THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Israel’s Plea for Deliverance
Isaiah 64:1-12 SCC 2/16/14
Here
is the point” Sin is a problem for mankind. It has always been so even though
man has always refused to say so. I call it ‘the arrogance of humanity.’ Bill
Hull defines our spiritual dilemma today when he describes what he says is the
prevalent view of the gospel today in the church: The gospel of the left. It’s a gospel that ‘naturally creates
people who are so inclusive that they have no stomach for the truth. They do
have a strong sense of the obvious: They have a strong sense of human rights (unless
the subject is abortion), a strong sense of justice (unless it requires the
death penalty), a powerful instinct to protect children (unless it calls for
censorship of the Internet), an abounding faith in truth (as long as it is
science).’ The result: A blatant refusal to acknowledge God as God; A willful
decision to supplant any knowledge of God—the God of the Bible and sin. Without
this acknowledgement you are lost. Those on God’s page must repent; then stay
faithful and truthful, and pray for deliverance to come!
God’s people
desire the direct intervention by God 64:1-4
A. They long for a great deliverance 1-2
Verse 1: The prayer begins with the request for
divine intervention—in a spectacular way. They are praying for divine
intervention to deliver them from bondage in exile; but the language goes far
beyond that. The people want a dramatic show of power as the Lord intervenes on
their behalf. Rend the heavens implies
a comparison to tearing open a curtain. The mountains
would represent any obstacle that stood in the way of their deliverance. The Israelites’ condition was so desperate that another special
visitation from God was what they needed. The next time God did this was at the
Incarnation.
Verse 2: The purpose of such a great display of
God’s power is that the name of the Lord might be known. This is a theme that
began with the plagues of Egypt and continued throughout the Bible—that He
might make Himself known. All acts of God
are revelation; His great acts of redemption are likewise to be revelatory
so that others might find salvation.
B. They recall the way God
intervenes 3-4
Verse 3: The people recall how God did amazingly
mighty things in the past. And in it all they know that the work of the Lord
was truly unique. Isaiah wished that instead of remaining
quiet the Lord would do something spectacular again, something that would move
the Israelites and the nations to respect Him.
Verse 4: No one ever heard of a God like this who
makes a covenant with people and keeps it, who acts on behalf of those who wait
for Him. God delights in doing the
impossible, the unexpected, on behalf of His remnant. So many of Isaiah’s contemporaries were spiritually blind and deaf
that they could have profited from a dramatic revelation
NB: Verses 1-4 are essentially what we are calling for God to do. Today we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is
in heaven.” We also pray, “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.” And when it
happens, when the heavens open and the Lord descends, it will not be just to
deliver people from the exile in Babylon, but will be to deliver the redeemed
in the Lord, dead or alive, from all bondage, and to make all things new—things that we could never imagine (1
Thessalonians 4:15-18; 5:10). Living in the expectation of the Lord’s coming to
deliver His own, the people of God have the opportunity to reflect on God’s
past interventions. Thus it was with Israel in exile; and so it is today on the
eve of the Second Coming. It still inspires faith, obedience and commitment
today.
God’s People
acknowledge their unworthiness 64:5-9
A. God blesses the righteous 5
Verse 5: The prophet knew that
God had fellowship with those who practice righteousness and who remember His
ways to walk in them. He wondered if there was any hope of Israel being saved
since she had sinned so much for so long and since this sinning had angered
God. God was angry for the
sin of the nation, and the only hope the nation now had was to plead for forgiveness. No one has any other choice! What is sin?
B. They confess their unworthiness 6-7
Verse 6: Israel’s sins had thoroughly polluted her and had placed her in an apparently
hopeless position. Furthermore she could not stop sinning. Was there any hope
for her? She was as unclean as a leper, as repulsive as menstrual cloths, and
as spiritually lifeless as a dead leaf on a tree ready to be blown away by more
sin. This recognition of sinfulness is the expression of
a contrite heart. They know that their own sins sweep them away like the wind
sweeps the leaf away, for God does not come to their rescue.
NB: Though people can be good no ones ‘goodness’ can
get them to heaven. That requires holiness—sinless perfection. That is only
available in Christ.
Verse 7: Furthermore, none of
the Israelites felt concerned enough about their sinful condition to seek the Lord
and try to lay hold of Him in prayer. This was understandable since God had
hidden Himself from His people; they saw no hope that He would respond even if
they did pray.
C. They build their confidence 8
Verse 8: Yet Isaiah did appeal
to God for help. He appealed on the basis that the Lord had brought Israel into
existence and was, therefore, responsible for her regardless of her condition. She
was just inert clay, but He was the Potter who had formed Israel as the work of
His own hands. Their only appeal then is the relationship they
have with God. God is their Father (stressing the covenant relationship); God
is their potter and maker (stressing their submission to Him). How much He has invested in them, and what
plans He has for the nation.
NB: Think about this—God has been investing in you
since birth. What is its quality today?
Gods People
appeal for divine favor 64:9-12
This passage closes with an impassioned appeal for
God to look favorably on them, forgetting their sins against Him, and remembering
that they are His people.
Verse 9: The prayer is that God will not remember
their sins. God knows everything perfectly well; so the expression must mean to
hold something against them. When God forgives, it means that He will
never bring that issue up again. People may have trouble forgetting; other
people may make it difficult for them to forget—but if they confess their sins
to God, God will never mention them again or hold them against them. The plea
for God to look upon them conveys the
idea of turning with grace and compassion
because we belong to you.
Verse 10-11: Judah lay desolate. Jerusalem was in ruins. The holy cities of the holy
God reflected nothing of His greatness. So they motivate God to
answer their prayer with the appeal that the Temple has been destroyed, the
Temple in which praises were given to God. This holy and glorious Temple has
been burned down (Wilderness, Desolation,
Burned, Ruin.)
Verse 12: After all this, will God still hold back
and punish them more? It is time for this divine discipline to end, and the
restoration of all things to begin, so that Zion can once again be the center
of worship and praise it used to be. The final two chapters give the Lord’s response to this impassioned prayer
of intercession for hopeless Israel.
Conclusion
1. We must move from
arrogance toward humility. The human condition is sick, sinful, pathetic, and
corrupted to the core. Just observe what we do to ourselves. There is no
remedy. It can only be contained, controlled, manipulated, but unchanged. When
arrogance gives way to humility one can begin the path toward restoration.
2. Once humility lays
hold then you are available to discover the solution to your condition. The
moment of truth when reality can bump into remedy. Once you admit your
unworthiness, then it is possible for you to be saved. Until that moment you
still believe you can do something about your condition.
3. Here we can finally appeal to God for his deliverance in Christ--expectation that confession of my sin will bring salvation from my sin. Goodness is no longer the measure of my worthiness but holiness, which Christ supplies me. His holiness makes me fit for a relationship with my Father.
4. His work today
seems to be in ruins in so many places, and the Church has fallen in disrepute,
thanks to the sin of people. God will never let that remain forever. That,
then, is our appeal, when we pray for the heavens to be opened and the Lord to
descend and bring all this to an end. In the meantime, we walk by faith in the
blessed hope of the redeemed.