Isaiah 59:17

There was no man. In the crisis that had risen there was none able to provide relief (see Eze. 22:30). There was none to stay the threatened scourge, as did Aaron and Moses (Num. 16:47, 48), or Phinehas (Num. 25:7, 8). From a human point of view the situation appeared hopeless. Help must come from God, as it did in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and repeatedly throughout the wilderness wanderings and the occupation of the Promised Land. God would work for His own name’s sake and for the sake of His stricken people.

No intercessor. Or, “no one to intervene” (RSV), that is, on behalf of Israel. They were estranged from the heavenly Father, and in dire need of help (see on vs. 1, 2, 9).

His righteousness. It is divine mercy that moves the Omnipotent One to intervene in behalf of His beleaguered people. The crisis that confronted Judah in the days of Isaiah, and later, threatened the nation with utter extinction. But, as so often in the book of Isaiah, Inspiration draws from the more immediate crisis a lesson of the most profound import concerning the great conflict between good and evil. It is not only Judah that is involved, but all mankind. The utter helplessness of Judah before her enemies is here set forth as an example of the helplessness of the entire human race in its struggle against sin and the forces of evil. Without divine intervention man has no hope. Christ therefore offers Himself a ransom for many and enters upon the arduous pathway of conflict that will lead Him eventually to the cross.