Isaiah 63:10

Israel's ingratitude. "But they resisted and vexed His Holy Spirit: then He turned to be their enemy; He made war upon them." Not only has ועצּבוּ (to cause cutting pain) קדשׁו את־רוּח as its object, but מרוּ has the same (on the primary meaning, see at Isa 3:8). In other cases, the object of merōth (hamrōth) is Jehovah, or His word, His promise, His providence, hence Jehovah himself in the revelations of His nature in word and deed; here it is the spirit of holiness, which is distinguished from Him as a personal existence. For just as the angel who is His face, i.e., the representation of His nature, is designated as a person both by His name and also by the redeeming activity ascribed to Him; so also is the Spirit of holiness, by the fact that He can be grieved, and therefore can feel grief (compare Eph 4:30, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God"). Hence Jehovah, and the angel of His face, and the Spirit of His holiness, are distinguished as three persons, but so that the two latter derive their existence from the first, which is the absolute ground of the Deity, and of everything that is divine. Now, if we consider that the angel of Jehovah was indeed an angel, but that he was the angelic anticipation of the appearance of God the Mediator "in the flesh," and served to foreshadow Him "who, as the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), as "the reflection of His glory and the stamp of His nature" (Heb 1:3), is not merely a temporary medium of self-manifestation, but the perfect personal self-manifestation of the divine pânı̄m, we have here an unmistakeable indication of the mystery of the triune nature of God the One, which was revealed in history in the New Testament work of redemption. The subject to ויּהפך is Jehovah, whose Holy Spirit they troubled. He who proved…

In this chapter we have, I. God coming towards his people in ways of mercy and deliverance, and this is to be joined to the close of the foregoing chapter, where it was said to Zion, "Behold, thy salvation comes;" for here it is shown how it comes (Isa 63:1-6). II. God's people meeting him with their devotions, and addressing themselves to him with suitable affections; and this part of the chapter is carried on to the close of the next. In this we have, 1. A thankful acknowledgment of the great favours God had bestowed upon them (Isa 63:7). 2. The magnifying of these favours, from the consideration of God's relation to them (Isa 63:8), his compassionate concern for them (Isa 63:9), their unworthiness (Isa 63:10), and the occasion which it gave both him and them to call to mind former mercies (Isa 63:11-14). 3. A very humble and earnest prayer to God to appear for them in their present distress, pleading God's mercy (Isa 63:15), their relation to him (Isa 63:16), their desire towards him (Isa 63:17), and the insolence of their enemies (Isa 63:18, Isa 63:19). So that, upon the whole, we learn to embrace God's promises with an active faith, and then to improve them, and make use of them, both in prayers and praises.

63:10 But they rebelled: See also 1:2, 4; 59:1-15; Pss 78, 106. • Persistent disobedience and unbelief grieved his Holy Spirit (Ps 106:33; Matt 12:32; Mark 3:29). • he became their enemy: Examples include Israel’s period of wandering in the wilderness (see the book of Numbers), the period of the judges (see the book of Judges), and the period leading up to the Exile (see the book of Jeremiah).