Isaiahchapter 64

1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

2 as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!

3 When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.

4 From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

5 You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

7 No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.

8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.

9 Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people!

10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

12 After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

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Continuing the lament begun in chapter 63, the community pleads for a theophany: "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down," that mountains might quake as when fire kindles brushwood and the nations tremble. No eye has seen a God besides him, who works for the one who waits for him. Confession follows: all have become as one unclean, "all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment"; the people fade like a leaf, iniquities carry them off like wind, and none stirs himself to take hold of God. Yet the plea rests on relationship: "we are the clay, and thou our potter." The evidence of ruin closes the prayer: the holy cities a wilderness, Zion a desolation, the holy and beautiful house burned with fire, ending with the question whether Jehovah will still hold his peace.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Isaiah — Isaiah overview

A. 1–7 Oh That Thou Wouldest Rend the Heavens and Come Down
B. 8–12 We Are the Clay and Thou Our Potter

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Romans 72 verses
- Romans 7:18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- Romans 7:24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
- Read Romans 7 →
Ephesians 22 verses
- Ephesians 2:1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Ephesians 2:10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Read Ephesians 2 →
Psalms 742 verses
- Psalms 74:5like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
- Psalms 74:10How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
- Read Psalms 74 →
Micah 11 verse
- Micah 1:3For behold, the LORD comes forth from His dwelling place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
- Read Micah 1 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Exodus 191 verse
- Exodus 19:18Mount 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.
- Read Exodus 19 →
Mark 11 verse
- Mark 1:10As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens breaking open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove.
- Read Mark 1 →
Psalms 991 verse
- Psalms 99:1The LORD reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!
- Read Psalms 99 →
Jeremiah 331 verse
- Jeremiah 33:9So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.
- Read Jeremiah 33 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.