ISAIAH CHAPTER 64

SIN REQUIRES PUNISHMENT

 

After having spoken of God’s goodness and past faithfulness to Israel for the sake of His glory in the first verses of chapter 63, Isaiah then began offering a prayer in verse 15 of repentance on behalf of the nation in its dismal condition in verse 15. Just as God came down in fire at Sinai when He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses (Exodus 19:16–19), Isaiah is asking Him to come down again and reveal His awesome power to the rest of the world who trust in dead idols. Then they would see what the living God of Israel can do.[fn] That prayer is continued here in chapter 64.

As Isaiah continues this prayer on behalf of a small number of Jewish people, who will be referred to as a remnant in future verses, let us remember that they’re offering this prayer for the entire Jewish nation, and what we’re reading is taking place around 700 B.C. Jerusalem is in grave danger of being conquered by Assyria and Isaiah has already told the people that they will be going into exile in Babylon in about a hundred years because of their continuous disobedience. Most of the people of Jerusalem scoffed at these words because they felt that God would save them under any circumstances because they were His people and descendants of Abraham. They just didn’t ever seem to want to get God’s message straight. However, as always throughout the history of the Jewish people, there was a small number, a remnant, who did listen and who did believe Isaiah had been speaking for God. It is that remnant in Isaiah’s time for whom Isaiah offers this plea to God for the entire nation. And it is to this remnant that God answers. So let’s begin chapter 64, remembering that Isaiah is praying.

Isaiah 64:1-6 NAS:
1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence—
2 As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.
5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Isaiah asks God to “look down” in Isaiah 63:15, and here in Isaiah 64:1 to “come down.” As we pointed out last time, this is one of the greatest “revival prayers” found in the Bible.

Isaiah pleads for God to intervene on the world scene and to display his power, justice, and goodness, in an extraordinary manner, so that all people, including the Jews, would acknowledge that He is the one and only true God. Fire and boiling water in verse 2 picture judgment. The awesome things in verse 3 probably refer to the phenomena of fire, darkness, and earthquake when God gave the Mosaic Law from Mount Sinai. This prayer in Isaiah recalls the occurrences the people observed when God met with Moses on Mount Sinai and they were at the bottom of the mountain. They here also ask God to burst forth from Heaven in judgment and crush their enemies, as He did in Sodom and Gomorrah.[fn] Have you ever felt like that? ?

Isaiah pleads for God to do what He had done for His people Israel when He brought them out of Egypt. God made great men that seemed as strong as mountains fall before Israel, and great opposition to give way.[fn] One day during the end times, God will make His name known to His enemies and force those to tremble at His presence who would not come and worship in His presence. Yet throughout history God has blessed those who believe in Him and who therefore are willing to do what is right. Men and women have not heard nor seen what God has prepared for those that wait for him, that obey Him. God has prepared wonders for those that fear Him and trust in Him.[fn]

Here we see what God expects from us in order to have communion with Him. We must first make every effort to do the right thing in the eyes of God. Secondly, We must be cheerful in our work and we must rejoice and work righteousness. We must delight ourselves in God and in His law. We must be cheerful as we serve Him. God loves a cheerful giver and a cheerful worshipper.

We must serve the Lord with gladness (2 Corinthians 9:7; Psalm 100:2). Thirdly, We must accept all the ways He chooses to deal with us. We must remember His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8,9) and be prepared for whatever He sends our way. We must obey God and thank Him when He blesses us (1 Thessalonians 5:18). When God blesses us with prosperity we should express our joy to Him. When He sends trials our way, we should respond with patience and submission to His perfect will (1 Peter 4:12-14).

Isaiah and this remnant of Jews are willing to confess their sin, spiritual uncleanness, weakness, and lack of prayer. In addition, they didn’t blame God for their dreadful condition. They knew that their desperate situation was because of their sins. Therefore they could only depend on God’s faithfulness and promises.

Isaiah 64:7-12 NAS:
7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.
8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord, Nor remember iniquity forever; Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin.
12 Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O Lord? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

This prayer recognizes God as a potter in control of the clay and pleads for Him to do a saving work. Let’s look over at Isaiah 55:6,7 NAS for a moment:

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

An answer to the kind of pleading we see described here and that Isaiah is making in his prayer in chapter 64 can’t occur apart from the powerful conviction and awakening of the sinful heart by the Holy Spirit.

These final verses of this remarkable prayer by Isaiah and those Jews who trust in God are a statement of that trust in God. The remnant addressed God as their Father in Isaiah 63:16 and here in 64:8 as the Potter. The remnant confessed to God that they were clay in His hands and He could change them if He so desired (Isaiah 29:16; 45:9). Therefore the remnant would obediently and submissively ask the Lord to withhold His anger and to look on Israel (Isaiah 63:15) as His own.

Now we come to a very tricky transition going from verse 10 to 11. Up until this point Isaiah’s prayer on the part of the Jewish people could apply to the time in which he is writing or any time in the future of Israel, including the end times. However, in verse 11 he describes an event that won’t actually occur until the Babylonian captivity 100 years later in 586 B.C. Isaiah was again taking the people forward to show them what is going to happen to Israel because of her sin and disobedience, but that even in spite of the dark days of captivity ahead, there would still be hope for the nation. When those who read these verses during the future captivity realize that Isaiah was predicting the future when he wrote these verses, they’ll know that his predictions came true. So if he could predict the captivity itself, his prediction about the end of the captivity and the future hope of Israel would come true as well. So when Jews read these verses at any time, now or in the future, they can be assured that God still loves them and offers them hope. We will see as we get into chapter 65 that God’s promises as always are unchangeable and His promises to Israel remain unchanged, but the fulfillment of those promises is based on Israel’s choices.

When God first made the covenant with Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai, the deal was that if Israel chose to trust and obey God, they would be blessed. If they chose to do things their own way and be disobedient, they would be punished.

Isaiah continues his prayer reminding God that Israel’s cities including Jerusalem had been destroyed and that even the temple had been burned by His enemies. The remnant would urge God to do something about the situation, and thereby break His silence (62:1; 65:6) and withhold His punishment on Israel.[fn]

Why would God not work wonders? Because the people had sinned (Isaiah 64:5–6) and must confess their sins and turn from them if they wanted God to act on their behalf. If our righteousness is filthy rags, what must our sins look like in God’s sight? According to verse 4, God has planned wonderful things for His people beyond their imagination, but their sins prevent Him from sharing His blessings.[fn] Is there any hope? Yes, because God is a forgiving Father and a patient Potter (Jeremiah 18). He can cleanse us and make us new if we will let Him have His way. This prayer of the believing remnant ends with a question: Why is God silent? His temple has been destroyed, His glorious land has been ravaged, and His people are in exile. “Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O Lord? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?” God’s reply is found in the next two chapters.

Isaiah

John

Romans

1 Peter


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