Isaiah 63:7-9; Not with Angels, But With You

"I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 8 For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely”; and he became their savior 9 in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old."

Introduction

It is a good thing that the OT lesson for this week is only a few wonderfully affirming verses (even if there is a textual problem in v. 9) that fit nicely into the context of Christmas. The Lord's great deeds save us. The image of God lifting us up and carrying us are among the most comforting Biblical images. They remind us of the striking description of God in Ex. 19:4,

"You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself."

In fact, the entire passage of Is. 63:1-9 might profitably be seen as an expanded commentary on Ex. 19:4. In Exodus God judged the Egyptians and brought the people to God; in Isaiah God has just gotten finished trampling the Edomites, and now God bears the people of Israel all the days.

But I said that it is a good thing that our reading is so "simple" this week. Why? Because if we strayed very far outside the safe boundaries of 63:7-9, we run into amazingly bleak and bloody images. There is, for example, the dialogue between the sentry and God in 63:1-6, after God has just returned from mopping up in Edom, with garments stained with blood. The sentry asks God what God has been up to. Answer? Utterly crushing the people of Edom. The imagery provided the basis for the first verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic; it is unrelentingly gruesome.

But we are in Christmastide now, and there will be no talk of blood and dripping garments. I only will say a few things about the text bolded above. To that end I will mention the memory of God's deeds, the importance of not being false and, finally, the redemptive deeds themselves.

Memory

Christmas season is a time for memories, good and bad. We don't seem to be able to get to one without the other. There is no biblical author more aware of this than the writer of these words. Yet, he chooses just to focus on the good news for today. The structure of the Hebrew of v. 7 is arresting. The word "remember" or "recount" appears as the middle word of five; literally it runs, "mercies"/"of the Lord"/ "recount"/"praiseworthy acts"/"of the Lord." The word "recount" or "remember" anchors the entire thought. Today let's celebrate the liberating and life-giving force of memory. The memories here are couched in the most general terms--but the Hebrew word used is gml, "benefitted" or "recompensed." As commentator John Oswalt says:

"This verb (gamal) is profoundly relational, expressing the idea of treatment in response to an action" (Isaiah 40-66), p. 605.

One other appearance of this word is in Ps. 116:7:

"Return, O my soul, to your rest,/
for the Lord has dealt bountifully (gamal) with you.

Memory, then, seeps through the filter of bounty. That, perhaps, is the message for this Christmas time. Recall the bountiful memories and celebrate them today.

Not Being False

Let's walk through the words one by one in v. 8, for they end with this interesting statement about the people of God--who will not deal falsely. The Hebrew says, "And he said, 'Surely these are my people; sons do not do false things,' and he was a Savior for them." I will deal below with the question of where the thought of v. 8 ends. But let's pause for a second on the notion that the children of God don't act falsely. It really is quite a statement, one that is somewhat unexpected. We might have thought that God would save because of the divine commitment to the covenant, to the divine promise, to the honor of the divine name. But here the people of God are known as those who don't act falsely. The verb shaqar only appears a handful of times in the OT, but the noun, lie (shaqar), appears dozens of times. That, then, should be the characterization of the people of God that stays with us, that should define our lives. We are dedicated to being people who will not act falsely.

Isaiah doesn't help us by defining any more specifically what that means. Suffice it to say that acting falsely is a contextual concept, and might not always be easy to define. Yet, for each one of us, we ought to seek the level of engagement with the world and others that enables us not to live and act falsely. Some jobs would be too much for us; some of them aren't challenging enough. Find that place in life where you don't need to act falsely, and see if this isn't the place where you can flourish.

The Redemptive Deeds

If anyone can tell you with confidence that s/he has the definitive translation of the end of v. 8 and the first half of v. 9, that person probably is wrong. There are two equally good translations, one which stresses the sort of "Hebrews 2 flavor" of this passage (not with angels that God has to do..), and one that emphasizes the distress language at the end of v. 8. The NRSV chooses the first alternative in translation. But, whichever one we take, we see that the focus is on the intense words of love and care, of redemption and salvation, of lifting up and carrying of the people of God by God. It is God's love and compassion that motivated the deliverance. And, that is the message for us today. We have seen, right before our eyes, God's enfleshment for our benefit. We have experienced the redemptive deeds. Let's celebrate that today, with joy and gratitude.

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