#1042 Isaiah 64 Oh

 

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,

that the mountains might quake at your presence—

2  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?

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 in 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 beautiful 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? Isaiah 64 ESV

Isaiah 64 Pleading for the Presence

…7Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger. 8Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth. 9He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.… Psalm 18: 7-9

1-7. Oh that You would rend the heavens and come down - The Jews would pray for this in Babylon, to be relieved of their enemies, and in every holocaust, that God would make Himself known, that He would deliver. They pray that the earth would quake like it did at Sinai, or like it did when He swallowed up the enemies of Moses. 

…17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 19And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.… Exodus 19: 17-19

…31As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households— all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 33They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.… Numbers 16: 31-33

Who acts for those who wait for Him - There has never been another God, of all the things that men invent and worship, there has never been a God that sought out men, revealed Himself to them, made a covenant with them, so marvelously revealed Himself as the Creator, and so eloquently explained their lost condition. He is God and there is no other, and so those that wait upon Him do not do so in vain. His is an eternal proposition, the others are the imagining of dust. 

…8None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9Rather, as it is written: “ No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.… 1 Corinthians 2: 8-10

…30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. 31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40: 30-31

God is ready to help. He has everything in preparation before our needs begin. He has laid in supplies for all our wants. Before our prayers are presented, he has prepared his answers to them; blessed be his name! You remember how Paul uses this passage, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.” The spiritual man is a privileged man. - C. H. Spurgeon

…26Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose. 27When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”…

…29Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”… Acts 16: 26-31

In our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved - They have sought deliverance from earthly foes, those who persecute and live ungodly lives, but when we contemplate the reality that God's judgment is just, then how shall we ourselves escape such wrath? If it is the righteous who are saved, then who can make such a claim? The land we lived in before was taken from people who God drove out because of their sin, and now we are no longer there because of our sin, and yet we have had more light than all. Oh, you just want to grab such humility as this, kiss it and hold on to it.

We have all become like one who is unclean - Even those who studied the law in order to follow it, were careful in it, could only at best compare themselves to others who did not do so well. The apostle Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees, zealous about the law, so much so that he first missed Christ and killed Christians. Isaiah uses the word "we" here, and so even one of the most blessed and gifted prophets has realized his uncleanness, but then he has seen the Lord upon His throne. He has heard the cry of Holy, Holy, Holy, and such glory has wrecked his mortal mirror. 

…5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. 7But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.…

…8More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,… Philippians 3: 5-10

All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment - It is by grace and not your works, those works the Lord does find fitting are not walked in apart from grace. 

It is not a flattering picture that the prophet draws. Even our righteousnesses are like filthy rags, fit only for the fire; what must our righteousnesses be like? We, ourselves, are like the sere leaves on the trees; and just as the wind carries away the faded leaves of autumn, so our sins, like a mighty blast, carry us away. - C. H. Spurgeon 

There is no one who calls upon Your name - No one seeks the true God of their own accord, no one rouses themselves to grab the hem of the garment, but those called by God and convicted by the Holy Spirit, seeing themselves sinners, and now knowing they need a mediator.

…7But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;…

…10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned. 12I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it.… John 16: 7-12

8-12. Behold, please look, we are all Your people - They appeal to His words, not their righteousness, His ability to uphold the covenant, for they have all failed the law on their part. They point out what is happening to them as His people, to His temple, which at the writing of this still stood. Isaiah is talking to a people about their children who will witness the destruction of the temple long after Isaiah is dead. They cry out from Babylon, and later will cry out from all over the world, "God, the only God, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, please look, hear us, heal us."