Isaiah 64 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 64

64:1   Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2   ¹ as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
  to make your name known to your adversaries,
    and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3   When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4   From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
  no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.
5   You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways.
  Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?²
6   We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
  We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7   There is no one who calls upon your name,
    who rouses himself to take hold of you;
  for you have hidden your face from us,
    and have made us melt in³ the hand of our iniquities.
8   But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
    we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
9   Be not so terribly angry, O LORD,
    and remember not iniquity forever.
    Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10   Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolation.
11   Our holy and beautiful⁴ house,
    where our fathers praised you,
  has been burned by fire,
    and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12   Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD?
    Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Footnotes

[1] 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Hebrew
[2] 64:5 Or in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved
[3] 64:7 Masoretic Text; Septuagint, Syriac, Targum have delivered us into
[4] 64:11 Or holy and glorious

Commentary

v1-4: Continuing the prayer from 63.15-19. God's power and ability are never in question. He could part the Red Sea again, He could rend the heavens and come down.

v1: See Ex 19.6; 2 Pet 3.10; Israel's prayer and desire, to God at work again, demonstrating His power, and restoring His people.

The writer trusts in God's goodness and faithfulness, and cries out for his people.

God's mightiest work was when the heavens were parted so that His Son could come down; the temple veil was rent, and God's presence made accessible to man; we can be with Him. It is one thing to know God's power; it is better to know His presence.

v2: Creation responds to God's intervention; as heat makes water boil. The prayer here is that God's power makes the nations tremble and fear Him.

v3: God had come down before, when it was not expected. He does not work to our timetable (55.8-9), yet we must genuinely welcome His intervention.

v4: Only one true God, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Isaiah refers us back to the inability of idols (46.5-7) but that argument is now settled; there is no more discussion.

v5: See Jer 8.20; concern for others, no selfish desire only for personal blessings.

The Lord has His demands; should we ask for great blessings for ourselves, without a genuine commitment to godly living? The great need is that we "gladly do right," in joyful obedience to Him.

v6-7: The need for repentance;

recognising that we have fallen short, and are unclean and filthy;
our sins bring consequences; Israel was shrivelled like a leaf, swept away by the Lord;
the lack of desire for God;
recognition that God does not hear sinners, Ps 66.18; John 9.31.

v8: Casting ourselves upon God's mercy. We are the clay, and He the potter; we are the work of His hands; He is active in our lives, and is good to us.

He is our Father (63.16; Heb 12.9-10), so we can have total confidence in Him; he knows how to give good gifts to His children (Luke 11.13).

v9: The people cry out, "We are all your people." Here is a further expression of confidence in God.

v10-11: Desperate current situation; reminiscent of Lamentations and Ezra; what was once glorious and holy was now desert and desolate.

v12: The Lord is committed to His people, and there must be confidence that He will act on their behalf.