Isaiah 63:7-19
7. Israel's penitential confession and prayer for restoration (Ps 102:17, 20), extending from Isa 63:7 to 64:12.
loving-kindnesses . . . praises . . . mercies . . . loving-kindnesses—The plurals and the repetitions imply that language is inadequate to express the full extent of God's goodness. us—the dispersed Jews at the time just preceding their final restoration. house of Israel—of all ages; God was good not merely to the Jews now dispersed, but to Israel in every age of its history.8. he—Jehovah "said," that is, thought, in choosing them as His covenant-people; so "said" (Ps 95:10). Not that God was ignorant that the Jews would not keep faith with Him; but God is here said, according to human modes of thought to say within Himself what He might naturally have expected, as the result of His goodness to the Jews; thus the enormity of their unnatural perversity is the more vividly set forth.
lie—prove false to Me (compare Ps 44:17). so—in virtue of His having chosen them, He became their Saviour. So the "therefore" (Jer 31:33). His eternal choice is the ground of His actually saving men (Eph 1:3, 4).9. he was afflicted—English Version reads the Hebrew as the Keri (Margin), does, "There was affliction to Him." But the Chetib (text) reads, "There was no affliction" (the change in Hebrew being only of one letter); that is, "In all their affliction there was no (utterly overwhelming) affliction" [GESENIUS]; or, for "Hardly had an affliction befallen them, when the angel of His presence saved them" [MAURER]; or, as best suits the parallelism, "In all their straits there was no straitness in His goodness to them" [HOUBIGANT], (Jud 10:16; Mic 2:7; 2Co 6:12).
angel of his presence—literally, "of His face," that is, who stands before Him continually; Messiah (Ex 14:19; 23:20, 21; Pr 8:30), language applicable to no creature (Ex 32:34; 33:2, 14; Nu 20:16; Mal 3:1). bare them— (Isa 46:3, 4; 40:11; Ex 19:4; De 32:11, 12).10. vexed—grieved (Ps 78:40; 95:10; Ac 7:51; Eph 4:30; Heb 3:10, 17).
he fought—rather, "He it was that fought," namely, the angel of His presence [HORSLEY], (La 2:5).11. remembered—Notwithstanding their perversity, He forgot not His covenant of old; therefore He did not wholly forsake them (Le 26:40-42, 44, 45; Ps 106:45, 46); the Jews make this their plea with God, that He should not now forsake them.
saying—God is represented, in human language, mentally speaking of Himself and His former acts of love to Israel, as His ground for pitying them notwithstanding their rebellion. sea—Red Sea. shepherd—Moses; or if the Hebrew be read plural, "shepherds," Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders (so Ps 77:20). put . . . Spirit . . . within him—Hebrew, "in the inward parts of him," that is, Moses; or it refers to the flock, "in the midst of his people" (Nu 11:17, 25; Ne 9:20; Hag 2:5).12. The right hand of Moses was but the instrument; the arm of God was the real mover (Ex 15:6; 14:21).
dividing the water— (Ne 9:11; Ps 78:13).13. deep—literally, "the tossing and roaring sea."
wilderness—rather, the "open plain" [HORSLEY], wherein there is no obstacle to cause a horse in its course the danger of stumbling.14. As a beast . . . rest—image from a herd led "down" from the hills to a fertile and well-watered "valley" (Ps 23:2); so God's Spirit "caused Israel to rest" in the promised land after their weary wanderings.
to make . . . name—(So Isa 63:12; 2Sa 7:23).15. Here begins a fervent appeal to God to pity Israel now on the ground of His former benefits.
habitation of . . . holiness— (Isa 57:15; De 26:15; 2Ch 30:27; Ps 33:14; 80:14). zeal . . . strength—evinced formerly for Thy people. sounding of . . . bowels—Thine emotions of compassion (Isa 16:11; Jer 31:20; 48:36; Ho 11:8).16. thou . . . father—of Israel, by right not merely of creation, but also of electing adoption (Isa 64:8; De 32:6; 1Ch 29:10).
though Abraham . . . Israel—It had been the besetting temptation of the Jews to rest on the mere privilege of their descent from faithful Abraham and Jacob (Mt 3:9; Joh 8:39; 4:12); now at last they renounce this, to trust in God alone as their Father, notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary. Even though Abraham, our earthly father, on whom we have prided ourselves, disown us, Thou wilt not (Isa 49:15; Ps 27:10). Isaac is not mentioned, because not all his posterity was admitted to the covenant, whereas all Jacob's was; Abraham is specified because he was the first father of the Jewish race. everlasting—an argument why He should help them, namely, because of His everlasting immutability.17. made us to err—that is, "suffer" us to err and to be hardened in our heart. They do not mean to deny their own blameworthiness, but confess that through their own fault God gave them over to a reprobate mind (Isa 6:9, 10; Ps 119:10; Ro 1:28).
Return— (Nu 10:36; Ps 90:13).18. people of . . . holiness—Israel dedicated as holy unto God (Isa 62:12; De 7:6).
possessed—namely, the Holy Land, or Thy "sanctuary," taken from the following clause, which is parallel to this (compare Isa 64:10, 11; Ps 74:6-8). thy—an argument why God should help them; their cause is His cause.19. thine . . . never—rather, "We are Thine from of old; Thou barest not rule over them" [BARNES]. LOWTH translates, "We for long have been as those over whom Thou hast not ruled, who are not called by Thy name"; "for long" thus stands in contrast to "but a little while" (Isa 63:18). But the analogy of Isa 63:18 makes it likely that the first clause in this verse refers to the Jews, and the second to their foes, as English Version and BARNES translate it. The Jews' foes are aliens who have unjustly intruded into the Lord's heritage.
