Isaiah
64:9-12 (ESV)
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are
all your people.
Your
holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion
has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem
a desolation.
Our
holy and beautiful house,
where
our fathers praised you,
has
been burned by fire,
and
all our pleasant places have become ruins.
Will
you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD?
Will
you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?
Isaiah
64 begins by calling for God to return. It reflects on the expressions and
revelations of God that Israel experienced in the past. It focuses particularly
on their experiences at Mt. Sinai where Moses received the Law. There is no god
like God. The chapter then goes on to acknowledge the sin of God’s people. “We
have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a
polluted garment” (Is 64:6).
Why
would an unclean people want God to return? Wouldn’t they expect that he would
return with judgment against them? The answer is found in their acknowledgement
of their sin. Those trying to cover up sin would never want God to return.
Those blinded to their sin might want God to return, but will be sorely
surprised when he does. Those acknowledging their sin can expect him to return
with mercy.
Verse
7 admits that they have not even been seeking God. Verse 8 changes everything.
“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” (Is 64:8). Verse 8 recognizes that God has the
right to do whatever he desires. “We are the clay, and you are our potter.” In
yielding to him they acknowledge that God has the right judge them, or to make
them into a thing of beauty. They then cry out, “Be not so terribly angry, O
LORD, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your
people” (Is 64:9). Their expression of confession, submission, and pleading for
mercy will not go unheard.
Isn’t
that the gospel? We are not accepted by God, because we have turned over a new
leaf. We are not forgiven of our sin because we really didn’t mean to be so
bad. We are not saved, and promised eternal life because we promise to be good.
We are saved when we acknowledge our sin, admit that God has the right to do
whatever he wishes with us (His judgment against us is well deserved), and cast
ourselves on the mercy of God. Salvation, forgiveness, acceptance, and eternal
life are received as a gift, not as something we deserve or earn.
Why
would an unclean people want God to return? Primarily because they have
admitted that they are an unclean people, and recognize that their only hope
lies in God’s mercy and grace. We are an unclean people. Our church services
must sometimes be a stench in God’s nostrils. Our good Christian living must sometimes make God weep. Yet we can
plead for his return, not because the world is so evil and we righteous folk
want to escape it, but because we sinners know that our only hope is the return
of Righteous God who has the right to do with us as he will. We trust in his
mercy and grace.
After
all the warnings of Revelation, the Apostle John concludes with these words, “Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Rev
22:20-21). After all the devastation the Israelites will face because of their
disobedience, still they continue to sin. Yet Isaiah, admitting their sin,
cries out, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down” (Is 64:1). John
and Isaiah both understand that their hope is in the great God of mercy. Amen!
Come Lord Jesus. Father, we do not deserve to see your face, but we believe
that you will receive us because of Jesus. Come Lord Jesus!
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