Isaiah 64

Chapter Overview

What happens in Isaiah 64

This chapter continues the passionate prayer begun in chapter 63. The people beg God to come down from heaven and shake the mountains. They confess that they are all sinful and that their best efforts are like dirty rags. Yet they appeal to God as their Father and Potter, the one who shaped them with his own hands.

Scripture

Oh, That You Would Come Down!

Study note

The prayer reaches its most intense point as the people beg God to tear open the heavens and come down, causing the mountains to tremble in his presence. They compare his coming to a fire that makes water boil, a display of power that would make the nations shake. They remember times when God did awesome things that no one expected, when the mountains shook at his presence. No eye has seen any God besides the Lord who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. The apostle Paul quoted verse 4 in 1 Corinthians 2:9, applying it to the things God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Oh, if only you would rip the heavens open and come down! The mountains would shake at your presence! Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

2 Come down like fire that sets kindling ablaze, like fire that makes water boil! Then your enemies would know who you are, and nations would tremble at the sight of you! As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!

3 When you arrived and did incredible things we never expected, you came down, and the mountains quaked in front of you. When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

4 Since time began, no ear has heard this. No eye has seen any God like you. You act for those who wait for you. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

5 You welcome those who are happy to do right, those who keep you in mind and follow your ways. But when we kept on sinning, you became angry. How can we possibly be saved? Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

We Are the Clay, You Are the Potter

Study note

The prayer moves to deep confession. The people acknowledge that all of them have become unclean, and even their righteous deeds are like filthy rags. They wither like leaves, and their sins carry them away like the wind. No one calls on God's name or tries to hold on to him, because God has hidden his face from them. Yet despite this honest confession of failure, the prayer ends with a powerful appeal. They cry out, 'But Lord, you are our Father! We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand.' They beg God not to be too angry or to remember their sins forever. They point to the ruin of their holy cities, the desolation of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple where their ancestors worshipped. They ask, 'After all this, will you still hold back?'

6 Every one of us has become like something unclean. All the good things we tried to do are like dirty rags. We all dry up and wither like a leaf, and our sins carry us off like the wind. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

7 Nobody calls out your name or makes any effort to hold onto you. You have hidden your face from us and handed us over to the power of our own sins. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

8 And yet, Lord, you are our Father. We are nothing but clay, and you are the potter who shapes us. Every one of us was formed by your hands. But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

9 Please do not stay too angry with us, Lord. Do not hold our sins against us forever. Please look at us with kindness — we are all your people. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

10 Your holy cities have become a wasteland. Zion is a desert. Jerusalem lies in ruins. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our beautiful, sacred temple where our ancestors used to worship and praise you has been destroyed by fire. Everything we held dear has been reduced to rubble. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

12 After all of this, Lord, are you truly going to hold back? Will you stay silent and keep punishing us so harshly? Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

Key Themes

Themes in Isaiah 64

Desperate prayer for God to actHuman righteousness as filthy ragsGod as Father and potterThe desolation of the temple and holy city

Prophetic Connections

How this chapter points to Christ

Isaiah 64:4 1 Corinthians 2:9

Paul quotes Isaiah's declaration that no eye has seen and no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love him, applying it to the spiritual blessings revealed through the Holy Spirit.

Apply This Today

Living Isaiah 64

The honest confession that even our best deeds are like filthy rags before a holy God is the starting point of genuine faith. We cannot save ourselves. But the prayer does not end in despair; it ends by appealing to God as both Father and Potter. He made us, and he can remake us. This combination of brutal honesty about our sin and confident trust in God's fatherhood is the essence of biblical prayer.

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