Isaiah 64
CHAPTER 64
Isa 64:1-12. TRANSITION FROM COMPLAINT TO PRAYER.
1. rend . . . heavens—bursting forth to execute vengeance, suddenly descending on Thy people's foe (Ps 18:9; 144:5; Hab 3:5, 6).
flow down— (Jud 5:5; Mic 1:4).2. Oh, that Thy wrath would consume Thy foes as the fire. Rather, "as the fire burneth the dry brushwood" [GESENIUS].
3. When—Supply from Isa 64:2, "As when."
terrible things— (Ps 65:5). we looked not for—far exceeding the expectation of any of our nation; unparalleled before (Ex 34:10; Ps 68:8). camest down—on Mount Sinai. mountains flowed—Repeated from Isa 64:1; they pray God to do the very same things for Israel now as in former ages. GESENIUS, instead of "flowed" here, and "flow" in Isa 64:1, translates from a different Hebrew root, "quake . . . quaked"; but "fire" melts and causes to flow, rather than to quake (Isa 64:2).4. perceived by the ear—Paul (1Co 2:9) has for this, "nor have entered into the heart of man"; the virtual sense, sanctioned by his inspired authority; men might hear with the outward ear, but they could only by the Spirit "perceive" with the "heart" the spiritual significancy of God's acts, both those in relation to Israel, primarily referred to here, and those relating to the Gospel secondarily, which Paul refers to.
O God . . . what he . . . prepared—rather, "nor hath eye seen a god beside thee who doeth such things." They refer to God's past marvellous acts in behalf of Israel as a plea for His now interposing for His people; but the Spirit, as Paul by inspiration shows, contemplated further God's revelation in the Gospel, which abounds in marvellous paradoxes never before heard of by carnal ear, not to be understood by mere human sagacity, and when foretold by the prophets not fully perceived or credited; and even after the manifestation of Christ not to be understood save through the inward teaching of the Holy Ghost. These are partly past and present, and partly future; therefore Paul substitutes "prepared" for "doeth," though his context shows he includes all three. For "waiteth" he has "love Him"; godly waiting on Him must flow from love, and not mere fear.5. meetest—that is, Thou makest peace, or enterest into covenant with him (see on Isa 47:3).
rejoiceth and worketh—that is, who with joyful willingness worketh [GESENIUS] (Ac 10:35; Joh 7:17). those—Thou meetest "those," in apposition to "him" who represents a class whose characteristics "those that," &c., more fully describes. remember thee in thy ways— (Isa 26:8). sinned—literally, "tripped," carrying on the figure in "ways." in those is continuance—a plea to deprecate the continuance of God's wrath; it is not in Thy wrath that there is continuance (Isa 54:7, 8; Ps 30:5; 103:9), but in Thy ways ("those"), namely, of covenant mercy to Thy people (Mic 7:18-20; Mal 3:6); on the strength of the everlasting continuance of His covenant they infer by faith, "we shall be saved." God "remembered" for them His covenant (Ps 106:45), though they often "remembered not" Him (Ps 78:42). CASTELLIO translates, "we have sinned for long in them ('thy ways'), and could we then be saved?" But they hardly would use such a plea when their very object was to be saved.6. unclean thing—legally unclean, as a leper. True of Israel, everywhere now cut off by unbelief and by God's judgments from the congregation of the saints.
righteousness—plural, "uncleanness" extended to every particular act of theirs, even to their prayers and praises. True of the best doings of the unregenerate (Php 3:6-8; Tit 1:15; Heb 11:6). filthy rags—literally, a "menstruous rag" (Le 15:33; 20:18; La 1:17). fade . . . leaf— (Ps 90:5, 6).7. stirreth—rouseth himself from spiritual drowsiness.
take hold— (Isa 27:5).8. father— (Isa 63:16).
clay . . . potter— (Isa 29:16; 45:9). Unable to mould themselves aright, they beg the sovereign will of God to mould them unto salvation, even as He made them at the first, and is their "Father."9. (Ps 74:1, 2).
we are . . . thy people— (Jer 14:9, 21).10. holy cities—No city but Jerusalem is called "the holy city" (Isa 48:2; 52:1); the plural, therefore, refers to the upper and the lower parts of the same city Jerusalem [VITRINGA]; or all Judea was holy to God, so its cities were deemed "holy" [MAURER]. But the parallelism favors VITRINGA. Zion and Jerusalem (the one city) answering to "holy cities."
11. house—the temple.
beautiful—includes the idea of glorious (Mr 13:1; Ac 3:2). burned— (Ps 74:7; La 2:7; 2Ch 36:19). Its destruction under Nebuchadnezzar prefigured that under Titus. pleasant things—Hebrew, "objects of desire"; our homes, our city, and all its dear associations.12. for these things—Wilt Thou, notwithstanding these calamities of Thy people, still refuse Thy aid (Isa 42:14)?