Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 64
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Isaiah 64
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Isaiah 64
"Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence," — Isaiah 64:1 (ASV)
Oh that thou wouldest rend ... —The division of chapters hinders the English reader from seeing that this is really a continuation of the prayer of Isaiah 63:15-19. The prophet asks that Jehovah may not only “look down” from heaven, but may rend, as it were, the dark clouds that hide the light of His countenance from His people, and that the mountains might tremble at His presence. (Exodus 19:18.)
"as when fire kindleth the brushwood, [and] the fire causeth the waters to boil; to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!" — Isaiah 64:2 (ASV)
As when the melting fire burneth ... —Better, as when fire Kindleth brushwood, as when fire causeth the water to boil. The two-fold action of material fire is used, as elsewhere, as a symbol of the consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) of the wrath of Jehovah.
"When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence." — Isaiah 64:3 (ASV)
When you did terrible things ... —The latter clause, you came down ... is supposed by some critics to be an accidental repetition from Isaiah 64:1. By others it is taken as an intentional repetition, emphasizing the previous assertion, after the manner of Hebrew poetry. The latter view seems to have most in its favor.
"For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God besides thee, who worketh for him that waiteth for him." — Isaiah 64:4 (ASV)
Neither has the eye seen, O God, beside You ... — The best commentators are in favor of the rendering: Neither has the eye seen a God beside You, who will work for him that waits for Him.
The sense is not that God alone knows what He has prepared, but rather that no one knows (sight and hearing being used here to include all forms of spiritual apprehension) any god who does such great things as He does.
St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 2:9, applies these words freely, in his characteristic way, to the eternal blessings God prepares for His people. Clement of Rome (chapter 34), it may be noted, makes a similar application of the words, using those who wait for Him (as in Isaiah), instead of those who love Him.
"Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou wast wroth, and we sinned: in them [have we been] of long time; and shall we be saved?" — Isaiah 64:5 (ASV)
You meet him ... —The “meeting” is obviously one of favour. That was the law of God’s dealings with men. He met, in this sense, those who at once rejoiced in righteousness and practised it. But with Israel it was not so. Their sins had brought them under His anger, not under His favour.
In those is continuance ... —The clause is difficult, and has been variously interpreted:
- “In these (the ways of God) there is permanence (literally, eternity), that we may be saved;”
- “In these (the ways of evil) have we been a long time, and shall we be saved?”
The latter seems preferable. So taken, the clause carries on the confession of the people’s sinfulness.
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