Sharper Iron — The Fifth Evangelist – Isaiah 63:15-64:12: Rend the Heavens and Come Down

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Isaiah leads the people of Israel in prayer, lament, and confession before the LORD. They call upon the LORD as their Father, asking Him to see them as His children, even though they have strayed. They acknowledge that He has sent them into exile and made them as those who are not called upon His name. Still, they pray that He would tear open the clouds and come down as He did at Mount Sinai. His awesome deeds, so unexpected to human wisdom, reveal Him to be the only true God, especially in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The people pray to Him in confession of their complete sinfulness, throwing themselves upon His merciful goodness. Though the text ends with a question, the lament still leaves the people in hope, knowing that the LORD is a gracious Father.

Rev. Joel Haak, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Fraser, MI, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Isaiah 63:15-64:12.

“The Fifth Evangelist” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through Isaiah 40-66. Though Isaiah lived one hundred years beforehand, he writes to the people of God in exile in Babylon to assure them that their God reigns and will rescue them through the work of His servant. These promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose work Isaiah proclaims vividly seven hundred years beforehand.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

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Isaiah 63:15-64:12

Prayer for Mercy

¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and beautiful^[a] habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.
¹⁶ For you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
¹⁷ O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
¹⁸ Your holy people held possession for a little while;^[b]
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
¹⁹ We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.

64 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
^{2 [c]} 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!
³ When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
⁴ From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
⁵ You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?^[d]
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
⁷ There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in^[e] the hand of our iniquities.

⁸ But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
⁹ Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹ Our holy and beautiful^[f] house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
¹² Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 63:15 Or holy and glorious
2. Isaiah 63:18 Or They have dispossessed your holy people for a little while
3. Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Hebrew
4. Isaiah 64:5 Or in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved
5. Isaiah 64:7 Masoretic Text; Septuagint, Syriac, Targum have delivered us into
6. Isaiah 64:11 Or holy and glorious

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org