The prophet Isaiah proclaims that YHWH forgives sinners for his own sake:
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25
Isaiah further teaches that YHWH could not find any one righteous and worthy enough to save and intercede, and so was left with no choice but to bring about judgment and salvation by himself, by his own Arm:
“So it is that truth is missing; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself plunder. Then Yahweh saw, And it was evil in His eyes that there was no justice. And He saw that there was NO MAN, And was astonished that there was NO ONE to intercede; Then His OWN ARM brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to what they deserve, so He will pay in full, Wrath to His adversaries, what is deserved to His enemies; To the coastlands He will pay what they deserve. So they will fear the name of Yahweh from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of Yahweh makes flee. And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,’ declares Yahweh. ‘As for Me, this is My covenant with them,’ says Yahweh: ‘My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed,’ says Yahweh, ‘from now and forever.’” Isaiah 59:15-21
Arm is being used metaphorically to refer to God’s own infinite, uncreated power. The point being that YHWH brought salvation by his own power.
At the same time, the prophet preaches that the Servant of YHWH is sent to make atonement for the sins of the world by offering his soul as a sin offering, wherein he bears the transgressions of the peoples, and lives to justify and intercede for them. The reason why the Servant is able to do the very things which YHWH alone does, and which no mere creature can do, is because Isaiah identifies him as the very Arm of YHWH himself!
“Who has believed our report? And to whom has THE ARM of Yahweh been revealed? For HE grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him? So His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
“But Yahweh was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If You would place His soul as a guilt offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many, And He will divide the spoil with the strong; Because He poured out His soul to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:1-12
Since the Servant is described as YHWH’s very own Arm this means that the Servant is no mere creature. Rather he himself must be truly divine since YHWH’s Arm refers to God’s uncreated, eternal Power. As such, the Servant is depicted as being both truly God and truly human, since he must be human for him to die for the sins of humanity.
Lo and behold this is precisely what the NT writings teach concerning Christ! I.e., Jesus is God’s uncreated Power and infinite Wisdom who became flesh in order to die for the salvation of the world:
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ THE POWER of God and THE WISDOM of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18-24
Elsewhere in the NT God’s Power is said to be both eternal and divine:
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20
“seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3
Since Jesus is God’s Power this means that he is both eternal and divine. Note the logic behind this argument:
- God’s Power is eternal (uncreated) and divine.
- Jesus is God’s Power who became flesh.
- Jesus is, therefore, eternal (uncreated) and divine.
Th readers can now appreciate why Jesus, as the Servant prophesied in Isaiah 53 (Cf. Matt. 8:16-17; Luke 22:37; Acts 8:30-38; 1 Peter 2:21-25), can do what the prophet explicitly stated only YHWH does and is able to do. Jesus is not a mere creature but rather he is the very uncreated Arm/Power of YHWH who became Man for the redemption of God’s people.
This also explains why John could take the following depiction of YHWH Almighty,
“Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His clothing, Marching in the greatness of His power? ‘It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.’ Why is Your clothing red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? ‘I have trodden the wine trough ALONE, And from the peoples there was NO MAN with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My clothes. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come. I looked, and there was NO ONE to help, And I was astonished, and there was NO ONE to uphold; So My OWN ARM brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me. I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I brought down their lifeblood to the earth.’” Isaiah 63:1-6
And apply that to describe the Lord Jesus Christ in his coming back to the earth to judge the living and the dead:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; having a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself,and being clothed with a garment dipped in blood, His name is also called The Word of God.And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty.And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’” Revelation 19:11-16 – Cf. 17:14; 1 Tim. 6:14-16
Like Isaiah, John knew that Jesus must be YHWH God Incarnate, the very Arm/Power of YHWH God the Father, in order to be able to do what he does, which is something that only God Almighty is capable of doing!
All scriptural references are taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).
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