Isaiah 64 A Prayer for God’s Power
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?
Years before the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem took place, God inspired Isaiah to record this prophetic prayer. Why? God was still trying to convince His people to repent, and this prayer was part of that confrontation. But God’s people weren’t listening. The prophecy remained, awaiting the day of its fulfillment. And finally, that day arrived.
Well, the worst has happened. After years of sending prophets to warn His people, God has finally allowed them to suffer the consequences of their wickedness. The Assyrians have already carried off or slaughtered most of the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom, and now the Babylonians have conquered Jerusalem, looting the temple and burning anything that can be set ablaze. Isaiah has been forced to witness this disaster, even though he has done his best to warn and advise the rulers of Judah to repent. But beginning with Solomon, rulers have filled Jerusalem with shrines and altars of all kinds.
Wealthy business people have openly worshiped the stars on their rooftops. The Valley of Hinnom has witnessed unspeakable horrors as misguided worshipers have burned their children as live sacrifices to Molech. Rulers have even constructed gaudy new altars in the center of the temple, shoving the original altar to the side. And the Most High God, who has watched all these aberrations has noted each of these places, dooming them to destruction by the Babylonians.
While the Babylonian soldiers might think they are merely doing whatever they wish, it is God who is guiding them to completely destroy every one of the sites of idol worship, every Ashira pole, every shrine, every altar, and every house whose rooftop has been contaminated by worship of sun, moon, or stars. You might almost imagine God sitting in heaven, counting off these idolatrous sites as the Babylonians reduce them to rubble. “Well, there’s Simeon’s home, with its shrine to the stars on the roof. And Malachi’s home with its Ashira pole. And Shmuel’s home where those women insisted on weaving veils to catch men’s souls. And Hannah’s bakery, where they fashioned cakes to the Queen of Heaven.” God smiles grimly as the Valley of Tophet slowly fills with the bodies of those who committed unspeakable horrors against the innocent, staining the earth so that it echoes the cries of the suffering.
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.
Isaiah 64 contains Isaiah’s prayer on behalf of his people. Isaiah is a realist and cannot possibly sugar coat the appalling acts of the Israelites. But at the same time, Isaiah also feels impelled to intercede on behalf of the righteous who have suffered during the siege and destruction.
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?
While a few citizens of Jerusalem might have repented during the last days of the siege, most refused, doubling down on their idol worship in the vain hope that the demons they had served would save them. But Satan always discards and destroys his followers when they are of no further use, and God has already designated these people for annihilation.
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!
Isaiah continues to beg God to deliver the righteous and to pardon His people. In any disaster, the righteous suffer along with the wicked, and the Babylonian conquest is no exception. While we always think of Isaiah as prophesying, here Isaiah reveals himself as the ultimate prayer warrior. What Isaiah cannot see is that the Babylonians are gathering up Daniel and the three other young men who will eventually be known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, carrying them off to new careers in Babylon. The incredible events that will surround these men in Babylon have their inception in their faith and in Isaiah’s priestly prayers on their behalf.
God is always intentional, never doing anything in haphazard fashion. Just as God directed the Babylonian soldiers so that they destroyed all the sites of idol worship, so God also preserved those who trusted Him. The Jews exiled in Babylon prospered to the extent that when King Cyrus decreed the temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt, they sent huge sums of money for that effort. God always knows those who truly fear Him.
Does this statement mean that true believers will never suffer? Far from it! Some traditions indicate that this prayer of Isaiah’s must have been prophetic for wicked King Manasseh allegedly had him stuffed into a sack, beaten, and then sawed in two. But if that truly happened, God was in the sack with Isaiah!
My husband and I are reeling from some recent news. One of my husband’s beloved friends, a strong man of faith who has consistently encouraged others and has supported them in prayer, has developed such severe health problems that he has chosen to enter hospice care, knowing that his remaining time on earth will be short. This precious believer realizes that his body is shutting down, and rather than undergo a series of operations that might only lead to more pain without significant overall improvement, he is allowing nature to take its course. Where is God in the midst of this situation? God is right there next to our friend, helping him, strengthening him, and causing him to be an encouragement to all those around him. Would our friend be thrilled if God were to heal him miraculously? Certainly. But death is also a form of healing.
Centuries ago, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, saying something with which Isaiah could certainly agree. (1 Corinthians 15:51-58)
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O Death, is your victory?
Where, O Death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
When we wait for the Lord, no matter the circumstances, our labor in the Lord is never in vain! Take heart! Look up! See the salvation of the Lord!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to remember that we are working for You and not for anybody else. Help us to patiently wait for You, knowing that You will redeem us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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