Isaiah chapter 64
The remnant asks the LORD God to work on their behalf. The remnant professes their trust in the LORD God.
THE REMNANT ASKS THE LORD GOD TO WORK ON THEIR BEHALF
VERSE 1. Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.
that the mountains might quake. Many people want the LORD God to show up and rock the planet.
VERSE 2. As when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the water to boil; Make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
the nations may tremble at your presence. This can be interpreted in two ways:
First, lots of people want the LORD God to show up and terrify their enemies. In this case, terrify the Gentiles.
Second, the Old Testament foresee Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »
VERSE 3. When you did awesome things which we didn’t look for, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.
BBE translation. While you do acts of power for which we are not looking, and which have not come to the ears of men in the past.
in the past. In those days, the LORD God’s awesome miracles seemed to be a thing of the distant past.
They had happened millennia ago.
The past always seems so long ago. Yet in the Lord Jesus Christ, the time is NOW. Right now.
Mark 1:15. The time has come. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news! (NIV translation)
VERSE 4. For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.
NCV translation. From long ago no one has ever heard of a God like you. No one has ever seen a God besides you, who helps the people who trust you.
men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen. Many believers assume the LORD God thinks and acts like them. But he is infinitely beyond us. Read more »
VERSE 5. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?
have been in sin for a long time. They are aware of their sin nature.
However, to them, the notion of “sin” meant something different than it does for us Christians.
For Christians, “sin” generally means a failure of morality. But for Jewish people back then, it generally meant a violation of liturgical law.
Shall we be saved? Being aware of their sin nature, they know they cannot save themselves. They wonder how they can be saved.
VERSE 6. For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
NCV translation. All of us are dirty with sin. All the right things we have done are like filthy pieces of cloth. All of us are like dead leaves, and our sins, like the wind, have carried us away.
All of us are dirty with sin. We all have sinned.
All of us are like dead leaves. Due to sin, we all experience spiritual death.
To sin is to violate God’s will for us. It harms our relationship with God. We all have missed the mark and sinned. Here are the verses we’ve found »
VERSE 7. There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
no one who calls on your name. In those days, almost nobody was interested in knowing the LORD God.
Romans 3:11. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God.
calls on your name. The solution to our sin nature is to call upon the LORD God.
THE REMNANT PROFESSES THEIR TRUST IN THE LORD GOD
VERSE 8. But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
our potter. The Bible envisions God as a potter, and we believers as clay. Are you pliable in the hands of God? Will you let him form you into the person he desires? Read more »
VERSE 9. Don’t be furious, LORD. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people.
VERSE 10. Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Jerusalem a desolation. This alludes to perhaps the saddest moment in the Old Testament. It alludes to the destruction of Jerusalem.
VERSE 11. Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste.
Our holy and beautiful house. That is, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is burnt with fire, and all her beautiful accouterments are destroyed.
VERSE 12. Will you hold yourself back for these things, LORD? Will you keep silent and punish us very severely?
ISAIAH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, True Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.