The prophet regrets the evil of his people
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| 1 ¶ Oh that thou wouldest
rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might
flow down at thy presence,
.2 As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! 3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. .4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. 5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. |
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- Rend the heavens Isaiah is looking forward to the day of
the Lord's anger. This verse continues the thought of the previous chapter
where the sanctuary is desolate and the people are in a foreign land.
1 - Mountains flow down A better translation is "mountains might quake." 4 - Men have not heard God's ways and plans are beyond our imagination ro1133. We can understand much of the spiritual things from the Scriptures through the guidance of the Holy Spirit 1co0210, but God has not given the detailed picture of heaven.. I believe that if we saw a picture we would not understand and may get discouraged. When we are there, we may expect our Saviour to explain many things to us. |
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¶ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses
[righteous acts] are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. |
6 - Righteousnesses ... filthy rags Isaiah identifies with his people. An important verse for understanding grace. Here, the people were still in trouble. Even if they recognized their unworthiness, they were not calling on God and were living in sin. |
| 9 Be not wroth very
sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech
thee, we are all thy people.
10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. 12 Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore? |
12 - Reading on into the next chapter, the answers seem to be No. But in verse 8 is6508 we see the new wine and the promise of restoration. |
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