Isaiah 8.1, 64

Prayer Requests

Carol, Jamison on a make a wish trip

Jean, Friend Mary sister is dying praying that it brings her back to the Lord; prayer for friend’s husband Rob taken to emergency room.

Judy, Bob appointment, 10th and 13th

Patti, Char Booth, on hospice

Praise for Claire’s progress, continued healing and rehab

Scott, friend Mary, pancreatic cancer

Gordon, Jerry Haley

Arlene, Christyann completed chemo

Bobby, praying for cheryl traveling to San Diego; friends Cindy and Jim who is on hopice

Bing—new neighbor, Susan; starts work tomorrow at Sac Country Day; new to the area, no friends, witness

FEAR—

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Fear of the Lord

A religious expression conveying either devotional piety or the dread of punishment

The Old Testament presents fearing the Lord as the foundational posture of authentic faith—a reverence that shapes both belief and behavior. Rather than mere dread or terror, this fear carries a special quality of reverential awe or worshipful respect1, and it is conjoined with love and hope, making it filial reverence rather than slavish dread2.

The key difference lies between being afraid of God and the fear of the Lord, which are distinct responses.12 Someone who is afraid of God has something to hide—like Adam and Eve after sinning, who fled from God’s presence. By contrast, someone who fears God has nothing to hide and is actually terrified of being separated from God.1 Intimacy with someone you’re afraid of is impossible, yet God desires intimacy with us.1

While fear of God retains the normal meaning of dread or terror, a special nuance of reverential awe or worshipful respect becomes the dominant notion.3 To fear the Lord means to honor, esteem, value, respect, and reverence Him above all else—to love what He loves and hate what He hates, making His priorities your own.2

Ok—on to our passage for today, Isaiah 64

Isaiah 64:1–12 ESV

1 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?

Let’s take it a section at a time. But even in that first reading you see our major themes emerge: can we be saved? But we’re also reminded of the grace of God.

Ok. Isaiah 64:1–4 “1 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.

We ended chapter 63 with a proclamation of how bad things had become, but now the prophet goes further: why didn’t you intervene God? He is pleading with YHWH to breaking into the situation and move!

One scholar put it this way: remember back, chapter Isaiah 63:1 “1 Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.””

the prophet longs for that warrior messiah! Come savior, come Lord, come messiah! Chapter 63 gives us the image of their adversaries, the wicked and sinful trampling over God’s people and destroying their sanctuary. And this statement: Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down.

The language here—rend the heavens, mountains quake, fire—what is this? What does it remind you of? It’s those scenes in scripture when God appears and makes himself known: the burning bush, the top of Sinai. The prophet yearns for the creator to break into His creation, show Himself to the people and their enemies, to break the power of sin over the people and show the nations who He is in order to end the shame and derision that the people face.

By the way, don’t we want this at times in our lives? Have you ever want the sky to open up, for God to reach into your life and immediately set things right? To fix your problems? to ruin your enemies?

I have had times in my life where I thought: God could end this trial RIGHT now. Why won’t he? He could heal this wound, this sickness. Why won’t he?

The prophet gives voice to our longings: if only you would split the heavens; or, if only you had been there God, if only you had acted! Isaiah seems troubled, why would God let this situation get so desperate without having done something about it.

I love v. 3, it’s a recognition that the previous awesome works of God were “things we did not look for,” this is true of God: he often works in unexpected ways. Think of the big bold works of God that might be in view here: parting the Red Sea. The people thought they would die and God upends their expectations. But also think of Jesus: the people expected a conquering Messiah and instead he was crucified and you can almost hear the disciples wondering these verses: oh that you would rend the heavens and come down…Jesus on the cross…save him.

And, God did! Again, not in the way anyone would have expected. For there Jesus died but, by God’s amazing intervening, breaking into creation, Jesus is made alive again. This is the way He works.

Isaiah 64:4–5 “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?”

V. 4-5 give us the sad question that has been animating so much of the prophets work: shall we be saved?

How does he start:

The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (b) Split the Heavens and Come down (63:19b–64:6 [Eng. 64:1–7])

What have God’s actions over the years taught the people about their God? They have taught them that there is no God like him. He is in a class by himself. No one has heard of such a God, or seen one. The emphasis here is on experience.

For those who wait for Him:

The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (b) Split the Heavens and Come down (63:19b–64:6 [Eng. 64:1–7])

Biblically speaking, “to wait” is to manifest the kind of trust that is 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 time.

This is what they know of God: their God acts in ways no on expects, like none of the false gods, and he does so for, on behalf of those who wait for Him.

And Paul actually quotes this passage in 1 Cor. 2:9, see how he renders these words:

1 Corinthians 2:9 “9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—”

And again, it ends with that question: shall we be saved? Because it’s not just that they had been waiting for God to intervene, that’s the early verses in this chapter, but there’s a recognition now that they’ve been at fault!

Isaiah 64:6–7 ESV

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.

Isaiah continues on, thinking about the state of Israel first…

The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (b) Split the Heavens and Come down (63:19b–64:6 [Eng. 64:1–7])

These verses describe the hopeless condition in which the people find themselves, and attribute it finally to God’s activity. The thought is thus both lament and complaint. As emphasized previously, the cause of the lament is not external circumstances, either outside or inside the community. The problem is the persistent sinning of the people and their inability to do anything about it. It is not the painfully reduced circumstances of the returnees that troubles Isaiah, but the recognition that unless God does something for them to deal with their sinning, which Isaiah recognizes from his own day is endemic, then the exile and the return will have been for nothing.

Now he’s thinking on his own experience: doing something he does so often through the book: “we” he is identifiying himself with his people and their sin. Recognizing that he is not immune to this.

And look at the imagery: fading like a leaf, like the wind, we’re blown away! what does this remind you of?

Psalm 1!

And then verse 7: there is no one who calls upon your name—

and and central image of is of a sleeping person, there is no one who can rouse themselves and take hold of you by faith!

Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary ii. Asking (63:15–64:12)

Life without a living relationship with God is the life of sleep! And because of all this, the Lord is alienated (hidden your face) and antagonized (made us waste).

Isaiah 64:8–9 ESV

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

READ:

Isaiah 64:8–9 ESV

In his holy hostility to sin and sinners, the Lord is unchanged, but he is also unchanged in grace and mercy—and therein lies the ground for continuing pleading. The relationship of Father (8) to his children is permanent

Despite our sin, despite there being no one who calls upon the name of the Lord or rouses themselves, our relationship with him still stands: “you are our father”

The family relationship cannot be erased, our children can’t stop being our childrne. There may be deep wounds and strife in that relationship because of something they’ve done or we’ve done. BUT it doesn’t change the inherent nature of the relationship. One commentary put it this way: the potter cannot disown the pot—it is there only because he made it. This is not to shift the blame on to God for our failures, but simply to assert the unchanging relationship. The children can always come home, the potter can may seek to refashion, refurbish, or repair His work.

We are your people, the passage asserts again and again.

Isaiah 64:10–12 ESV

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?

And this whole chapter ends with a question: will you restrain? will you still withhold your love from us?