time, Christians who have died will be resurrected, and Christians who are alive will be changed (ref. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53). To put it another way, at that time, Christians will be “born again” (ref. 1 Peter 1:23).
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
John 3:6-7
The born again will not merely be immortal and incorruptible, but also holy. By holy, I mean the Holy Spirit, which is also described as “the morning star”.
And I will give him the morning star.
Revelation 2:28
For this reason, after the reaping of the harvest, Christians will be one with God, literally one body in agreement with Christ.
Now, on the day of the LORD, Jews also will be a part of this body, for they too will have been baptised by the Holy Spirit even though they remain in human form (ref. Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16, Joel 2:28-29, Zechariah 12:10).
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13
To repeat the point using another metaphor, Christians and Jews are to be grafted into the same olive tree (ref. Romans 11), a tree that is supported by “a root of Jesse” (ref. Isaiah 11:10, Romans 15:12), which is Jesus Christ.
The Jews that are to be grafted in, or the part of Israel that is the elect of God, will be redeemed on the day of the LORD.
The redemption of this elect of Israel explains the words of Luke 21:27-28, “lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh”.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luke 21:27-28
Furthermore, it explains “the Redeemer”, a title of Jesus Christ.
And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 59:20
Returning to the metaphor of the body of Christ, when the elect of Israel is redeemed on the day of the LORD, it will be as if God himself has been redeemed. Once more, this is because all who are saved are members of the same body of Christ!
It is precisely this that explains the expressions “the year of my redeemed” and “mine own arm brought salvation unto me”.
To carry the metaphor of the body of Christ further, the Bible explains that wives are to submit to their husbands, for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church and also the saviour of the body.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word
Ephesians 5:22-26
It is widely known that Christ is the bridegroom, and Christians collectively are the bride of Christ (ref. Revelation 18:23, Matthew 25:1).
In Revelation 19, the day of the LORD, or the Second Coming of the Son of man, is described as “the marriage of the Lamb”, a time of rejoicing.
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 19:7-8
This rejoicing at the time of the marriage of the Lamb is pictured in the Christmas carol: “Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let earth receive her King!”.
Now, the Bible also says that the elect of Israel is likewise the bride of Christ (ref. Joel 2:15-16) because the words “bridegroom” and “bride” are also mentioned in the context of Israel just before the day of the LORD, just before the kingdom of God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity for his people.
Joel 2:15-18
It is this metaphor of the bridegroom and the bride that explains why the worship of other gods, the sin of breaking the first commandment, is likened to fornication (ref. Revelation 17:2), harlotry (ref. Revelation 17:5), and whoring (ref. Exodus 34:15).
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
Exodus 34:14-17
If faith in Jesus Christ or God the Father equals marital fidelity, then turning to other gods equals adultery.
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
Matthew 16:4
About spiritual adultery and fornication, have you noticed that every sect of Christianity that has ever emerged from the US is outright heretical?
The Jehovah’s Witnesses was founded by Charles Taze Russell, a Freemason.
The Mormons, or the Latter Day Saints, was founded by Joseph Smith, who claimed to have received the Book of Mormon from an angel called Moroni, a book that the Mormons say is “another testament of Jesus Christ”.
The Seventh-day Adventists, which was founded by Ellen G White, a self-proclaimed prophetess who claimed to have received divine dreams, teaches that hell does not exist.
Pentecostalism, which insists that its ministers have the supernatural power to heal and speak in tongues, also originated in the US.
Not to mention today’s “prosperity gospel” types, a quintessentially American theology, which teaches that church-going is all about receiving “financial blessings”.
I mean, it is no wonder that Mystery Babylon is described as the mother of harlots, the one with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.
… I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication… And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.
Revelation 17:1-5
Now, the Bible reads that, in a marriage, the husband and the wife are to become one flesh, and that this is a great mystery concerning Christ and the church (ref. Ephesians 5:32).
… and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:31-32
By one flesh, what is meant is that when Christians are born again, and when the elect of Israel is redeemed, both will literally be a part of the body of Christ. That is to say, both will have the Holy Spirit, the same spiritual flesh, as it were, of God. This is the mystery concerning Christ and the church.
It goes without saying that on the day of the LORD, Christendom will be corrected and rebuilt from the ground up, with Jesus Christ being the head stone of the corner.
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
Psalms 118:22-23
Christendom must be corrected and unified, because it is Bible prophecy that in these last days, Christendom is astray, even in apostasy (ref. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 2 Timothy 4:3-4). Today, every denomination is wrong in some way. Some more so than others. And needless to say, right now Christendom is not unified. There is no “unity of the faith” (ref. Ephesians 4:13).
Despite Christendom being astray in these last days, on the day of the LORD, Christians everywhere will be reaped. This means, there must be some denominations that are Christian enough to pass the test.
Certainly, those who read from a correct translation of the Bible, the true Word of God, have a better understanding than others.
Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
Isaiah 34:16
But the Bible also hints that Coptic Christians are not necessarily lost (ref. Isaiah 19:20). Neither are Orthodox Tewahedo, another denomination that stems from Eastern Orthodox (ref. Psalms 72:10). Nor are Anglicans and Presbyterians (ref. Psalms 72:10). Baptists and the like derive from English Protestantism. Perhaps even Catholics can be counted among the saved (ref. Matthew 16:18).
Since variants of Eastern Orthodox are on the list, it must be that Russian Orthodox is also Christian enough.
In Russia last year, a new cathedral called the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, which is dedicated to the achievements of the Red Army during WW2, was consecrated (ref. 1). Rightly so I say, because the Red Army of the USSR, which defeated Nazi Germany, did indeed fight for the LORD of hosts, and for the glory of God.
About the cathedral, it is remarkable that an image of Stalin, which was meant to be on one of its walls, was removed at the last minute because of a request from Vladimir Putin (ref. 2). For those who don’t know, Stalin, though he led the USSR during WW2, was a Freemason. Stalin was fond of putting his right hand inside his coat, the same occult way that Napoleon Bonaparte of France and William Ewart Gladstone of Britain did. It is for this reason that the American Franklin Delano Roosevelt, another renowned Freemason, agreed to lend lease.
By the way, Russia, which was once a viking country, was made Christian by a namesake of Putin, Vladimir I of Kievan Rus. Before Vladimir I, Christianity reached the area because of the apostle Andrew.
With regard to graven images of things in heaven, and the fondness for icons in Russian Orthodox, my reading of the second commandment is that one should not bow down to idols and graven images that represent a god other than the LORD, for there is no God other than the LORD. If rather a church glorifies and honours the LORD or Jesus Christ, surely that is right. It is images for the worship of any of the host of heaven that is pretending to be a god that is wrong.
Manasseh… he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them… And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom… and used witchcraft… And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God…
2 Chronicles 33:1-7
Recently, in New York, a statue of a jaguar with wings was put at the United Nations (ref. 3). This statue, “the guardian for international peace and security”, quite possibly symbolises a particular rebellious angel associated with Babylon (ref. Daniel 7:4). As such, it is an idol (ref. Jeremiah 50:2, 50:38).
Having settled the matter of icons, I should quickly do the Filioque controversy as well, which pertains to the complex idea of the Trinity.
Who is right and who is wrong about the Filioque that split east and west comes down to what was intended by the addition to the Nicene creed of the words “and from the Son”.
If it is as the east insists, that the Filioque was to revise and cast doubt on John 15:26, which says only that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, then the east is right.
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me
John 15:26
If it is as the west insists, that the Filioque was to make sure that Arianism would be forever heretical, then the west is right.
Arianism is indeed a dangerous heresy because Jesus Christ is not equal to the angels.
For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Hebrews 1:5
Rather, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, “the firstborn of every creature” (ref. Colossians 1:15-17). And Jesus Christ is also the creator of everything, including angels (ref. Isaiah 41:25).
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible… And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church…
Colossians 1:15-17
… and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
Isaiah 41:25
So, the Holy Spirit is from the Father (ref. John 15:26, John 14:28), and the Son is also begotten of the Father (ref. 1 John 4:9), but the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of the Son, which is something many miss (ref. Galatians 4:6-7).
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 4:6-7
To repeat the point, The Word of God is the Holy Spirit.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Revelation 19:13
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 1:20-21
The fact that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son explains why the Son of man had to leave so that the Holy Spirit could come unto the early Christians.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:7
I should also quickly mention that God the Father is also a Spirit (ref. John 4:24, Matthew 16:17), and the Father, which the world will come to know at the time of Gog and Magog over a thousand years from now (ref. Ezekiel 38:23), is greater than the Son, Jesus Christ (ref. John 14:28, 10:29). This further explains that the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father.
Never forget either that the early Christians were given the Holy Spirit because the canon of the Bible had not yet form. Indeed, one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit back then was to form the Bible. It is wrong to assume that Christians today have the Holy Spirit because of the words of Paul about the Holy Spirit and Christians.
Now, putting it all together: When Christians and Jews receive the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ will form, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son of God. This will happen at the time of the marriage of the Lamb, around the time of the reaping of the harvest, or the day of the LORD, which is also around the time of the wrath and vengeance of God. When the elect of Israel is redeemed, God himself will be redeemed, because the body of Christ will be realised.
All this explains the prophecy of Isaiah 63:4
For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
Isaiah 63:4
The day of the LORD is the day of vengeance because the war, or the contest, even the duel, is one between God and Satan.
The fact of the matter is that Satan and the angels that are with him have corrupted Israel, so now is the time of vengeance.
The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth…
Zephaniah 2:11
For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Luke 21:22
References:
1. “The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces”, youtube.com/watch?v=3JfQWfhNErw
2. Reuters (15 June 2020), “Russia inaugurates cathedral without mosaics of Putin, Stalin”, reuters.com
3. Steve Warren (10 December 2021), “UN Sculpture Looks a Lot Like the End Times Beast Referred to in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13”, cbn.com