Chapter Sixty-Four

In this chapter the prayer continues and concludes, which constituted the greater part of the preceding (chapter 63, from verse 7). Therefore one cannot but agree with Dillmann, who finds that the division of these chapters is unfortunate (übel getrennt). In particular, as we have already said above (see our commentary on Isa 58:7), chapter 64 contains two sections of the prophetic-penitential prayer of Israel: one (Isa 64:1-7 verses)—historical-penitential, the other (Isa 64:8-12 verses)—supplicatory-expiatory.

1–4. A prayer of confession of the Almighty and terrible power of the Lord. 5–7. Deep consciousness of Israel of its own sinfulness, which brought upon it the righteous wrath of God. 8–12. Earnest prayer to God for forgiveness and mercy of His people.

Isaiah 64:1. Oh that you would tear the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence— Isaiah 64:2. 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! “Oh, if only you would tear the heavens and come down! The mountains would melt at your face, as from fire that melts, as from boiling water... nations would tremble at your face.” “This speech is poetical, hyperbolic, depicting the highest majesty of God and the terrible acts in which the holiness, righteousness and omnipotence of God are manifested for the destruction of enemies and the salvation of the elect. When God descends from the height of the heavens to the lower sky—atmospheric—then everything seems to come into confusion, whirlwinds arise, thunders and lightnings; when He draws near to the earth, the earth shakes and the mountains melt as if from fire, from the terrible majesty of God.” (Bishop Peter. Cited work, p. 324). The image of “tearing the heavens” and the descent from there of the Lord for the revelation of His will and the manifestation of judgment—is one of the most frequently used in the Bible: we meet it in the history of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:5) and the punishment of wicked cities—Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:21), we see it in the history of the giving of the law on Sinai (Exod 19:11; Exod 20:18), we read in the psalmist: “he bowed the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under his feet” (Ps 17:10), and with it we have to deal in many other places, not only of the Old Testament, but also of the New Testament. In the psalmist we find a vivid parallel also to the second half of this image, speaking of the consequences of such a divine descent to earth: “Fire goes before him and burns up his enemies all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples behold his glory” (Ps 96:3-6). These verses stand in the closest logical connection with verses 15 and 3–4 of the previous chapter.

Isaiah 64:3. When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. Isaiah 64:4. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. “When you performed terrible deeds... the mountains melted at your face.” What in the two preceding verses was expressed only hypothetically, here is affirmed as a fact. The Bible indeed speaks repeatedly of the great and terrible deeds of the Lord (Deut 10:21; Ps 105:22 and others). It also confirms the image that the Lord is a “consuming fire” (Deut 4:24).

Isaiah 40:12–13. “From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who does so much for those who hope in him.” This thought is completely in the spirit of that section which comprises chapters 40–45 of the book of the prophet Isaiah (see, for example, Isaiah 40:12–13, 17, 22–23, 28; Isa 41:22-24; Isa 43:9; Isa 44:11; Isa 45:21 and others). It deserves special attention that Apostle Paul, citing this text from the prophet Isaiah, applies it to the unspeakable mystery of the incarnation, which simultaneously both exceeds all human understanding and is the revelation of the highest love of God for men (1 Cor 2:9). Isaiah 64:5. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. From verse 5 to 7 inclusive goes the confession of divine favor toward the righteous and deep consciousness of his own sinfulness. “You meet those who are glad and do righteousness.” Indeed, every, though even comparatively insignificant, manifestation of sincere religiosity and actual obedience to God was not left without reward, as we see from the example of numerous biblical righteous ones (Exod 33:17; Exod 34:9; Ps 4:8; Ps 36:25). How shall we be saved? If we recall the numerous and sharp denunciations of impiety, iniquity, hypocrisy and falsehood of the Israelite people scattered through various passages of the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 1:4; Isa 3:9; Isa 58:2-5; Isa 59:2-3 and others), then it will not seem especially strange to us and this question, in which sounds as if a note of despair in salvation from the acute and painful consciousness of the full depth of his fall. However, the LXX and Slavonic text attributed this phrase to the beginning of the next verse and translated it somewhat differently: “therefore we are led astray.”

Isaiah 64:6. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, sweep us away. “All our righteousness is like filthy cloth.” A gentle but expressive characteristic of the impiety of Israel, more precisely, of its hypocrisy and falsehood. It fully coincides with what the prophet developed in more detail before (chapter 1 and chapters 58 and 59). The comparison used here of external, legalistic righteousness to a filthy cloth is quite close to the well-known Gospel image of “whitewashed sepulchers” in the condemnatory speech of the Lord Himself against the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:27-28).

Isaiah 64:8. 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. From verse 8 to 12, that is, to the end of the given chapter, goes the last, concluding section of the prayer of Israel, in which he appeals to the mercy of his heavenly Father, proceeding from the extreme distress of his present condition. “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are the potter.” Characteristic for the prophet Isaiah here is the very image of the potter and clay, as he had already used it earlier (Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9). It is very likely that it originates from the history of the creation of man by God (Gen 2:7); although in this case here, evidently, it is about the special Divine choosing of Israel, to which reference was already made once in this very prayer (Isa 63:16). This image in the prophet Jeremiah grew into an entire symbolic vision about the destinies of Israel and Judah (Jer 18 chapter) and is also commented upon by Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (Rom 9:20 and following).

Isaiah 64:9. Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people. “Do not be angry, O Lord... do not remember sin forever.” A new, intensified request to God for mercy, reminiscent of the words of the psalmist: “How long, O Lord, will you be angry forever... do not remember our former iniquities” (Ps 78:5). The boldness of such a request finds its explanation and basis in one of the preceding speeches of the Lord Himself, proclaimed through the prophet: “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isa 43:25), compare also Isa 44:22).

Isaiah 64:10. Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Isaiah 64:11. Our holy and beautiful house, in which our ancestors praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins. “Your holy cities have become a wilderness... Jerusalem has been laid waste. The house of our sanctuary and glory... has been burned by fire.” To support his intensified request for mercy, Israel points to its grave political and religious crisis, when all his once-flourishing cities turned into ruins and desolations, when his capital, the center of his theocratic kingdom—the city of Jerusalem—was plundered, when even the Old Testament temple—this highest center of national unity and religious sanctification of the Jewish people—was burned. This description, by the just remark of Dillmann, closely reminds of the content of the book of Lamentations of Jeremiah and in part—Psalm 78. And all this is in direct connection with the troubles of Babylonian captivity. From this we think that the prophet Isaiah speaks here first of all about this nearest to him or even contemporary event; and then prophetically-typologically he alludes also to the future ultimate destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, as many of the holy Fathers believe (blessed Jerome and holy Cyril of Alexandria). This testimony is important for determining the chronology of this chapter: it is clear that it could not have been written after the Babylonian captivity (as rationalists think), for then Jerusalem and the temple were built again.

Isaiah 64:12. Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord? Will you keep silent and afflict us so severely? “O Lord, will you keep silent and afflict us exceedingly?” The concluding cry of the prayer, very close to the concluding words of the book of Lamentations: “have you utterly rejected us, are you angry with us beyond measure?” (Lam 5:22).