Isaiah 63:8

8 And the Lord said, Nevertheless it is my people, sons not denying (me), and (so) he was made a saviour to them, (And the Lord said, Yea, they be my people, and my sons and daughters shall not deceive me, and so he was made their Saviour,)

Isaiah 63:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 63:8

For he said, surely they are my people
Not in common with the rest of mankind, being his creatures, and the care of his providence; but his special people, whom he had chosen to be such, and had made a covenant with; he had avouched them for his people, and they had avouched him to be the Lord their God; and this covenant interest was the ground and foundation of the actual donation and application of all the blessings of grace and goodness to them before mentioned. These are the words of Jehovah himself, related by the prophet; and are applicable to all the elect of God, whom he has chosen in Christ; taken into the covenant of grace made with him; and who appear manifestly to be his peculiar people by their effectual calling; when it is a sure and certain thing, that they, who were not known by themselves or others to be the people of God, are evidently so; and the Lord himself makes no scruple of acknowledging them as such, even though their conduct and behaviour towards him is not altogether as it should be, and which was the case of the people of Israel; however, he is willing to hope well of them, as parents do of their children, speaking after the manner of men, and that they will behave better for the future, being by fresh mercies laid under obligation to him, as he did of Israel of old: children that will not lie;
not the children of Satan, as liars are, who was a liar from the beginning, and the father of lies; as wicked men are, who go astray from the womb, speaking lies; but children of God by adopting grace, and through faith in Christ; and therefore should not lie to God, nor to men, nor to one another, as being unbecoming their relation as children: this opinion the Lord entertains of his children, speaking after the manner of men, that they will not deal deceitfully and hypocritically with him, but serve him in sincerity, and worship him in spirit and in truth; that their hearts will be right with him, and they steadfast in his covenant: thus he hoped well of Israel of old, and so he does of all his spiritual Israel, his special people, and dear children: so he was their Saviour;
in this view and expectation of things, as he is of all men in a providential way, and especially of them that believe; he was the Saviour of literal Israel in a temporal manner, in Egypt, the Red sea, and wilderness; and of his chosen people among them, in a spiritual manner, as he is of all his elect in Christ Jesus; and even though they do not entirely answer the just expectations expressed concerning them.

Isaiah 63:8 In-Context

6 And I defouled peoples in my strong vengeance; and I made them drunken in mine indignation, and I drew down their strength into the earth. (And I defiled the nations in my strong vengeance; and I made them drunk in my indignation, and I poured out their blood onto the ground.)
7 I shall have mind on the merciful doings of the Lord, I shall preach the praising of the Lord, on all things which the Lord [hath] yielded to us, and the multitude of [the] goods of the house of Israel, which he gave to them, by his forgiveness, and by the multitude of his mercies. (I shall remember the merciful doings of the Lord, I shall preach the praises of the Lord, for all the things which the Lord hath given to us, and for the multitude of his goodness to the house of Israel, which he gave to them, by his forgiveness, and by the multitude of his mercies.)
8 And the Lord said, Nevertheless it is my people, sons not denying (me), and (so) he was made a saviour to them, (And the Lord said, Yea, they be my people, and my sons and daughters shall not deceive me, and so he was made their Saviour,)
9 in all the tribulation of them. It was set in tribulation, and the angel of his face saved them. In his love and in his forgiveness he again-bought them, and he bare them, and raised them in all [the] days of the world. (in all their trials and tribulation. For he was set in tribulation with them, and it was not the angel sent from him, but he himself who saved them. In his love and in his forgiveness he redeemed, or he rescued, them, and he carried them, and he raised them up in all the days of the world.)
10 Forsooth they excited him to wrathfulness, and tormented the spirit of his holy; and he was turned into an enemy of them, and he overcame them in battle. (But they rebelled against him, and tormented his Holy Spirit; and he was turned into their enemy, and he defeated them in battle.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.