Isaiah 64
by Pastor Mark Hudson
Is 64 can be divided into verses 1-7 and 8-12. In this section we are in the last part of the book. The outline I am using has Divine Ability from 63:1-66:24. Split the heavens and come down is vs. 1-7 and will you keep silent is 8-12. One of the ways commentators understand this meaning is, ”Oh if you had just broken in on us, shaking the mountains – like fire burning brush or boiling water – revealing your nature to the nations, doing wonders we never dreamed of, coming down and shaking the mountains.” But the Hebrew syntax is not that smooth. The way it is written reveals some agitation the author feels, as if he is pouring out his soul to God.
Fire in the Bible is often associated with the presence of God (Gen 3:24 – Ex 3:1 and Acts 2:3 to Rev 20:9. Is the author asking God to do a work in “the brushwood of their lives (to) burst into flames, and the tepid water of their souls would break into a roiling boil?” Oswalt p. 621. He asks that the adversaries who trample down your sanctuary in 63:18 might know the name (and character) of God in 64:2. “That the nations might tremble at your presence.” The sad truth is that for unbelievers they do not tremble, they have no fear of God nor do they think of him at all.
Verse 3 may refer to Sinai but anytime God appears, the natural world quakes or reacts to such power and authority. Then verse 4 ends with a word that is found throughout the Bible wait. I will quote some of Oswalt’s discussion in pp. 623-4. God is the only One who will act because He is the Savior – a term that is so prominent in this book. “To wait, is to manifest the kind of trust that willing to commit itself to God over the long haul. IT is to continue to believe and expect when all others have given up. It is to believe that it is better for something to happen in God’s time than for it to happen on my initiative in my times. . . . Waiting on the Lord is not passive but active. It is to do righteousness (56:1) with joy, which is, in effect, to remember God’s ways. . . . Let a person begin to live according to (remember) God’s ways, joyfully doing righteousness, expectantly waiting for him, and sooner than we think, we are going to meet him coming to meet us.”
Yet, this is not what characterizes the people of God. At the end of v. 5, Isaiah wonders if there is any hope? In v. 6, Isaiah laments the attempts at righteousness that utterly fail. They have sinned so much; they are defined by their sins and can be as easily swept away as a dried-up leaf in the fall that has no weight and is at the mercy of the wind. No one is seeking God; they seem so satisfied.
Then in v. 8, he seems to throw himself at God’s mercy. Whether in despair or correctly understanding the only person who can help, Isaiah is pleading with God to show mercy. After all, “we are all your people” as if to suggest, if for no other reason, remember we are yours. We hope this means something because Isaiah seems to be confessing that is about all they have going for them.
He reminds God that what should be a beautiful and holy house has been burned to the ground. This is especially painful since Isaiah describes the house/temple as it should be – holy and beautiful. The holy people are not holy and the holy temple is not holy. The center of their spiritual lives and community is being gutted out before them.
Isaiah is asking for God not to be silent, far removed, and to refrain from afflicting His people. Isaiah seems confused and sad so he is pleading with God to correct the behavior of His people. He seems to be admitting that they can’t get out of this on their own or through their own efforts. That is an accurate perspective of our situation as well. We cannot work our way, pray our way, vote our way, march our way out of our spiritual bondage. It is not that we should not work, pray, etc. But only God can help us if we want our sins forgiven. Only believing only in death of Christ for our sins can we be forgiven.
We wonder if what Isaiah is asking for in v. 1 is to do what You did? Maybe God will act that way, coming down in a blaze of glory but maybe He won’t. In fact, God came in the form of a servant, not in a fire as Isaiah asked for but as a baby. God did a new thing and indeed it was awesome for all who waited.
Father, we approach You worshipping and praising Your holy name. You are worthy of our time, energy, and affections. All that we find in the Bible comes from You. And all You say is right. We find that we are not the holy people we ought to be. We find that Your church is not always a holy place as well. Turn our hearts and minds to You because we are all the work of Your hands. Help us to be people who wait for You. Not passively but listening, reading, studying, obeying, and believing in Your word. Help us to do righteousness, call on Your name, and to take hold of You. You are doing a great work within us individually and corporately. Increase my faith so I can see more clearly how You are working in my life and the lives of others. In Christ, Amen.