Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryIsaiah 64

Wouldest rend the heavens. Chapter 64 continues the prayer begun in ch. 63:15. The chapter division here is unfortunate, for it tends to blur the continuity. In the Hebrew text the division occurs at the end of v. 1. On behalf of the people Isaiah calls upon the Lord to manifest Himself in their behalf (see on ch. 63:19). The background of the prayer is the picture earlier presented. The sanctuary is desolate and the people are in a strange land (see on ch. 63:18).

Might flow down. Heb. zalal, which, in the form here found, means “to quake.”

Ellen G. White

As when the melting fire burneth. Literally, “as fire kindles brushwood.” The picture seems to be that the mountains would be unable to resist the descent of Jehovah even as dry, inflammable brushwood is unable to avoid being ignited when brought into contact with fire, or as water is unable to resist boiling when heated over a fire.

Terrible things. Compare 2 Sam. 7:23; Ps. 18:7–15; 65:5; 68:8; 145:6. Israel asked God to do again what He had done in former times. Flowed down. Heb. zalal, “quaked,” as in v. 1.

O God. Better, “a God.” The objective case seems to be required by the context rather than the vocative. The forms are identical in the Hebrew. The passage may be literally translated, “From of old they have not heard, they have not perceived with the ear, eye hath not seen a God beside thee who works for the one waiting for him.” Compare the translation of the ASV as quoted in MH 425. The willingness of God to intervene in crises is here extolled. No other god works for his devotees as does the living God. The reference is not to the unspeakable glories of the future world, though the words as they are quoted in 1 Cor. 2:9 have been applied in that way (see GC 675), as well as to the present (see PP 602; DA 412). The LXX shows slight variations: “From of old we have not heard, neither have our eyes seen a God beside thee, and thy works which thou wilt perform to them that wait for mercy.” Paul’s quotation also reveals some differences. The NT passage may be translated literally, “The things which eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and upon the heart of man has not come, all of which God has prepared for those loving him.” Paul’s emphasis is upon spiritual understanding. He calls attention to the reason why the “princes of this world” “crucified the Lord of glory.” They did not possess the spiritual understanding that would have caused them to comprehend “the wisdom of God.” Spiritual things are to be “spiritually discerned.” What the natural senses have not perceived without God, God has revealed by His Spirit to those who love Him. To men who possess spiritual discernment there is opened a new world, a world closed to those whose spiritual sensitivities are dulled.

Thou meetest him. Heaven is not far away from earth. God meets with those who are willing to meet with Him. Since God is a righteous and a holy God, and since wickedness constitutes rebellion against Him and against the principles of His kingdom, He walks in closeness of fellowship only with those who seek after righteousness. Remember. Not only do they keep God in their conscious memory; they do that which a knowledge of God and of the divine way should lead men to do. The Hebrew word here translated “remember” allows such an extension of meaning. In those is continuance. The Hebrew here is brief and obscure. Many reconstructions have been attempted. Some think that the reference is to a continuance of God’s mercy and saving grace to the penitent. Others believe that the pronoun “those” refers to Israel’s rebellion against God. With the latter sense the passage may be interpreted, “Behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned and we have continued in our ways of sin, and can we thus hope to be saved?”

Unclean thing. Heb. ṭame’, an adjective meaning “unclean.” Standing by itself, as here, it may refer either to an unclean thing or to an “unclean person.” Ṭame’ is the word that appears repeatedly throughout Leviticus describing ceremonial uncleanness. Left to himself, man cannot wash away the impurity of sin—he remains unclean.

Filthy rags. Literally, “as a menstruous garment.” Man’s best efforts produce, not righteousness, but imperfection. Only the robe of righteousness that Christ has provided will fit man to appear in the presence of God (see Gal. 2:16; COL 311). Fade as a leaf. A leaf separated from a tree soon withers and dies. The same is true of a man without Christ. The effect of sin is death (Rom. 5:12; 6:23; James 1:15). Like the wind. As the wind tears a leaf from a branch and carries it farther and farther from the parent tree, and thus from its source of life, so sin sweeps man farther and farther away from God and hurries him on toward death and destruction.

Ellen G. White

Hast consumed. Heb. mug, “to melt,” “to dissolve.” Following the reading magan, the LXX, Targums, and Syriac give the translation “hast delivered.” In point of time the prophet is envisioning the period of Babylonian captivity (see v. 10; cf. ch. 63:18; see on ch. 40:1).

But now, O Lord. This is a pathetic plea for mercy. Notwithstanding the widespread religious indifference (v. 7) and the desperate state into which the nation had come, God was still the Father of His people and in a position to help (see on ch. 63:16). We are the clay. This prayer—by Isaiah on behalf of his people—indicates penitence and surrender. The spirit of stubborn resistance is gone, and there is a willingness to be molded into the image of God. See chs. 29:16; 45:9.

Ellen G. White

Be not wroth. The penitent in his pitiful cry for mercy humbly acknowledges his transgression and the right of the Lord to punish, but he pleads that God’s punishment may not last too long and that it may not be too severe (see Ps. 79:8; 103:8–10).

Zion is a wilderness. Verses 10, 11 picture further the desolation to come upon Judah and Jerusalem at the time of the Babylonian invasions (see 2 Kings 25:2–10). The event was still future in Isaiah’s day, but the prophet describes the event as if it had already taken place (see Vol. I, pp. 27, 28). For further comment see on Isa. 40:1.

Wilt thou refrain? The prophet was saying in effect, “Art Thou not interested in this, Thy Temple, and in us, Thy people? Do none of these things move Thee? Shall our enemies and Thy enemies prevail? Is righteousness to perish and iniquity to triumph? Is this to be a victory for the forces of evil and a defeat for the cause of God?”