“And He has put on righteousness as a
breastplate, and a helmet of redemption upon His head. And He has put on
garments of vengeance for clothing, and is covered as with a cloak with zeal.
According to [their] deeds, He has repaid. Fury to His adversaries, their deed
to His enemies, to the islands their deed He has repaid.” (59:17-18)
Again the Prophet remarks with allegories God's ways and attributes as His “garments”, which do not belong to anything different from them. God is not punishing us for our negative actions, for He created us with free will. Therefore He “repay” us by making us aware of the consequences of our actions. That is “wrath”, “jealousy”, “fury” for His “enemies” which are the traits and trends that deny the loving kindness and truth He wants us to chose and live by.
“And they fear from the west the Name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun His glory. As a flood that comes in for an adversary, the Spirit of the Lord as raised an ensign against him.” (59:19)
We have said often that geographical places as well as cities represent beliefs, feelings and emotions. These levels of consciousness are destined to revere (“fear”), respect and admire the goodness of our Creator we know in His Name, for He is good. His ways and attributes are strong in our consciousness once we choose to live by and for them. These are the “flood” that wipes out that which we do not need in our life and the material world. We are referring to evil and negative ways we are not required. God's ways and attributes are the expressions of His Spirit, the raised ensign that goes ahead of Him.
“And a redeemer has come to Zion, and to captives of transgression in Jacob. An affirmation of the Lord.” (59:20)
This verse contains another emblematic statement related to the Final Redemption and the Messianic era in Judaism. God repeats here that He is the Redeemer that came or has come (past tense, in the original Hebrew text), for Zion is the place for the Temple of Jerusalem where God's Presence dwelt in ancient times. In the context of Isaiah's messages, we must understand this verse as a reiteration of God's decreed Redemption since our first exiles. Thus we realize that it is up to us to return to Him and embrace it.
Also in this verse God is telling it to all of us Jews who have transgresses in our inherited identity as the children of Jacob. “In Jacob” means making our negative choices “in” the awareness of who we truly are, and in what God wants from us as His chosen people. This is related to what the Prophet said earlier in this chapter regarding our deliberate choice to transgress the goodness of Love's ways and attributes.
God has announced His Redemption, and we just have to embrace it. Thus we enter the Messianic era, the eternal place and time where His Spirit (His loving kindness and truth) will be always with us, as He has spoken.
“And as for Me, this is My Covenant with them, have said the Lord: 'My Spirit that is upon you and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed, says the Lord, from here and now forever'.” (59:21)
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