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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 64

Isaiah 64: a plea that the Lord would rend the heavens, and a confession of filthy rags

General context

The prayer continues with a wish that the Lord would tear open the heavens and come down so that the mountains would flow at his presence, like fire that makes water boil, to make his name known to his adversaries and make the nations tremble. The speakers recall that when he did terrible things they did not look for, he came down and the mountains flowed. Since the beginning of the world no eye has seen, besides God, what he has prepared for the one who waits for him. He meets those who rejoice and work righteousness and remember him; but he is angry, because the speakers have sinned. They confess that they are all like an unclean thing, that all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags, that they fade like a leaf and their iniquities carry them away like wind. No one calls on his name or stirs himself to take hold of him, because he has hidden his face and consumed them for their iniquities. Yet they call him their father, saying they are the clay and he the potter and they are all the work of his hand. They ask him not to be very angry or remember iniquity for ever, and to see that they are all his people. His holy cities are a wilderness, Zion a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation; the holy and beautiful house where their fathers praised him is burned with fire, and all their pleasant things are laid waste. The chapter ends by asking whether he will restrain himself over these things, hold his peace, and afflict them very sore.

Cited passages: Isaiah 64:1, Isaiah 64:2, Isaiah 64:3, Isaiah 64:4, Isaiah 64:5, Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 64:7, Isaiah 64:8, Isaiah 64:9, Isaiah 64:10, Isaiah 64:11, Isaiah 64:12

Isaiah 64 (KJV)

1Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

2As 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!

3When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

4For 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.

5Thou 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.

6But 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.

7And 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.

8But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

9Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

10Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

12Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

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Historical context

The speakers are the same unnamed we who began praying in the previous chapter, and the chapter has no other voice; the next voice is the Lord's in chapter 65. The prayer states as present fact that Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation, and that the house where the speakers' fathers praised the Lord is burned with fire. It does not say who burned it or when, and gives no king or date. The terrible things which we looked not for, when the Lord came down and mountains flowed, are recalled without naming an event. The confession is total in its wording, we are all as an unclean thing, all our righteousnesses, we all do fade, and it attributes the Lord's hidden face to the speakers' own iniquities, so the chapter presents the desolation as deserved rather than as a grievance alone. The potter and clay image reverses the use in chapter 45, where the clay was rebuked for questioning the potter; here the clay appeals to the potter as father. The house is called holy and beautiful and is not otherwise identified in the chapter. The final question is left unanswered within the chapter.

Cited passages: Isaiah 64:10, Isaiah 64:11, Isaiah 64:3, Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 64:7, Isaiah 64:8, Isaiah 45:9, Isaiah 64:12, Isaiah 65:1

Literary context

The chapter moves from the sky to the ground. It opens with the heavens torn and mountains flowing, and ends with cities in ruins and a house in ashes. Coming down appears twice, as a wish and as a memory, with the fire that makes water boil as the comparison between them, before the prayer admits that the problem is not the Lord's absence but the speakers' sin. The confession works by images of things that come apart: an unclean thing, filthy rags, a fading leaf, wind carrying people away. Against that dissolution the speakers set one image of being held together, clay in a potter's hand, and attach it to the word father. The repeated all binds the people together in guilt and in appeal: all as an unclean thing, all our righteousnesses, we all do fade, we all are the work of thy hand, we are all thy people. The lament of verses 10 and 11 is a short list, cities, Zion, Jerusalem, the house, pleasant things, each with its ruin. The closing question about holding his peace echoes the chapter 62 vow not to hold my peace for Zion's sake, and it hangs unanswered until the Lord speaks in the next chapter.

Cited passages: Isaiah 64:1, Isaiah 64:11, Isaiah 64:3, Isaiah 64:2, Isaiah 64:5, Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 64:8, Isaiah 64:9, Isaiah 64:10, Isaiah 64:12, Isaiah 62:1

Key moments

  1. Rend the heavens (Isaiah 64:1). The speakers wish the Lord would tear open the sky and come down.
  2. What no eye has seen (Isaiah 64:4). The prayer says no one has seen what God has prepared for those who wait for him.
  3. Filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The speakers confess that all their righteousnesses are unclean and their iniquities carry them off.
  4. Clay in the potter's hand (Isaiah 64:8). They call the Lord father and themselves the work of his hand.
  5. Zion a wilderness (Isaiah 64:10). The holy cities and Jerusalem are described as desolate.
  6. The house burned with fire (Isaiah 64:11). The place where their fathers praised the Lord is burned and laid waste.
  7. Wilt thou hold thy peace? (Isaiah 64:12). The prayer ends by asking whether the Lord will stay silent and keep afflicting them.

For reflection

The speakers admit that all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and in the same prayer insist that they are the work of his hand and all his people. What allows a person to hold a full confession and a full claim at the same time?