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"The Angel of His presence"

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CHAPTER 63 Ju1. 7 
Punishment upon the Nations
Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2Why are you red in your clothing, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat? 3I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the peoples there was no man with Me: yes, I trod them in My anger, and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I have stained all My clothing. 4For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. 5I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore My own arm brought salvation to Me; and My wrath, it upheld Me. 6I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
The Lord's Mercy on Israel
7I will make mention of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His grace. 8For He said, Surely, they are My people, children who will not deal falsely: so He was their Saviour. 9In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity he redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. 10But they rebelled and grieved His holy spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He Himself fought against them. 11Then He remembered the days of old, Moses and His people, saying, Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His holy spirit in their midst? 12Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? Who divided the waters before them, to make Himself an everlasting name? 13Who led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble? 14As the cattle that go down into the valley, the spirit of Yahweh caused them to rest; so You led Your people, to make Yourself a glorious name.
A Prayer for Mercy
15Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of Your holiness and of Your glory: where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts? The yearning of Your heart and Your compassion is restrained toward me. 16For You are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us: You, Yahweh, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name. 17O Yahweh, why do You make us to err from Your ways, and harden our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your inheritance. 18Your holy people possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary. 19We have become as they over whom You never bear rule, as those who were not called by Your name.

Commentary


63:3 Here and in :5 we have a window into the loneliness of Jesus on the cross, where His clothing was made red with His own blood.
63:8 Israel did deal falsely with God, but His hope- a blind hope which was born of the extent of His love for them- was that they would not deal falsely with Him. This positive hopefulness of God for His people should be seen in us too.
63:10 His holy Spirit- God makes His Angels spirits (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:7), and the reference here and in :11 is to the Angel who went with Israel on their wilderness journey as the special manifestation of Yahweh, the “Angel of His presence” (:9). The New Testament promises of “the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit” are full of allusion to this part of Isaiah 63. The Comforter would teach (Jn. 14:26), guide (Jn. 16:13), be a judge (16:8) and prophesy (16:13); the Angel guided Israel through the wilderness, taught them God's ways, judged Egypt and the Canaanites, gave prophecies, and represented God to Israel as the Comforter represented Jesus to His people.  As the church  began a new Exodus and was constituted God's Kingdom in prospect as Israel were at Sinai, it was fitting that it should also have an Angel leading them, representing God to them. As Israel were led by a special Angel through the wilderness, whom Isaiah 63 associates with God's Holy Spirit, so the new Israel were led by a Holy Spirit Angel, the Comforter, who was sent to the church by Jesus after His assuming of all power over the Angels on His ascension. The Jewish fathers resisted the Angel of the presence which went with them; and so the Jews of the first century did just the same (Acts 7:51). The Holy Spirit is the power of God, not a person, but it is sometimes personified; one reason for that may be that it worked in the first century through this Comforter Angel of the Lord’s presence. 
63:16 Israel does not acknowledge us- We have here the heart cry of the righteous remnant, rejected by the majority of God’s people and feeling God too is somehow distant from them. This has been a common experience amongst the righteous over history.